The isolation and Identification of Legionella Species from Environmental Sites in Rowan County, Kentucky

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Sciences and Mathematics at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Sabo E. Yakubu on December 17, 1983

Prevalence and Speciation of Non-albican Vulvovaginal Candidiasis in Zaria

Candida species are versatile microorganisms which live normally in the skin, mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and genitourinary tract. In healthy people, Candida species usually live as benign commensals and produce no disease. However, they are the most common cause of fungal infections in immunosuppressed individuals, leading to a range of non-life threatening mucocutaneous diseases to threatening invasive systemic diseases. Among Candida spp, the more important pathogenic species are Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis and C.krusei. The research set out to determine the prevalence of non albicans vulvovaginal candidiasis and pattern of distribution of the different Candida species in Zaria.A cross sectional study of female genital swabs collected from 400 women with features suggestive of vulvovaginal candidiasis attending Gynaecology clinics in four selected hospitals in Zaria. The swabs collected between a period of February 2012 to March 2013 were analysed by microscopy and culture in the Medical Microbiology laboratory, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.  Data on demographic details were also obtained; using structured questionnaires. Of the 400 patient samples examined 163(40.8%) were culture positive for Candida spp. Of these 163 isolates, 84 were germ-tube negative giving a prevalence of 21% for non albicans candida (NAC). Of the 84 isolates of NAC, 51(60.7%) were Candida parapsilosis, 18 (21.4%) were Candida tropicalis, while 15 (17.9%) were Candida glabrata. Vulvovaginal candidiasis was found to be more prevalent among the age group 21-30 years in general. Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a prevalent infection among women. More than half of the infections are due to non-albicans Candida.  NAC is becoming increasingly relevant in the aetiology of Vulvovaginal candidiasis and health providers need to be aware of this as the treatment options differ. Keywords: Non albicans Candida, Vulvovaginal candidiasis, Vulvovaginiti

Microorganisms Associated with Volatile Organic Compound Production in Spoilt Mango Fruits

Microorganisms associated with the production of volatile compound in spoilt mango fruits sold in Sokoto town were isolated and identified. The organisms include seven species of bacteria and a species of yeast. These include Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus firmus, Brevibacillus laterosporus, Morganella morganii, Paenibacillus alvei, Staphylococcus saccharolyticus, Listeria monocytogenes and Candida krusei respectively. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of eleven and sixteen volatile organic compound in the healthy and spoilt ripe mango fruits. Octadecanoic acid, oleic acid, 1 – Butanol, 3 – methyl-, carbonate (2:1) and 3,7 – Dimethyl nonane were common to both healthy and spoilt fruits with the first three having higher concentration in healthy fruits than spoilt while the later had higher concentration in the spoilt. One methyl group of 3,3- Dimethyl hexane in healthy fruit was shifted to position two to yield 2,3-Dimethyl hexane in the spoilt fruits. 2,2-Dimethylbutane, Methyl(methyl-4-deoxy-2,3-di-O-methyl.beta.1-threo-hex-4-enopyranosid) urinate, 3-(4-amino-phenyl)-2-(toluene-4-sulfonylamino)-propionic acid, 2-Methyl-3-heptanone, 3,5-Nonadien-7-yn-2-ol, (E,E), Butanoic acid, 1,1-dimethylethyl ester, 1-methyl-3-beta.phenylethyl-2,4,5-trioxoimidazolidine, Pentanoic acid, 2,2-dimethyl, ethyl ester (Vinyl 2,2-dimethylpentanoate), 4-Methyurazole, 1-Tridecyn- 4 – 9 – ol, 1-Hexyl-1-nitrocyclohexane were unique to spoilt fruits. This study suggests that these unique volatile metabolites could be exploited as biomarkers to discriminate pathogens even when more than one disease is present thereby curbing post harvest loss during storage after further validation and the volatile organic compound could form the basis for constructing a metabolomics database for Nigeria

Microorganisms Associated with Volatile Organic Compound Production in Spoilt Mango Fruits

