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Biomedical subjects

M A Moriñigo

Publications and source records attributed to M A Moriñigo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida.

The ability of a set of Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida strains isolated from different fish species to produce different superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase enzymes was determined. Unlike other bacterial pathogens, P. damselae ssp. piscicida is not able to produce different isoforms of SOD or catalase containing different metal cofactors when cultured under oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide or methyl viologen, or under iron depleted conditions. However, iron content of the growth medium influenced the levels of SOD and catalase activity in cells, these levels decreasing with iron availability of the medium. Comparison of virulent and non-virulent strains of P. damselae ssp. piscicida showed similar contents of SOD, but higher levels of catalase were detected in cells of the virulent strain. Incubation of bacteria with sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup), phagocytes has shown that survival rates range from 19% to 62%, these rates being higher for the virulent strain. The increased levels of catalase activity detected in the virulent strain indicates a possible role for this enzyme in bacterial survival.

2,2'-Dipyridyl↗

Effectiveness of a divalent vaccine for sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup), against Vibrio harveyi and Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida.

The protection of cultured sole, Solea senegalensis, against Vibrio harveyi and Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida was evaluated following the use of a divalent vaccine prepared with formalized whole cells and extracellular products of virulent strains of both pathogenic microorganisms and administered by the immersion route. Two prolonged immersions of 5-10 g fish in the divalent bacterin at a 1-month interval gave high levels of protection similar to those obtained when the respective monovalent vaccines were administered by the intraperitoneal route [relative percentage of survival (RPS) values >70%], which indicates that the former procedure can be a useful strategy with small fish. The high protection afforded by the divalent vaccine in sole lasted for 4 months after which the RPS values against both pathogens decreased significantly.

Animals↗

Adhesion to sole, Solea senegalensis Kaup, mucus of microorganisms isolated from farmed fish, and their interaction with Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida.

Abstract Most studies carried out to select microorganisms as candidate probiotics have focused on in vitro antagonism tests, such as the production of inhibitory compounds against pathogenic microorganisms. However, attachment to mucous surfaces could be another criterion to be considered when selecting potential probiotics for aquaculture. Nineteen isolates obtained from farmed Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis Kaup, and gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L., have been evaluated for their capacity to adhere to skin and intestinal mucus of Senegalese sole, and their antagonistic effect against Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, an important pathogen for farmed sole. The isolates from gilthead sea bream showed the highest percentage of adhesion to sole mucus, whilst the pathogenic microorganisms assayed and the isolates from sole showed, in general, a lower ability to adhere to sole mucus. The results suggest that the adhesion to fish mucus was more dependent on the isolate tested than on the host mucus. The isolates from gilthead sea bream also showed a higher antagonistic activity against P. damselae subsp. piscicida than those from Senegalese sole. Four isolates were selected, on the basis of their adhesive ability and antagonistic effect on P. damselae subsp. piscicida, to study their interactions with the pathogen in respect of adhesion to skin and intestinal mucus under exclusion, competition and displacement conditions. The results obtained show the ability of three isolates to reduce the adhesion of P. damselae subsp. piscicida to sole mucus under displacement and competition conditions. The adhesion of the pathogen to sole intestinal mucus was also significantly reduced when three isolates were assayed under exclusion conditions.

Animals↗

Interactions of microorganisms isolated from gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L., on Vibrio harveyi, a pathogen of farmed Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup).

Four bacterial isolates from farmed gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, included in a previous study as members of the Vibrionaceae and Pseudomonodaceae and the genus Micrococcus, have been evaluated for their adhesive ability to skin and intestinal mucus of farmed Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis, and their antagonistic effect on Vibrio harveyi, a pathogen of sole. These isolates showed higher adhesion to sole mucus than the pathogenic strains of V. harveyi assayed. Only two of the isolates showed antagonistic activity to V. harveyi. Interactions of the four isolates with V. harveyi in respect of adhesion to skin and intestinal mucus under exclusion, competition and displacement conditions were studied. Three isolates were able to reduce the attachment to skin and intestinal sole mucus of a pathogenic strain of V. harveyi under displacement and exclusion conditions, but not under competition conditions. The in vivo probiotic potential of isolate Pdp11 was assessed by oral administration followed by challenge with the pathogenic V. harveyi strain Lg14/00. A group of 50 Senegalese sole received a commercial diet supplemented with 10(8) cfu g(-1) of lyophilized Lg14/00 for 15 days. A second group of fish received a non-supplemented commercial diet. After challenge the mortality of the fish receiving the diet supplemented with the potential probiotic isolate was significantly lower than that in the fish receiving the non-supplemented commercial diet. This study has shown that the ability to interfere with attachment of pathogens, as well as the adhesion to host surfaces, are suitable criteria for selection of candidate probiotics for use in the culture of Senegalese sole.

