Bioinformatic analysis of multi-drug resistant class 1 integron-coded protein of Citrobacter freundii

Background: The understanding of the secondary structure of the class 1 integron coded protein is necessary to decipher potential drug target and also to infer evolutionary ancestry at the proteomic level. This study was therefore aimed at determining the secondary structure of class 1 integron-coded protein and also to provide information on their evolutionary ancestry. Methodology: Five different sequences of Citrobacter freundii with the following accession numbers; KP902625.1, KP902624.1, KP902623.1, KP901093.1 and KP902609.1 were obtained using nucleotide BLAST (http://blast. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi) and subjected to evolutionary analysis, pairwise distance calculation, secondary structure and neutrality test using MEGA explorer, Kimura 2 parameter, SOPMA tool and Tajima’s test respectively. Results: Results of the NCBI queries revealed significant identity with class 1 integron of the studied Citrobacter freundii. The nucleotide sequence alignment depicted several conserved regions with varying degree of transitions, transversions, insertions, and deletions while the amino acid sequences of the nucleotides showed 42 conserved sites among all the sequences. The secondary structure of the class 1 integron coded protein depicted significant representation of the random coil (43.74±3.24), alpha helix (25.69±6.29) and the extended strands (22.42±2.41) than the beta turns (8.15±1.12). The Tajima’s Neutrality test of five nucleotide sequences of Citrobacter freundii analyzed by considering the first, second and third codons as well as the non-coding regions revealed a total of 127 positions in the final datasets while the Tajima’s Neutrality test was estimated to be -0.1038. Conclusion: The study confirmed common evolutionary ancestor for the class 1 integron coded protein found in Citrobacter freundii. Our study also documents the higher representation of random coil, alpha helix and extended strands than the beta turns. The negative value of the Tajima’s neutrality test suggests higher levels of both low and high frequency polymorphisms thus indicating a decrease in the class 1 integron population size and balancing selection Keywords: Evolutionary, Protein structure, Class 1 integrons, Citrobacter freundi

Biochemical and bacteriological profiles of asymptomatic bacteriuria among school children in Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria

Background: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in children is a predisposing factor to symptomatic urinary tract infection (UTI) that may be complicated by blood stream infections if not appropriately treated with resultant mortality or morbidity. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of ASB, and evaluate both biochemical and bacteriological characteristics of urine samples of primary school pupils in Ago-Iwoye, Ijebu North Local Government Area (LGA), Ogun State, Nigeria.Methodology: Three hundred and seventy-two (186 males and 186 females) apparently healthy (asymptomatic) pupils aged 2-16 years from four randomly selected primary schools in the LGA were screened for ASB. Clean catch specimen of midstream urine was collected from each subject. Biochemical analysis of the urine was performed with Combi 10 reagent strip. MacConkey and Cysteine Lactose Electrolyte Deficient (CLED) agar plates were inoculated with calibrated wireloop delivering 0.01 ml of urine for aerobic culture at 37oC for 24 hours. Identification of significant bacteria on culture plates was done using conventional biochemical tests.Results: The frequency of clear, slightly turbid and turbid urine were 31 (8.3%), 99 (26.6%) and 56 (15.1%) respectively. All analyzed urine samples were alkaline and negative for ketone, glucose and blood, but contained protein in 230 (61.8%), bilirubin in 184 (49.5%), nitrites in 64 (17.2%) and urobilinogen in 14 (3.7%) subjects. The prevalence of significant bacteriuria was 11.8% (44 of 372) with 7.0% in males and 16.7% in females (p = 0.0063). The frequency of bacteria isolated in descending order were Escherichia coli 61.4%, Staphylococcus saprophyticus 61.4%, Staphylococcus aureus 45.5%, Bacillus subtilis 45.5%, Enterococcus faecalis 43.2%, Enterobacter spp 36.4%, Serratia marscencen 31.8%, Klebsiella pneumoniae 22.7%, Proteus mirabilis 22.7% and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 20.5%.Conclusion: This result highlights the presence of significant bacteriuria among apparently healthy pupils in the study area, with higher prevalence in the female pupils. The apparent risk of developing symptomatic UTI with the attendant complications in these pupils should spur preventive education of parents/guardians and the general populace about this entity.Keywords: Asymptomatic bacteriuria, S. saprophyticus, morbidity, prevalence, primary school pupil

Assessment of Radionuclide Concentration in Surface Soil and Human Health Risk Associated with Exposure in Two Higher Institutions of Esan land, Edo State, Nigeria

The aim of this study is to assess the activity concentration of radionuclides and the possible health risk associated with exposure to radiation from the soil samples collected from two higher institutions in Esan land of Edo State, Nigeria. The gamma spectrometry system was used to determine the activity concentrations of radionuclides 238U, 232Th and 40K in the surface soil samples. The activity concentration of radionuclides ranged from 7.16 ± 0.63 to 102.37 ± 2.37 BqKg-1for 40K, from 0.75 ± 0.05 to 3.13 ± 0.11 BqKg-1 for 238U and from 2.25 ± 0.20 to 9.02 ± 0.40 BqKg-1for 232Th. The measured mean activity concentration of radionuclides for 40K, 238U and 232Th from the examined topsoil of Samuel Adegboyega University were 57.80 ± 1.7 BqKg-1; 2.07 ± 0.09 BqKg-1 and 6.89 ± 0.34 BqKg-1 respectively. At the neighbouring higher institution; College of Education, Igueben, the mean activity concentration of 40K, 238U and 232Th in its surface soil were 30.19 ± 1.22 BqKg-1, 1.41 ± 0.07 BqKg-1 and 4.85 ± 0.28 BqKg-1 respectively. The total mean values for radiation dose estimation for Radium Equivalent Activity, Absorbed Dose, Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk, Outdoor and Indoor Annual Effective Dose Equivalent are 13.20 BqKg-1, 6.03 nGy/ℎ, 0.026, 7.40 µSτ/γ and 29.60 µSτ/γ respectively. These values were found to be lower than the global average values. Hence, there is no radiation induced health threat to the students and members of staff in the study area.Keywords: Soil, exposure, health risk, activity concentrations