Microorganisms associated with the production of volatile compound in spoilt mango fruits sold in Sokoto town were isolated and identified. The organisms include seven species of bacteria and a species of yeast. These include Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus firmus, Brevibacillus laterosporus, Morganella morganii, Paenibacillus alvei, Staphylococcus saccharolyticus, Listeria monocytogenes and Candida krusei respectively. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of eleven and sixteen volatile organic compound in the healthy and spoilt ripe mango fruits. Octadecanoic acid, oleic acid, 1 – Butanol, 3 – methyl-, carbonate (2:1) and 3,7 – Dimethyl nonane were common to both healthy and spoilt fruits with the first three having higher concentration in healthy fruits than spoilt while the later had higher concentration in the spoilt. One methyl group of 3,3- Dimethyl hexane in healthy fruit was shifted to position two to yield 2,3-Dimethyl hexane in the spoilt fruits. 2,2-Dimethylbutane, Methyl(methyl-4-deoxy-2,3-di-O-methyl.beta.1-threo-hex-4-enopyranosid) urinate, 3-(4-amino-phenyl)-2-(toluene-4-sulfonylamino)-propionic acid, 2-Methyl-3-heptanone, 3,5-Nonadien-7-yn-2-ol, (E,E), Butanoic acid, 1,1-dimethylethyl ester, 1-methyl-3-beta.phenylethyl-2,4,5-trioxoimidazolidine, Pentanoic acid, 2,2-dimethyl, ethyl ester (Vinyl 2,2-dimethylpentanoate), 4-Methyurazole, 1-Tridecyn- 4 – 9 – ol, 1-Hexyl-1-nitrocyclohexane were unique to spoilt fruits. This study suggests that these unique volatile metabolites could be exploited as biomarkers to discriminate pathogens even when more than one disease is present thereby curbing post harvest loss during storage after further validation and the volatile organic compound could form the basis for constructing a metabolomics database for Nigeria

Contamination of Herbal Medicinal Products Marketed in Kaduna Metropolis with Selected Pathogenic Bacteria

The study aimed to evaluate the bacterial contamination of powdered herbal medicinal preparations sourced from identified herbal retail outlets in different parts of Kaduna metropolis. The assessments of the contamination of the herbal products were carried out using standard procedures: total aerobic bacterial plate count, measurement of some physical parameters, isolation and characterization of selected bacterial pathogens etc. The results showed that out of a total of 150, 70 (46.67%) herbal remedies were contaminated with Salmonella typhi, twenty nine (19.33%) with Shigella spp. Eighty eight (58.67%) and 98 (65.33%) were contaminated with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The total aerobic plate count results showed that the highest average count of > 5×107cfu/g was found in 89 (59.33%) of the preparations, while average plate count of ≤5×107cfu/g was found in 42 (28%) and no bacterial count was obtained in 19 (12.67%) of the preparations. Correlation was positive (P = 0.01; r = +0.109) between the physical parameters tested and the bacterial load. Antibacterial activities result of some common antibiotics showed that all the antibiotics had activities on the test bacterial isolates at various minimum inhibitory concentrations. Most traditionally prepared herbal medications in Kaduna state are likely to be contaminated with a wide variety of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The quality assurance of these products should be thoroughly enforced and monitored in the production and distribution of herbal preparations

Bioremediation of Refinery Wastewater Using Immobilised Burkholderia Cepacia and Corynebacterium sp and Their Transconjugants

When oil spill occurs, it poses serious toxic hazards to all forms of life. Mixed culture of Burkholderia cepacia and Corynebacterium sp isolated from refinery sludge using selective enrichment technique was used for bioremediation of refinery wastewater in a laboratoryscale bioreactor. Physicochemical parameters of both raw and treated water were as determined and compared with Federal Environ - mental Protection Agency (FEPA-limit, Abuja, Nigeria) to asses the efficiency of the bioremediation process. Each of the bacterium was screened for the presence of plasmid DNA and for the involvement or otherwise of plasmid in the bioremediation of wastewater. The immobilised cells showed percentage decrease in chemical oxygen demand (97%), biochemical oxygen demand (94%), phenol (98%), total petroleum hydrocarbon (79%), oil and grease (90%) of the refinery waste water after 20 days of treatment while their transconjugants showed the multiplicative effect by achieving the same percentage after 10 days of treatment. Therefore, the findings revealed that bioaugmentation of wastewater using transmissible catabolic plasmid will enhance efficiency of the bioremediation by spreading the plasmid among indigenous microbial community either through horizontal gene transfer or transformation