Mary Bishay

λ-cyhalothrin is a widely used synthetic pyrethroid insecticide and its persistence in plant, soil and water exerts a detrimental effect on humans as well as the environment. There are many studies regarding isolated bacteria capable of degrading λ-cyhalothrin in vitro . However, limited work has been done examining the microbial degradation of λ-cyhalothrin together with plant growth promotion under greenhouse conditions. In this study, 43 bacterial strains were isolated from heavily polluted soil with λ-cyhalothrin by the enrichment technique. The plant growth promotion characteristics of all isolates were evaluated. The results revealed that five isolates were potential in λ-cyhalothrin biodegradation at high concentration (1200 mg/L) within only 24 h together with their high plant growth promotion abilities. The morphological, biochemical and 16S rDNA sequence analyses identified the isolates as Bacillus subtilis strains. The GC/MS analysis revealed that the selected isolates reached high levels of degradation after only two days, the degradation percentage ranged from 95.72 to 99.52% after 48 h of incubation. Furthermore, the degradation pathway for complete detoxification and metabolism of λ-cyhalothrin was established. Moreover, greenhouse experiment was conducted, the results indicate that the application of seed coat significantly enhanced Vicia faba seedling growth and caused an increase from 38.4 to 40.2% percentage of fresh and dry weight, respectively compared to untreated control. All isolates were effective to remove the pesticide residues in Vicia faba seedlings and recorded the highest degradation percentage of 83.79 under greenhouse conditions. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Bacillus subtilis strains isolated in this study have a dual potential role in complete mineralization of λ-cyhalothrin residues in vivo as well as effective biofertilization for future use in sustainable agriculture.

Myrosinase hydrolyzes glucosinolates giving various products depending on the physiological conditions. The hydrolysis products especially isothiocyanates have antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer activity, act as soil biofumigant, natural pesticides and food preservatives. Myrosinase is mainly found in cruciferous plants but few literatures reported its production by both fungi and bacteria. In this study, fifty eight fungal species were isolated from Eruca sativa and its soil (endophytic isolates from root and leaves, epiphytic isolates and rhizosphere soil isolates) and screened for myrosinase activity. About thirty six isolates (62.07% of the screened fungal isolates) were able to produce myrosinase. Isolates that exhibited myrosinase activity were 79.3% of the rhizosphere soil isolates (twenty one isolates), 63.64% of the epiphytic isolates (seven isolates), 50% of the root endophytic isolates (five isolates) and 37.5% of leaves endophytic isolates (three isolates) exhibited myrosinase activity. They belonged to the genera Aspergillus, Penicellium, Fusarium, Eumericella, Alternaria and Sclerotium. Eumericella violacea and Fusarium dimerium represented the highest percentage among myrosinase producers with 16.67%, followed with Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus fumigates and Penicellium echinulatum with 8.33%. Quantitative screening indicated that Eumericella violacae (an isolate from the rhizosphere soil of E.sativa) produced the highest myrosinase activity with value15.23±0.62 U/ml.

Municipal sewage, septic tanks, fertilizers, animal feedlots and irrigation wastewater are the common sources of groundwater pollution in rural areas. Sedimentation pools of wastewater treatment plants are possibly suggested to be another source of pollution. Twowastewater treatment plants located at Qalyubia governorate named Qalyub (QWTP) and Shubra Al-khayma (SHWTP) were selected to carry out the present study; two samples from influent and effluent were collected seasonally from both plants. Furthermore, 6 groundwater samples were collected from nearby rural houses of both plants. The physicochemical and microbiological properties were evaluated for all samples. Moreover, Box-PCR for 12 strains isolated from wastewater and groundwater at Qalyub district was carried out. Water quality assessment studies proven that the effectiveness of the two wastewater treatment plants under investigation is questionable, especially QWTP. The percentages of removing of TSS, COD, BOD, ammonia and fecal coliform counts were 87, 74, 88, 66, 94 and 89%, respectively, for QWTP, and 85, 89, 93, 86, 94 and 83%, respectively, for SHWTP. The groundwater at Qalyub district was contaminated with Mn, Fe, ammonia, BOD, coliform bacteria, fecal streptococci, E. coli, Aerumonas hydrophilla and Pseudomonas aeruginosea, while the groundwater at Shubra Al-khayma district was contaminated with Mn, coliform bacteria, fecal streptococci and P. aeruginosea, Microbial and chemical evaluation of groundwater, as well as, Box-PCR results proven that, the contamination of the tested groundwater might be of other source than water treatment plants.