Biological Resolution of Virulence Genes of Salmonella Species from different Microbiomes

The pathogenic promiscuity of virulence associated macromolecules in Salmonella infection is a key driver to their wide epidemiology and curtailing  such distribution is contingent upon proper clarification of these virulence genes. This study was therefore aimed at determining the virulence  genes of Salmonella species from different microbiomes. To achieve this, a total of three hundred (300) biological specimens were aseptically  collected and processed for Salmonella presence using the BAM USFDA technique prior to their genotypic characterization while virulence gene  detection was carried out in a primer specific polymerase chain reaction. Results obtained depict the distribution of the following Salmonella species  viz; Salmonella gallinarum 19(26.39%), Salmonella heidelberg 19(26.39%), Salmonella enteritidis 18(25%) and Salmonella typhimurium  16(22.22%) while the occurrence of the virulence genes (InvA, SopE, AgfA and SpvC) were Salmonella enteritidis ( 7(38.8), 6(33.3), 9(50), 3(16.7),  Salmonella typhimurium ( 5(26.3), 3(15.8), 2(10.5), 7(36.8)), Salmonella heidelberg (0(0), 8(50), 4(25), 4(25), and Salmonella gallinarum (12(63.2),  6(31.6), 2(10.5), 7(36.8)) respectively. It was however found that the different microbiomes analyzed were ubiquitously rich in virulence genes  associated Salmonella species.   La promiscuité pathogène des macromolécules associées à la virulence dans l’infection à Salmonella est un facteur clé de leur large épidémiologie  et la réduction de cette distribution dépend de la clarification appropriée de ces gènes de virulence. Cette étude visait donc à déterminer les gènes  de virulence des espèces de Salmonella de différents microbiomes. Pour ce faire, un total de trois cents (300) échantillons biologiques ont été  collectés et traités de manière aseptique pour la présence de Salmonella à l’aide de la technique BAM USFDA avant leur caractérisation génotypique  tandis que la détection du gène de virulence a été effectuée dans une réaction en chaîne par polymérase spécifique à l’amorce. Les résultats  obtenus décrivent la distribution des espèces de Salmonella suivantes, à savoir ; Salmonella gallinarum 19(26,39%), Salmonella heidelberg  19(26,39%), Salmonella enteritidis 18(25%) et Salmonella typhimurium 16(22,22%) alors que la présence des gènes de virulence (InvA, SopE, AgfA et  SpvC) était Salmonella enteritidis ( 7(38,8), 6(33,3), 9(50), 3(16,7), Salmonella typhimurium ( 5(26,3), 3(15,8), 2(10,5), 7(36,8)), Salmonella heidelberg (0(  0), 8(50), 4(25), 4(25) et Salmonella gallinarum (12(63.2), 6(31.6), 2(10.5), 7(36.8)) respectivement. différents microbiomes analysés étaient  ubiquitairement riches en gènes de virulence associés aux espèces de Salmonella  &nbsp

Surface Protection of Carbon Steel with ZrO2 Composite Induced Zinc Based Electrolytic cell via Electrodeposition Technique

The effect of Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) as additive to Zn-MgO electrolytic chemical bath coating by co-deposition on carbon steel was investigated. Weight loss was conducted on the electrodeposited mild steel and it was inspected. The anti corrosion properties were assessed by linear polarization procedure in 1 mole of HCl medium. From the results gotten, all deposited coatings displayed significant improvement. An amazing improvement was accomplished in every one of the coatings as against the as-received sample. Zn-MgO-ZrO2 (0.8V) with the best performing coating showing an upgrade indicates enhanced anti-wear and friction qualities displaying wear resistance improvement

Metagenomic tracking of microbial consortia of cassava flakes (garri)

The affirmation of several cross-sectional studies on the vulnerability of cassava flakes commonly called 'garri' to microbial attack has long been documented. However, longitudinal data on metagenomic tracking of microbial consortia of this important staple food are scarce. Hence, this study was aimed at tracking the microbial consortia of garri. A total of eight samples (four each from both Nigeria and Republic of Benin markets) were randomly collected aseptically using pre-sterilized aluminum pans and processed through a metagenomic approach, while both the chemical and proximate components of garri were assessed following standard techniques. The analysis of the taxonomic consortia of garri reveals the predomination of bacteria (99.82 and 99.81% for samples from Nigeria and Republic of Benin, respectively) while the remaining sequences matched with the Archae (0.07%), fungi (0.09%) and protozoa (0.09%). A large proportion of the sequences were unclassified at the phylum level (approximately 84.10 and 86.2% for Nigerian and Beninese samples, respectively). The reads of cassava flakes metagenome of both Nigeria and Republic of Benin exhibited analogous level of average GC content with sequence count of between 187773-213444 for samples from Nigeria and 157784-198763 for samples from Republic of Benin. The functional characteristics of the inhabiting metagenomes were found containing the genes encoding for adhesins, bacteriocins, resistance to antibiotics, toxic chemicals as well as toxins and superantigens. Both the chemical and the proximate compositions of the examined garri samples, though exhibited significant disparity, but without any apparent variation in the patterns of metagenomic data. Our findings however revealed bacteria as the major contaminants of these cassava food products. Keywords; Metagenomics, Microorganisms, Cassava flakes (garri), Proximate compositio