غلامرضا زرینی

The potential role of Helicobacter pullorum as an emerging cause of foodborne infection and a common disease between humans and livestock has been proven. This bacterium has been isolated from the contents of the cecum, liver and duodenum of laying and broiler poultry, as well as from the contents of the digestive system and bile ducts in human cases of gastro-intestinal inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate Helicobacter pullorum infection in broiler poultry with symptoms of enteritis referred to one of the poultry clinics in Tabriz city. For this purpose, 70 samples of cecal contents and 70 liver samples from 14 broiler flocks were evaluated using bacterial culture and PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) methods. Based on the findings, 10 cecal content samples from 2 different herds were positive for the presence of Helicobacter pullorum bacteria in culture and molecular PCR tests, while none of the liver samples were positive in this respect. Considering the role of Helicobacter pullorum in causing mortality and damages in poultry farms and its related economic importance and the possibility of causing secondary carcass contamination during the slaughter due to presence of the bacterium in the digestive system of poultry as well as the zoonotic nature of the disease, therefore the above bacterium should always be considered as a health risk factor threatening the health of consumers.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a relatively common disorder that is associated with higher mortality than other nosocomial pneumonias. Various antibiotics, including meropenem are used in treatment of this disease. The present study was designed to evaluate the population pharmacodynamics of meropenem.

This cross-sectional study was carried out in 57 patients with VAP. All patients received iv infusion of meropenem (1 g) every eight hours and the pharmacokinetic parameters obtained from these patients were used in a parallel study to simulate the duration of plasma concentration above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Standard microbiological tests were used on tracheal aspiration samples to identify the microbial etiology of VAP, and MIC against bacterial infection was determined by E-test. Finally, the time when the drug concentration was higher than the MIC between two consecutive administrations was calculated.

The prevalence of VAP pathogens was similar to the results of other studies. In 90% of patients, the MIC of meropenem against VAP-producing microbes was more than 32 µg/ml (ratio of free drug concentration above MIC) indicating resistance to treatment and only in four patients was less than 0.064 µg/ml, which indicates sensitivity to treatment.

Due to the high prevalence of meropenem resistance among VAP-producing pathogens, meropenem administration is recommended after antibiogram evaluation.

Biological desulfurization by microorganis msisasuit able method to remove sulfur containing compounds from fossil fuels.The aim of the present research was to introduce indigenous microorganisms with the ability to biologically remove of sulfur.In order to isolating native microorganisms, oil contaminated soil samples taken from Abadan oil refinery were transferred to the microbiology laboratory.Enrichment of oil-contaminated soil samples was performed during 4 subcultivations in BSM medium with 0.5 mM DBT as the only source of sulfur during which 20 bacterial isolates were obtained.Superior isolates were selected based on growth rate and turbidity caused by the consumption of DBT.In order to investigate the possible metabolic pathway of desulfurization in isolates, the most common metabolic pathway of desulfurization, i.e. 4S pathway, was tracked through the Gibbs assay, and the production of blue color could confirm the existence of this pathway in microorganisms.GC-MS method was used to check the amount of dibenzothiophene reduction.Isolates BDS9, BDS18 and BDS37 were able to remove 95.7%, 95.5% and 86.5% of DBT over a period of 72 hours, respectively.

Methanotrophs are microorganisms that play an important role in reducing up to 15% of environmental CH4 concentration. These bacteria can oxidize methane to methanol. Methane is an atmosphere-polluting greenhouse gas with increasing atmospheric concentrations and is considered a serious threat to the environment and the sustenance of life on the planet. Possible unfavorable future weather and the extensive use of different types of pesticides necessitate the use of methanotrophic bacteria that are resistant to these conditions. The present study focused on the isolation and specific study of Methylocystis methanotrophic bacteria.

The bacterial strains were isolated from different environments such as wetlands, rivers, and paddy fields. The isolated strains were concentrated with Methane gas enriched cultures and purified by serial dilution-extinction, alternating liquid, and solid subcultures. Then, molecular identification was performed and a suitable culture medium was designed for Methylocystis strains in the name of Methylocystis Culture (MOC). Strains were cultured in MOC to evaluate their viability in different conditions by changing important parameters such as the temperature, pH, salinity, and drought. In addition, they were affected by pesticides. The methane gas reduction in the upper space of the culture medium of each strain, in accordance with the control samples, is considered as the methane oxidation of that strain.

