Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research

Abstract: Shigellosis is very common in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Two major species and serotypes, Shigella flexneriae 2a and Shigella dysenteriae type 1 were the cause of shigellosis in the Island till 2001. During 2002 to 2003, the scenario of shigellosis shifted and Shigella sonnei emerged as the prime and sole pathogen. On examination of 106 diarrhoeic stool samples, a total of seven S. sonnei was isolated. All the isolates were nalidixic resistant. The shift of predominant nalidixic acid-resistant trait of S…

Abstract: The antibacterial activities of 52 samples of 24 types of honey, either locally produced or imported were evaluated for their antibacterial activity. Manuka honey was included in the study for the sake of comparison. The antibacterial activity (estimated as phenol %) of 91.7% of the tested honeys ranged between 5.5 and 7.9%. There was no relationship between the potency of antibacterial activity and the color of honey. Locally produced Shaoka and Taify Sidr and the imported honeys, Yemeni Sidr, Black Seed, Clover a…

Abstract: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of methicillin resistant coagulase positive Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in two major hospitals in Asir region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to compare it with the community-acquired infections. Two hundreds and ten coagulase positive S. aureus recovered from 9831 specimens from various infections at Asir Central Hospital and Abha General Hospital, KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), were tested against 44 commonly used antibacterial agents. One hund…

Abstract: To evaluate the prevalence of enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus in intestines of land snails and to determine the antibiogram of the isolates, samples for culture were obtained from ninety-nine different land snail species. Isolates of S. aureus were tested for enterotoxin production using the SET-RPLA and their antibiotic susceptibilities were determined by disc diffusion methods according to NCCLS standards. A total of 42 S. aureus isolates were recovered. Of these, 28 were enterotoxigenic. Antimicrobial susc…

Abstract: The abilities of twelve bacterial isolates to utilise atrazine and primextra and the degradation dynamics of the two herbicides in soil was determined in this study. Soil treatments were carried out in triplicates using the completely randomized blocked design. Utilisation of atrazine and primextra were determined by monitoring growth rates of the bacteria, actinomyces and streptomyces via viable counts, optical density and pH changes. Chromatographic analysis of soil samples were also done to determine residual co…

Abstract: Plants continue to be an important therapeutic aid for alleviating the ailments of humankind. In the present research work different parts (root, leaf and flowers) of Calendula officinalis were screened for potential antibacterial activity against some important bacterial strains, namely Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The antibacterial activity was determined in aqueous, alcohol, chloroform and petroleum ether extracts using agar disc…

Abstract: This study investigated the abilities of ten bacterial and five fungal isolates indigenous to polluted mechanic soils to utilise and degrade crude oil and gasoline. Of all the bacterial and fungal isolates obtained in this study Pseudomonas sp. Bacillus sp. and Aspergillus sp. were found to be more predominant in the polluted mechanic soils. The growth profiles were determined by monitoring the optical density, total viable counts, dry weights and pH of the culture utilizing crude oil and gasoline as carbon and ene…

Abstract: Management of organic and inorganic fertilizer application and residual of them are very important in their effect on environment and plant yield in order to determine the effect of drought stress and different amendments on flower, essential oil and chamazulene yield and yield components of CHAMOMILLA RECUTITA (L.). Rauschert, this study was conducted in split plot design with three replications during 2007 to 2009 at University of Zabol. Treatment included W1 (non stress), W2 (75% FC) and W3 (50% FC) as main plot…

Abstract: The microbial load of ready-to-eat rice from both local fast food centers (local restaurants) and Standard fast food centers (high class restaurants) within Benin City was investigated. The total colony count ranged from 2.0 x 104 to 1.2 x 106 for bacteria and 8.0 x 104 to 2.0 x 105 for fungi. Four bacteria were isolated: Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia. B. cereus, which is mainly associated with food poisoning because of its ability to produce toxins, was present i…

Abstract: Rhizobacteria of Bacillus species were isolated from the rhizosphere of soybean plant of Cirebon, Indonesia, and further examined for plant growth promoting activities. A total of 118 isolates identified as Bacillus sp., 90 isolates (76.3%) among them positively produced phytohormone indole acetic acid (IAA). The 12 isolates (13.3%) were selected, initially on the basis of germinating seed bioassay in which the root length, shoot length or number of lateral root of the seedling was enhanced significantly. All those…

Abstract: Totally, 128 psychrophilic actinomycetes were isolated and 14 were found to be facultative psychrophilic which were selected to determine the antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The results showed that, four strains were active against the test organism M. tuberculosis. The active isolates screened in the present study were found to be highly effective and comes under Streptomycetes species (RH7 and RH8), Micromonospora species (RH9) and Micropolyspora species (RH12). All the isolates cap…

Abstract: Three Antimicrobial agents from the leaf of Struchium sparganophora were isolated by chromatographic methods and characterized. The microbial inhibitory activity of these compounds was investigated against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. The antimicrobial activity of some of these compounds was similar in some of the micro-organisms used for the tests except Klebsiella. aerogenes and the fungus Candida albicans where all the compounds showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 50…

Abstract: Aqueous ethanolic extract of four medicinal plants were subjected to in vitro antibacterial assay against human pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa employing cup diffusion method. Among four plants tested Eugenia caryophyllata (Clove) was found to be the most effective against S. typhi. All the plants were ineffective against E. coli and K. pneumonia. Achyranthes bidentata was found to be ineffective against all th…

Abstract: The genus Gladiolus (Family: Iridaceae) has 260 species of a perennial herb. In West Africa the corms of Gladiolus species are used in food and Traditional Medicine, often in combination with other plant materials. This study aimed at verifying the basis for the use of these corms in both instances. Aqueous extracts of the corms obtained in Benue State, Nigeria, were tested for antimicrobial effects; and screened for key phytochemicals. Antimicrobial effects were evaluated by measuring the diameters of inhibition z…

Abstract: This study investigated the comparative effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) and some antibiotics on two pathogenic bacteria. The plant extracts were prepared by weighing the plant leaves and root (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 g) into 100 mls of water and ethanol (at g/100 ml) and grounded to determine the extract concentrations. Serial dilutions of the antibiotics used were prepared to determine the various antibiotic concentrations. The results obtained showed that ginger extract of both the plant and root showed the…