Biofilm formation is closely related to the pathogenic processes of Klebsiella pneumoniae, which frequently causes infections that are difficult to treat with antimicrobial agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate biofilm formation ability among clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from Egypt, and to study its antibiotic resistance, extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) production and fimbrial genes occurrence. A total of 90 clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were collected from different sources. Antimicrobial susceptibility, phenotypic and genotypic detection of ESBLs and biofilm assay were determined. SEM was applied to confirm K. pneumoniae biofilm formation. PCR assay was performed to investigate the distribution of fimbrial, as well as β-lactamases genes which were further confirmed by DNA sequencing. The results reveal high prevalence of multidrug resistance (86.66%) and biofilm formation ability (51%) among Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Furthermore, ESBL producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates had a higher ability to form a biofilm compared to non-ESBL forming ones. The occurrence of blaCTX-M and blaTEM among ESBLs-biofilm producers demonstrated high predominance of isolates harboring blaCTX-M. The distribution of fimbrial (mrkD and fimH) among biofilm former isolates were 100% and 86.95% respectively. The present study revealed high prevalence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) among Klebsiella pneumoniae in Egypt, in addition to biofilm formation, and also conclude that ESBL producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates had a higher ability to form a biofilm in comparison with non-ESBL forming ones. In addition, our study strongly supports that type 3 fimbriae strongly promote biofilm formation in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) have recently received a reasonable attention as one of the major risks in susceptible pharmaceutical products. This microorganism can easily spread and cause severe contamination especially to the water stations for pharmaceutical companies. It rapidly grow within the product and cause cystic fibrosis and septicemia in humans.The traceability of the sources of contamination of pharmaceutical non-sterile aqueous preserved products and how to control it during the manufacturing operations as it is concern with the public health.
: The samples collected for the analysis were taken from different sources provided from the pharmaceutical company such as: aqueous finished products, filling machines, preparation tanks and water stations, identified by API 20NE, Vitek 2 compact system and 16S rRNA.
: From 213 different samples of finished product, 22 bacterial isolates had been identified as Burkholderia cepacia group. Raw materials and primary packaging materials did not result in any bacterial isolates while the machine surfaces and preparation tanks were contaminated. From 384 pharmaceutical water samples, 35 isolates were identified as B.cepacia.
Our study suggests that the chlorine treatment and hydrogen peroxide have a significant effect on B.cepacia in water disinfection.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most common pathogen associated with community and hospital acquired infections.Widespread antimicrobial resistance often limits the availability of therapeutic options to only a very few efficacious antibiotics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the effect of ampicillin/thymol combination against planktonic and biofilm cells of ampicillin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.Activity of ampicillin and thymol on planktonic Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were tested by micro-broth dilution method. Synergistic assay was performed using checkerboard assay as well asmodified disc diffusionmethods.Ampicillin, thymol and the best synergistic combination were tested to eradicate the bacterial biofilm by tissue culture plate (TCP) method which were further confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM).High resistance to ampicillin and thymol was detected. The strains affected by combinations differently, but most of them found to enhance ampicillin activity at concentration 64 µg/ml when combined with 0.78125 µg/ml of thymol. Biofilm eradication activities of ampicillin (64 µg/ml) and thymol (0.78125 µg/ml) were ranged between 3.258%- 38.879% and 15.452%-55.915% respectively. Ampicillin/thymol combination eradication activity was ranged from 11.936% to 68.604% which then confirmed by SEM.Thymol combination with ampicillin was showed to be a strong in vitro antibacterial agent against biofilm formers Klebsiella pneumoniae. In conclusion more studies and evaluations are in need to validate the use of modified disc diffusion method as a primary screening technique to detect synergy. In future, further studies on natural compounds are in need which may be an option to enhance the other commercial antibiotics. © 2019, Advanced Scientific Research. All rights reserved.