Biocontrol of Phytophthora infestans, Fungal Pathogen of Seedling Damping Off Disease in Economic Plant Nursery

This research aims to control Seedling damping off disease in plants by using antagonistic actinomycetes against the causative fungi. Phytophthora infestans was isolated from the infected tomato plant seedling obtained from an economic plant nursery in Amphoe Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The chitinolytic Streptomyces rubrolavendulae S4, isolated from termite mounds at the grove of Amphoe Si-Sawat, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, was proven to be the most effective growth inhibition of fungal pathogens tested on potato dextrose agar. Tomato and chili seedlings that colonized with antagonistic S. rubrolavendulae S4 were grown in P. infestans artificial inoculated peat moss. Percents of noninfested seedling in fungal contaminated peat moss were compared to the controls with uninoculated peat moss. In P. infestans contaminated peat moss, the percents of survival of tomato and chili seedling were significantly increased (P < 0.05) from 51.42 to 88.57 and 34.10 to 76.71 for the S. rubrolavendulae S4 treatment, respectively. The S. rubrolavendulae S4 also showed high efficiency equivalent to fungicide, metalaxyl with no significant difference (P > 0.05). It was clearly demonstrated that S. rubrolavendulae S4 can prevent the tomato and chili seedling damping off disease in economic plant nurseries

Entry of Yersinia pestis into the Viable but Nonculturable State in a Low-Temperature Tap Water Microcosm

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has caused several pandemics throughout history and remains endemic in the rodent populations of the western United States. More recently, Y. pestis is one of several bacterial pathogens considered to be a potential agent of bioterrorism. Thus, elucidating potential mechanisms of survival and persistence in the environment would be important in the event of an intentional release of the organism. One such mechanism is entry into the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, as has been demonstrated for several other bacterial pathogens. In this study, we showed that Y. pestis became nonculturable by normal laboratory methods after 21 days in a low-temperature tap water microcosm. We further show evidence that, after the loss of culturability, the cells remained viable by using a variety of criteria, including cellular membrane integrity, uptake and incorporation of radiolabeled amino acids, and protection of genomic DNA from DNase I digestion. Additionally, we identified morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of Y. pestis VBNC cells, such as cell rounding and large periplasmic spaces, by electron microscopy, which are consistent with entry into the VBNC state in other bacteria. Finally, we demonstrated resuscitation of a small number of the non-culturable cells. This study provides compelling evidence that Y. pestis persists in a low-temperature tap water microcosm in a viable state yet is unable to be cultured under normal laboratory conditions, which may prove useful in risk assessment and remediation efforts, particularly in the event of an intentional release of this organism

Inactivation and sub-lethal injury of salmonella typhi, salmonella typhimurium and vibrio cholerae in copper water storage vessels

Background: This study provides information on the antibacterial effect of copper against the water-borne pathogens Salmonella Typhi, Salmonella Typhimurium and Vibrio cholerae. Methods: Suspensions of each pathogen were kept in water within a traditional copper vessel at 30°C for 24 h. Samples were withdrawn, diluted and plated onto suitable growth media. Conventional enumeration of healthy (uninjured) bacteria was carried out using standard aerobic incubation conditions. Additionally, reactive oxygen species-neutralised (ROS-n) conditions were achieved by adding the peroxide scavenger sodium pyruvate to the medium with anaerobic incubation, to enumerate uninjured (ROS-insensitive) and injured (ROS-sensitive) bacteria. Differences between log-transformed means of conventional (aerobic) and ROS-n counts were statistically evaluated using t tests. Results: Overall, all three pathogens were inactivated by storage in copper vessels for 24 h. However, for shorter-term incubation (4-12 h), higher counts were observed under ROS-n conditions than under aerobic conditions, which demonstrate the presence of substantial numbers of sub-lethally injured cells prior to their complete inactivation. Conclusions: The present study has for the first time confirmed that these bacterial pathogens are inactivated by storage in a copper vessel within 24 h. However, it has also demonstrated that it is necessary to account for short-term sub-lethal injury, manifest as ROS-sensitivity, in order to more fully understand the process. This has important practical implications in terms of the time required to store water within a copper vessel to completely inactivate these bacteria and thereby remove the risk of water-borne disease transmission by this route

Water Microbiology. Bacterial Pathogens and Water

Water is essential to life, but many people do not have access to clean and safe drinking water and many die of waterborne bacterial infections. In this review a general characterization of the most important bacterial diseases transmitted through water—cholera, typhoid fever and bacillary dysentery—is presented, focusing on the biology and ecology of the causal agents and on the diseases’ characteristics and their life cycles in the environment. The importance of pathogenic Escherichia coli strains and emerging pathogens in drinking water-transmitted diseases is also briefly discussed. Microbiological water analysis is mainly based on the concept of fecal indicator bacteria. The main bacteria present in human and animal feces (focusing on their behavior in their hosts and in the environment) and the most important fecal indicator bacteria are presented and discussed (focusing on the advantages and limitations of their use as markers). Important sources of bacterial fecal pollution of environmental waters are also briefly indicated. In the last topic it is discussed which indicators of fecal pollution should be used in current drinking water microbiological analysis. It was concluded that safe drinking water for all is one of the major challenges of the 21st century and that microbiological control of drinking water should be the norm everywhere. Routine basic microbiological analysis of drinking water should be carried out by assaying the presence of Escherichia coli by culture methods. Whenever financial resources are available, fecal coliform determinations should be complemented with the quantification of enterococci. More studies are needed in order to check if ammonia is reliable for a preliminary screening for emergency fecal pollution outbreaks. Financial resources should be devoted to a better understanding of the ecology and behavior of human and animal fecal bacteria in environmental waters

Biocontrol of Phytophthora infestans, Fungal Pathogen of Seedling Damping Off Disease in Economic Plant Nursery

This research aims to control Seedling damping off disease in plants by using antagonistic actinomycetes against the causative fungi. Phytophthora infestans was isolated from the infected tomato plant seedling obtained from an economic plant nursery in Amphoe Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The chitinolytic Streptomyces rubrolavendulae S4, isolated from termite mounds at the grove of Amphoe Si-Sawat, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, was proven to be the most effective growth inhibition of fungal pathogens tested on potato dextrose agar. Tomato and chili seedlings that colonized with antagonistic S. rubrolavendulae S4 were grown in P. infestans artificial inoculated peat moss. Percents of noninfested seedling in fungal contaminated peat moss were compared to the controls with uninoculated peat moss. In P. infestans contaminated peat moss, the percents of survival of tomato and chili seedling were significantly increased (<0.05) from 51.42 to 88.57 and 34.10 to 76.71 for the S. rubrolavendulae S4 treatment, respectively. The S. rubrolavendulae S4 also showed high efficiency equivalent to fungicide, metalaxyl with no significant difference (>0.05). It was clearly demonstrated that S. rubrolavendulae S4 can prevent the tomato and chili seedling damping off disease in economic plant nurseries

Detection of Indigenous Halobacillus Populations in Damaged Ancient Wall Paintings and Building Materials: Molecular Monitoring and Cultivation

Several moderately halophilic gram-positive, spore-forming bacteria have been isolated by conventional enrichment cultures from damaged medieval wall paintings and building materials. Enrichment and isolation were monitored by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and fluorescent in situ hybridization. 16S ribosomal DNA analysis showed that the bacteria are most closely related to Halobacillus litoralis. DNA-DNA reassociation experiments identified the isolates as a population of hitherto unknown Halobacillus species