Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance and Pathogenicity of Non-O1 <em>Vibrio cholerae</em> in Suburban and Rural Groundwater Supplies of Marrakesh Area (Morocco)

This synthesis of research work considers the dynamic, antibiotic resistance, hemolytic, and hemagglutination activities of non-O1 Vibrio cholerae in comparison with those of fecal coliforms, fecal streptococci, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from suburban and rural groundwater supplies in a Marrakesh area (Morocco). In addition, it assesses the influence of some chemical factors on the distribution of all these bacterial groups. The obtained results showed that the prospected well waters contain them at varying abundance degrees while undergoing generally spatial and temporal fluctuations. The total occurrence of these bacteria during the period of study was 94%. Detectable non-O1 V. cholerae was present in 81% of the samples and the mean abundances ranged from 0 to 11100 MPN/100 ml. According to WHO standards for drinking water, they were heavily contaminated and could have significant health risks for the local population consuming them. Non-O1 V. cholerae and the other studied bacteria are virulent since most of them were found to be adhesive, producers of hemolysins and multi-resistant to antibiotics. Pollution activities around the wells lead to an increase of virulence and antimicrobial resistance in groundwater. This shows the role of these bacteria in several cases of gastro-enteric and systemic pathologies noted in Marrakech local population

Field application of the mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis increases the yield of wheat crop and affects soil microbial functionalities

The aim of this study was to test the impact of Rhizophagus irregularis, an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF), on durum wheat growth and soil microbial functionalities in a field inoculation trial conducted in Morocco. The results showed that i) the R. irregularis inoculum effectively improved wheat growth, ii) wheat growth promotion depended on the soil mycorrhizal infectivity and iii) functional abilities of soil microflora depended on AMF inoculation. This study confirms that field AMF inoculation can be proposed as an effective agronomic practice in wheat production and as a sustainable cultural practice to manage soil biofunctioning. To fully promote inoculation practices, a better knowledge of AMF ecology has to be acquired to better adapt AMF inoculation to environmental conditions, and thus warrant better yields and agricultural sustainability. (Résumé d'auteur

Safe Cultivation of Medicago sativa in Metal-Polluted Soils from Semi-Arid Regions Assisted by Heatand Metallo-Resistant PGPR

Soil contamination with heavy metals is a constraint for plant establishment and development for which phytoremediation may be a solution, since rhizobacteria may alleviate plant stress under these conditions. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to elucidate the effect of toxic metals on growth, the activities of ROS (reactive oxygen species)-scavenging enzymes, and gene expression of Medicago sativa grown under different metal and/or inoculation treatments. The results showed that, besides reducing biomass, heavy metals negatively affected physiological parameters such as chlorophyll fluorescence and gas exchange, while increasing ROS-scavenging enzyme activities. Inoculation of M. sativa with a bacterial consortium of heat- and metallo-resistant bacteria alleviated metal stress, as deduced from the improvement of growth, lower levels of antioxidant enzymes, and increased physiological parameters. The bacteria were able to effectively colonize and form biofilms onto the roots of plants cultivated in the presence of metals, as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Results also evidenced the important role of glutathione reductase (GR), phytochelatin synthase (PCS), and metal transporter NRAMP1 genes as pathways for metal stress management, whereas the gene coding for cytochrome P450 (CP450) seemed to be regulated by the presence of the bacteria. These outcomes showed that the interaction of metal-resistant rhizobacteria/legumes can be used as an instrument to remediate metal-contaminated soils, while cultivation of inoculated legumes on these soils is still safe for animal grazing, since inoculation with bacteria diminished the concentrations of heavy metals accumulated in the aboveground parts of the plants to below toxic levelsMarruecos. Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CNRST)-España, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)-PPR2 /2016/42Unión Europea (FEDER)-CGL2016-75550-

Analysis of two larval-pupal parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) in the biological control of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) in Spanish Mediterranean areas

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae), is considered a key pest in fresh fruit and citrus production in the Mediterranean Bassin. Nowadays, it is being studied the use of several ecological methods against this pest in some Mediterranean countries (Spain, Morocco and Tunisia), like the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), the classical biological control (CBC) and the search for native parasitoids. Two exotic larval-pupal parasitoids of fruit-flies have been imported by the IVIA to Spain: Diachasmimorpha tryoni and D. longicaudata. As it occurs in other countries, in Spain it is being studied the combined use of the SIT and overflooding releases of parasitoids to combat Medfiy populations. To achieve this, only one parasitoid species is usually mass reared and released. Over the last two years we have been analyzing the competitiveness of D. longicaudata and D. tryoni in order to choose the species to be used together with the SIT for the integrated control of the Medfl

Antibiotic resistance and serotype distribution of nasopharyngeal isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from children in Marrakech region (Morocco)

Summary: Monitoring of Streptococcus pneumoniae antibiotic resistance is of great importance due to the frequency of strains becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. In this study, we report the antibiotic susceptibility of the serotypes of S. pneumoniae strains isolated from healthy children aged 1–24 months in the Marrakech region of Morocco. Resistance to penicillin (38.7%) was frequently associated with resistance to other antibiotics. The highest rates of resistance were to cotrimoxazole (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) (49.3%), erythromycin (48.7%), tetracycline (37.3%), lincomycin (35.3%), chloramphenicol (32.7%) and ciprofloxacin (24%). Prisitinamycin and vancomycin were effective against all isolated pneumococcal strains (100% sensitive strains). Gentamycin demonstrated good efficacy on S. pneumoniae, with 98.7% of strains being sensitive. Multidrug resistance characterized 43.33% of all studied strains. Of the multidrug-resistant strains, 36.92% were resistant to erythromycin (E), tetracycline (T) and cotrimoxazole (Co: sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim) (phenotype ETCo, n = 24), and 20% had decreased susceptibility to beta-lactams, erythromycin and cotrimoxazole (phenotype PECo, n = 13). A total of 29.23% of S. pneumoniae strains exhibited combined resistance to four antibiotics (phenotype PETCo, n = 19). This study reports the status of resistance and multiresistance of S. pneumoniae strains in the Marrakech region of Morocco. Keywords: S. pneumoniae, Antibiotic resistance, Serogroup, Multiresistanc