Methane gas oxidation rate was determined in vitro for the cultures of several strains. The growth curve of the strains was plotted. According to the results, Methylocystis methanotrophs had high survivability in different conditions and were resistant to common pesticides, and consumed more than 75% of methane gas over a period of 14 days.

Methylocystis methanotrophic bacteria can greatly reduce the release of methane into the atmosphere and alter the fate of the atmosphere.

Nowadays, the use of bacteria to clean oil pollution from water and soil has been considered by scientists and this method is more economical than other methods and does not cause toxic compounds in the environment.

In the present study, the results of the bioremediation process have been presented to identify the most optimal bacterial isolates of petroleum degraders in physicochemical and textural conditions of contaminated soil of Tabriz refinery. Gas chromatographic analysis with thermal detection (Gc-FID) was used to evaluate the removal rate of hydrocarbons.

The 7 isolates of bacteria were purified in this study. A Pseudomonas isolate was introduced as a strain with the highest efficiency.

 Discussion and Conclusion

After 30 days, as a result of Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter performance, the amount of TPH in contaminated soil samples was decreased in rate of 65.25 and 42.39 percent, respectively. Based on this investigation, the Bacterial Bioremediation method to clean up contaminated soils by petroleum hydrocarbons due to simplicity of implementation, environmentally friendly, safety and low cost is highly proposed to conduct in other oil refineries in Iran.

The energy crisis is an urgent issue due to the increased consumption of fossil fuels. Therefor alternative energy sources are, of critical importance. Sediment Microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are more important among other renewable energy sources in which chemical energy in organic compounds is converted to electrical energy due to proper bacteria (exoelectrogens) catalytic activity. In this study, one liter glassy reactor was used, half of it was filled with Urmia lake sediment, where microbial consortium are present, as anodic part and upper half was filled with lake water as cathodic part. Copper wires attached to graphite electrodes 4×4 cm² (choice electrode) and via an external resistance 2/2 kΩ two sections related to each other. Electrochemical performance was evaluated by a digital voltimeter. The effectiveness of methyl red as mediator and lactate after determination of optimum concentration which is added every 15 days was evaluated. All fuel cells were studied for over 45 days of experiment. The results demonstrated the mediator SMFC with power density of 7/54 mW/m² has a distinct difference with mediator-less SMFC with power density of 0.46 mW/m². The recorded power density of SMFC with lactate and mediator was 4/44 ± 1/44 mW/m².
Discussion and Sediment microbial consortia degrade available organic compounds and transfer to the anode electrode by using synthetic mediators. The results showed, in addition to external synthetic mediator, methyl red increases fuel cell electrochemical performance. While it was expected that fuel cell performs well in the presence of mediator and external carbon source, we witnessed better electrochemical performance in the absence of lactate.

According to sanitation standards, swimming pools water like drinking water should have acceptable physicochemical and microbial qualifications. This survey was conducted to investigate physicochemical and microbial qualities of hot spring pools in Meshkin Shahr, Ardabil Province in 2014-2015.In this cross-sectional study, 52 samples were taken from mineral hot springs in Meshkin Shahr (Gheynarcheh and Moeil) from Sep 2014 to Aug 2015. The physicochemical parameters including temperature, pH, EC, hardness, alkalinity and residual chlorine and microbial parameters such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, total coliform, fecal coliform and fecal streptococci were determined by the standard methods.None of the measured physico-chemical parameters complied with the standards. Total coliform, fecal coliform and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 88.46%, 73.07% and 53.84% of the samples were respectively above the standard rates. Fecal streptococci were observed in 3.85% of the samples.According to this study results there is a need to monitor water quality to increase swimmers awareness of the risks to prevent the transmission of certain diseases.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Much attention has been given to nutritional supplements that can alter intestinal flora as factors preventing colon cancer. Research has shown that lactic acid bacteria in foods are potentially capable of inducing apoptosis. In this regard, the most focus has been on Lactobacillus genus. This study, investigated the cytotoxic effect of metabolites of isolated strain from Azerbaijan traditional cheeses on HCT116 colorectal cancer cells.
In this cross-sectional study, after collecting samples of traditional "Lighvan" and "jug" cheeses in the region of Azerbaijan, MRS medium was used for isolation of lactobacilli. The isolates were identified by biochemical and molecular approaches after primary confirmation. The metabolites were produced in MRS broth, and their supernatants were separated. The inhibitory effect of the supernatants of the isolates on HCT116 cancer cells was studied and their effects were evaluated by microscopy and MTT assay.
In this study, three isolates of "Lighvan" and sixteen isolates of "jug" cheeses were obtained. The results of anticancer activity showed that the supernatants of the isolates CT2 and JT1 had a significant anticancer effect on HCT116 cancer cells (p˂0.05). Identification of the isolates CT2 and JT1 showed 99% and 96% similarity with Lactobacillus brevis, respectively.
Lactobacilli in Azerbaijan traditional dairy products have a significant value in terms of anticancer properties.

