Studies were carried out on deteriorated apples obtained from the Just Rite supermarket, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, to isolate microorganisms associated with post-harvest deterioration of apple (Malus domestica) fruits. The bacterial species were identified using microscopy, morphology and various biochemical tests while macroscopy and morphology was used to identify the fungi isolated. The ability of the isolate to elaborate extracellular amylase and protease were tested for. Results revealed Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus as the fungal species while the bacterial species isolated were Bacillus spp and Micrococcus spp. All the isolates except Aspergillus niger produced amylase in substantial amount. Micrococcus spp, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus produced protease. The results of this investigation if combined with further studies can be used in identifying organisms which could be used as a biological method in the control of apple pathogens.Keywords: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Bacillus spp, Micrococcus spp, agar.
Objective: The aim of this project is to extract the chemical components of various parts of this tree and to characterize the constituents of these extracts and to test for their biological activity.Methodology: Agar-well diffusion assay was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of the oil extract on the test isolates: Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and the yeast Candida albicans.The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for each test organism was determined by the broth dilution method using 0.5 McFarlandʼs standard.Results: Preliminary proximate and phytochemical analysis of the oil extracts from the seed showed the presence of the following minerals, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn as well as the following family of compounds: Steroids, saponin and terpenoids.Antimicrobial and antibacterial studies also revealed that the oil extract was active against Gramʼs negative and positive bacteria and fungi.The test organisms were Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and the yeast Candida albicans.Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to the oil extract at all the concentrations used.Conclusion: Amongst the bacteria used, highest MIC of 150 mg mLG 1 was recorded for Staphylococcus aureus, while lowest MIC of 50 mg mLG 1 was observed in E. coli.Highest activity was observed against the fungus, Candida albicans with MIC of 25 mg mLG 1 .
Cross-sectional studies of UTI among post menopausal women were carried out between January and
June, 2009 using standard microbiological techniques. The result obtained showed that 42 (39.6%) out of 106
postmenopausal women had urinary tract infections with highest prevalence among women aged 56-60 and lowest
among those aged � 61 . Microscopic examinations of forty-two (42) mid-stream urine samples revealed the
presence of 13(30.9%) epithelial cells, 5 (11.9%) phosphate crystals, 16 (38.1%) pus cell , 9 (21.4%) yeast cells,
7(16.7%) red blood cells and eggs of Schistoma haematobium 2(4.8%). Bacteria isolated were: Escherichia coli 20
(25.3%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus 16 (20.3%), Pseudomonas aureginosa 10 (12.7%), Coagulase negative
Staphylococcus spp 9 (11.4%), Streptococcus pyogenes 6 (7.6%), Serratia marcescens 6 (7.6%), Enterobacter spp 5
(6.3%). Klebsiella spp. 4 (5.1%) and Enterococcus faecalis 3(3.8%). E. coli showed low percentage resistance to
ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime and ceftriaxone. Enterobacter spp. were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and cotrimoxazole in
80%, respectively. Between 60-80% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp were susceptible to all the
tested antibiotics, while 4(66.7%) Streptococcus pyogenes, 6 (66.7%) CON-Staphylococcus spp and 4(66.7%)
Serratia marcescens were sensitive to ceftazidime. All the Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella spp isolated were
sensitive to ciprofloxacin. The phenotypic determination identified a low ESâL rate of 28.8 % (13 of 45 isolates).
ESBLs were detected among the following species: 5 Escherichia coli (25.0%), 3 Pseudomonas spp (30.0%), 1
Klebsiella spp (25.0%), Serratia marcescens2 (33.3%) and Enterobacter spp. 2 (40.0%). The result also showed that
18.9 % of the bacteria were resistant to at least 3 antibiotics with (MAR) index ranging from 0.2 to 0.8. The results
obtained in this study are statistically significant (p�0.05). However, continuous surveillance to monitor the
prevalence of UTI and antimicrobial resistance among post menopausal women is overwhelmingly necessary.
[Akinjogunla, O. J., Odeyemi, A. T. and Olasehinde, G. I. Epidemiological Studies of Urinary Tract Infection
(UTI) among Post-menopausal Women in Uyo Metropolis, South-South, Nigeria. Journal of American Science
2010;6(12):1674-1681]. (ISSN: 1545-1003). http://www.americanscience.org.
A research work was carried out on diseased carrots obtained from the main Sango Ota market to isolate
microorganisms associated with post harvest deterioration of carrots. Small portions (2 x 5mm) of the diseased parts
of carrots were aseptically inoculated on Nutrient agar and Saboraud agar incubated at 37OC and 26OC respectively.
