Identification of Arcanobacterium pyogenes isolated by post mortem examinations of a bearded dragon and a gecko by phenotypic and genotypic properties

The present study was designed to identify phenotypically and genotypically two Arcanobacterium (A.) pyogenes strains isolated by post mortem examinations of a bearded dragon and a gecko. The A. pyogenes strains showed the typical biochemical properties and displayed CAMP-like synergistic hemolytic activities with various indicator strains. The species identity could be confirmed genotypically by amplification and sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene and, as novel target gene, by sequencing of the beta subunit of RNA polymerase encoding gene rpoB, of both strains and of reference strains representing nine species of the genus Arcanobacterium. The species identity of the two A. pyogenes strains could additionally be confirmed by PCR mediated amplification of species specific parts of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region, the pyolysin encoding gene plo and by amplification of the collagen-binding protein encoding gene cbpA. All these molecular targets might help to improve the future identification and further characterization of A. pyogenes which, as demonstrated in the present study, could also be isolated from reptile specimens

Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in an Egyptian mixed breeding farm and comparative molecular characterisation of isolates from cattle, camels and cats – a case report

The present study records and investigates an outbreak of Johne’s Disease in a mixed breeding camel – cattle farm and the possible role of non-domestic non-ruminants animals in the epidemiology of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Egypt. For this reason, faecal samples were collected from 24 dairy cattle and from 15 one humped Arabian camels suffering from diarrhoea. Moreover, intestinal tissue samples were provided from 7 cats and 2 rats that were caught from the same farm and were euthanized before necropsy. Samples were examined using traditional culture and IS900 PCR techniques together with the application of BstEII-IS900 RFLP for typing of obtained isolates. Interestingly, MAP was recovered from cattle (n=8) and from camels (n=3) and non-domestic cats (n=3) reared under local conditions in this farm in Egypt. The obtained results highlight the potential role of cats in the epidemiology of MAP, a subject which needs further investigation and might have a public health importance, catsbeing common members of many families

Genetic relatedness of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) isolated from a dog and the dog owner

In the present study four methicillin-resistant staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) strains isolated from a dog (n = 3) and the anterior nares of the dog owner (n = 1) were investigated by conventional and molecular methods. The species identity of the four S. seudintermedius strains was confirmed by conventional methods, by PCR mediated amplification of S. intermedius/S. pseudintermedius specific segments of thermonuclease encoding gene nuc and by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of phosphoacetyltransferase encoding gene pta. Investigation of the four S. pseudintermedius for toxino- genic potential revealed that all four strains were positive for the exfoliative toxin encoding gene siet and the leukotoxin encoding genes lukS, lukF. The oxacillin and penicillin resistance of the four S. pseud- intermedius strains could be determined by cultivation of the strains on oxacillin resistant screening agar base, ChromID MRSA Agar and Brilliance MRSA Agar and by multiplex PCR detecting the resistance genes mecA and blaZ. The genetic relatedness of the strains was studied by macrorestriction analysis of their chromosomal DNA using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). According to PFGE all four S. pseudinter- medius strains represent an identical bacterial clone indicating a cross transmission between the dog and the dog owner

Genotyping of Mycobacterium avium field isolates based on repetitive elements

The economic and zoonotic importance of infections caused by Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) strains in human, animals and birds are increasing. At present, few data are available about the genetic diversity of field isolates of M. avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) and subspecies avium (MAA). The close relationship between human and swine isolates indicates a possible zoonotic role for such strains. In the present work 73 M. avium field strains isolated from feces and lymph nodes of diseased/slaughtered animals in Hesse State, Germany were investigated. Forty eight primers were used for the confirmation, differentiation and finally the genotyping of the isolates based on the presence of polymorphism of different repetitive loci. These include the Large Sequence Polymorphism (LSP), the Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units (MIRU) and Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTR). The genotyping of MAA (n = 27) and MAH (n = 16) isolates revealed 33 different genotypes (18 MAA, 14 MAH and 1 shared profile). The described methods show great potential for epidemiological mapping of M. avium subspecies