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic Gram-negative pathogen with increasing relevance in a variety of hospital-acquired infections especially among intensive care unit patients. A. baumannii is mostly a cause of septicemia, pneumonia and urinary tract infection following hospitalization of patients. In this study antibiotic susceptibility pattern of A.baumannii isolates and molecular typing among isolates resistant by REP-PCR were determined. During study, the A. baumannii, were isolated from hospitals in Tehran. The isolates were identified using standard biochemical tests and antibiotic susceptibility was determined by the disk diffusion method. Extraction of DNA and molecular typing of isolates performed using CTAB method and REP-PCR, respectively. In this study 75 A. baumannii isolates separated from patients with an average age of 51 ± 18.45 years. The highest resistance rate was against azteronam (97%), ceftazidim (93%), cefepime (93%), piperacillin-tazobactam (93%), ciprofloxacin (93%) and ticarcillin (93%) while the lowest resistance rate was against tigecycline (n= 51, 68%), followed by tobramycin (n=24, 32%), ampicillin-sulbactam (n=21, 28%), amikacin (n=16, 21%), and carbapenems (n=11, 15%). The REP-PCR in resistant of A. baumannii isolates showed that the genotypes of A, B and C are the predominant genotypes in the resistant antibiotics. This study showed a high percentage of resistance to antimicrobial agents among genotypes A, B, and C of the A. baumannii isolates; therefore strategies to control the spread of A. baumannii isolates must be designed and evaluated.

Ferula szovitsiana belongs to Umbelliferae family and is an endemic medicinal herb distributed throughout the Iran and Central Asia. The gum obtained from the roots of genus Ferula has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of digestive disorders and rheumatism. In this research، antibacterial and synergistic activities of chloroform fractions of root extract of Ferula szovitsiana have been studied. In this experimental study، antibacterial، antifungal and synergistic effects of chloroform and methanol extract and active fractions (CEF1-CEF15) on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (concentrations; 0. 2-4 mg/ml، the multiple of 2) have been studied using disc diffusion and micro-dilution methods. The results revealed that the extracts and the fractions had notable anti-microbial effect on the tested microorganism. The mean inhibition zone diameter between 7 to 23 mm was observed for the various fractions of the extract. Between 15 produced fractions، CEF6 has the most significant anti-microbial and anti-fungal effect against Bacillus subtilis and Cryptocccus neoformans (zone diameters; 15. 4 mm and 23. 1 mm respectively). Fraction CEF5 has no effect on the growth of microorganisms. Potent synergistic effect of the fractions with Erythromycin and Tetracycline were detected for CEF1، CEF9، CEF10 and CEF11 against Methicilin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. Results obtained from this study revealed that total extract and fractions from F. szovitsiana have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Species of genus Ferula are rich sources of coumarin compounds with antimicrobial activity against many microorganisms and findings from the present study were based on the same potential of the fractions.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a multi-resistant opportunistic nosocomial pathogen responsible for hospital outbreaks worldwide. In addition to common microscopic and biochemical methods، the Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA) was tested to identify Acinetobacter genomic species (DNA groups). In this study، standard biochemical tests were used for identification of isolates. The genomic species of Acinetobacter spp. was confirmed by Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA). PCR products of 16S rRNA were digested with AluI، MboI and HhaI restriction enzymes. ARDRA proved to be a rapid and reliable method for identification of Acinetobacter baumannii (genome species 2) of the Acinetobacter genomic species، including the closely related genomic species (genomic species 1 (A. calcoaceticus)، 2 (A. baumannii)، 3، and TU13). The results of this study suggested that ARDRA with AluI، MboI and HhaI restriction enzymes can be used for identificationof A. baumannii which may help to elucidate the ecology and clinical significance of different species of this genus. Since ARDRA is performed by universal primers of 16S rDNA gene، it is expected to be applicable to identifying most bacterial species.