The fungal species isolated were Aspergillus niger, Penicillium notatum, Mucor spp. and Fusarium spp. and they
were identified using morphology and microscopy. The bacterial species isolated were Bacillus spp., Leuconostoc
spp., Xanthomonas spp and Klebsiella spp and they were identified using microscopy, morphology and various
Biochemical tests. Extracellular enzyme production was carried out on the isolates to test for their ability to
elaborate Amylase and Protease. All the isolates except Aspergillus niger produced Amylase. Leuconostoc spp.,
Xanthomonas spp., Klebsiella spp. and Aspergillus niger elaborated Protease. The results of this present
investigation with further studies on carrots can be utilized in carrot juice production which is not commonly
available in Nigeria.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a significant pathogen identified with healthcare-associated infections. The present study evaluates the role of biofilm and efflux pump activities in influencing high-level resistance in virulent P. aeruginosa strains in clinical infection. Phenotypic resistance in biotyped Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 147) from diagnosed disease conditions was classified based on multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices and analysed with logistic regression for risk factors. Efflux pump activity, biofilm formation, and virulence factors were analysed for optimal association in Pseudomonas infection using receiver operation characteristics (ROC). Age-specificity (OR [CI] = 0.986 [0.946-1.027]), gender (OR [CI] = 1.44 [0.211-9.827]) and infection sources (OR [CI] = 0.860 [0.438-1.688]) were risk variables for multidrug resistance (MDR)-P. aeruginosa infection (p < 0.05). Biofilm formers caused 48.2% and 18.5% otorrhea and wound infections (95% CI = 0.820-1.032; p = 0.001) respectively and more than 30% multidrug resistance (MDR) strains demonstrated high-level efflux pump activity (95% CI = 0.762-1.016; p = 0.001), protease (95% CI = 0.112-0.480; p = 0.003), lipase (95% CI = 0.143-0.523; p = 0.001), and hemolysin (95% CI = 1.109-1.780; p = 0.001). Resistance relatedness of more than 80% and 60% to cell wall biosynthesis inhibitors (ceftazidime, ceffproxil, augumentin, ampicillin) and, DNA translational and transcriptional inhibitors (gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, nitrofurantoin) were observed (p < 0.05). Strong efflux correlation (r = 0.85, p = 0.034) with MDR strains, with high predictive performances in efflux pump activity (ROC-AUC 0.78), biofilm formation (ROC-AUC 0.520), and virulence hierarchical-clustering. Combine activities of the expressed efflux pump and biofilm formation in MDR-P. aeruginosa pose risk to clinical management and infection control.
There have been reports of increasing development of drug resistance among human pathogens as well as undesirable side effects of certain antimicrobial agents.It is therefore necessary to search for new agents that are better, cheaper and without side effects for treating infectious diseases especially in developing countries. In this study, phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of leaves of Mangifera indica were investigated. Standard methods were employed to screen for the phytochemicals. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of M. indica leaves against seven different clinical isolates namely: Stapylococcus aureus , Micrococcus virians, M. leteus , Escherichia coli, Klebsellia pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a fungus, Candida albicans . Phytochemical screening showed the presence of active pharmacological components such as tannins, saponins, cardiac glycoside, flavonoid and alkaloids. Aqueous extract demonstrated a higher activity than the ethanolic extract. S. aureus showed highest sensitivity to the aqueous extracts with MIC 31.25mg/mL. Least sensitivity was observed in K. pneumoniae and Candida albicans with MIC 125mg/mL each in the two extracts. M. indica exhibited significant antimicrobial activity comparable to gentamicin which is used as control in this study.
Malaria remains a significant global health concern causing numerous fatalities and the emergence of antimalarial drug resistance highlights the urgent need for novel therapeutic options with innovative mechanisms of action and targets. This study aimed to design potential inhibitors of
Background: This study was carried out to investigate proximate composition, phytochemical profile and antimicrobial activity of the spectroscopically characterized seed oil of Bauhinia tomentosa.Materials and method: The characterization was carried out using FT-IR, mass spectra, 1 H-and 13 C-NMR.Results: The results from the proximate analysis showed the presence of crude protein 30.36±0.98%,crude fibre 26.00±0.69%,carbohydrate 25.32±0.57%,moisture content 12.04±0.39%,ash content 4.00±0.15%and fat content 2.28±0.09%.The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, terpenes, cardiac glycosides, sterols, anthraquinones and tannins in varying degrees.The mineral determination showed that the seed oil contained iron (3.10±0.01mg kgG 1 ), manganese (0.38±0.01 mg kgG 1 ), while cadmium (0.0 mg kgG 1 ), lead (0.0 mg kgG 1 ) and nickel (0.0 mg kgG 1 ) were not detected.The extracted seed oil was investigated for antimicrobial efficiency against four bacterial isolates and two fungal, wherein gentamicin and clotrimazole were the clinical standard antibiotic and antifungal agents, respectively.Conclusion: The antimicrobial activity result revealed the sample to be bioactive and of great pharmaceutical potential with MIC value of 6.25 and <3.625 mg mLG 1 against Escherichia coli and Candida albican, respectively.Due to high nutritional values and broad antimicrobial properties, the seed oil of Bauhinia tomentosa has nutraceutical potentials, which might pave way for its use as an alternative nutrient source for mankind or for industrial purposes.