In the present study, the cyanobacterial flora of Urmia Lake (NW Iran), one of the largest salt lakes in the world and adjacent rivers is investigated. Urmia Lake comprises different micro-organisms including cyanobacteria which have a major role in aquatic ecosystems. Cyanobacterial samples were collected in 2008–09 from Urmia Lake and its surrounding ecosystems. All samples were cultivated, isolated and identified using morphological keys basically and also molecular methods via 16S rRNA sequencing in some cases.

Expansion of microbial drug resistance, have indicated to introduce new source of drugs with antimicrobial properties such as antimicrobial secondary metabolites which produced of Cyanobacteria spp. Antimicrobial activity of Cyanobacteria spp. of Urmia Lake catchment area was not already reported, therefore in this research, antibacterial and antifungal properties of cyanobacteria varieties isolated from this ecosystem and identification of the potent strains were investigated. Different environmental samples screened for isolation of cyanobacterial strains. Cyanobacterial extracts were prepared by using different solvents. The effect of these extracts was evaluated by disc diffusion method and by measuring minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against some gram positive and gram negative bacteria and fungi. Cyanobacteria spp. with the high antimicrobial activity was identified according to Microscopic and macroscopic characters and 16SrRNA sequences. In this research, 54 cyanobacterial strains were isolated that six strains with significant antimicrobial activity identified as Gloeocapsa sp., Anabaena sp., Nodularia sp., Synechococcus sp., Leptolyngbya sp. and Chroococcus disperses. the highest antimicrobial activity achieved by the chloroform extract on gram positive bacteria and fungi. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) levels for the cyanobacterial strains were ranged 20 to 80 µg/ml and Leptolyngbya sp. showed the highest effects on Candida krusei with MIC level 20 µg/ml. According to the results, cyanobacteria can be a source of production new antimicrobial compounds.the results showed that the filamentous cyanobacteria Anabaena sp., Nodularia sp., and Leptolyngbya sp. produce active compounds against gram positive bacteria and yeasts.

Chalcones, a class of natural products, have different biological activities. The aim of this research was synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial effects of three chalcones bearing allyloxy moiety similar to some natural flavanoids. Chalcones (3a-c) were prepared in two steps. First, vanillin, isovanillin and salicylaldehyde were reacted with allyl bromide to afford allyloxy aldehydes. Then, allyloxy aldehydes were reacted with 2- hydroxyacetophenone in the alkaline media to afford final products. Standard disc diffusion and Agar dilution methods were used for analyzing antimicrobial activities on three gram-positive and two gram-negative bacterial species and also three fungi species. Antioxidant activity of the compounds was determined by DPPH using brand- Williams method. Chalcones 3a-c were synthesized as yellow-orange crystals in 60 70% yield. Chalcone 3c with concentration about 4 mg/disc had 11.7 mm inhibition zone on P. aeruginosa and Chalcone 3b with MIC value about 0.5 mg/ml, exhibited 8.8 and 16.5 mm inhibition zone in 2 and 4 mg/disc for S. epidermidis, respectively. Mean while MIC value of the Chalcones 3a and 3c was more than 2 mg/ml. Chalcones 3a-c had no antifungal activities. Antioxidant activities of chalcones 3a, 3b and 3c were determined to be 31, 28 and 27 percent respectively. Chalcones 3a-c were synthesized in two steps. Their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were evaluated. The two 3b and 3c regioisomers showed selective and weak antibacterial activities. Chalcone 3b and 3c affected on gram positive and gram negative bacteria, respectively. Chalcone 3a did not show any antibacterial activity.