Animal Feed↗

Intraspecific characterization of Vibrio alginolyticus isolates recovered from cultured fish in Spain.

AIMS: Intraspecific differentiation and characterization of Vibrio alginolyticus strains isolated from cultured fish in Spain. MATERIALS AND RESULTS: Thirty-four Vibrio alginolyticus strains isolated from cultured fish were intraspecifically characterized on the basis of biochemical and exoenzymatic patterns, outer membrane protein (OMP) profiles, ribotyping and plasmid analyses. The typing methods used did not allow to group V. alginolyticus isolates on the basis of their sources of collection. A higher homogeneity was observed in OMP profiles. A high percentage of isolates were plasmidless. Ribotyping was the highest discriminatory typing method, as all the isolates tested presented 23 profiles using the HindIII restriction enzyme. On the basis of the ribotyping pattern, a similarity matrix and a dendrogram were constructed. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained indicate that V. alginolyticus strains isolated from southwestern Spain belong to different clonal lineages. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study has shown differences with other similar studies carried out in other areas of Europe with strains of V. alginolyticus with respect to the clonal lineages of the strains isolated in southwestern Spain.

Animals↗

Vibrio species isolated from diseased farmed sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup), and evaluation of the potential virulence role of their extracellular products.

Bacteria isolated from an outbreak with moderate mortalities in farmed sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup), in the south of Spain were identified as Vibrio harveyi and V. parahaemolyticus. Only bacterial strains showing swarming were virulent in sole and caused mortalities in experimentally inoculated fish. However, the signs of the disease were only reproduced with V. harveyi. The intramuscular inoculation of the extracellular products (ECPs) of both species produced mortalities in inoculated fish and the appearance of surface ulcers in the case of V. harveyi. However, the inoculation of sublethal doses of ECPs to fish showed a protective effect against V. harveyi.

Animals↗

Hydrophobicity and adhesion to fish cells and mucus of Vibrio strains isolated from infected fish.

The hydrophobicity of 44 Vibrio strains isolated from cultured, diseased gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata) was determined. Three different methods were used: (1) microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons (MATH), either with phosphate buffer or with phosphate urea magnesium sulfate (PUM) buffer, (2) aggregation in the presence of salt solutions (SAT), and (3) adhesion to nitrocellulose filters (NCF). The results show that experimental conditions exerted a significant influence on hydrophobicity. Thus, Kendall rank coefficients showed the presence of correlation only for SAT and NCF, and for SAT and the MATH assay with PUM buffer. Moreover, no relationships were observed between the bacterial hydrophobicity estimated with the methods mentioned above and the ability of the strains to adhere to fish mucus or cells. These results indicate that adhesion of pathogenic Vibrio strains to host surfaces is mediated mainly by specific receptor interactions, instead of by hydrophobic interactions.

Animals↗

Adaptation of an [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] assay to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the extracellular products of micro-organisms pathogenic to fish.

AIMS: Adaptation of a colorimetric assay using [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the extracellular products of micro-organisms pathogenic to fish. METHODS AND RESULTS: The optimal conditions for the colorimetric assay were determined and this method was compared with the trypan blue exclusion assay. The protein concentration of extracellular products causing the death of 50% of the cell population (CI50) was determined. CONCLUSIONS: This assay enables quantitative and objective comparison of the cytotoxicity of the extracellular products of micro-organisms pathogenic to fish. It was shown to be more accurate than conventional counting with the trypan blue exclusion assay. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This method may also be useful for characterizing the cytotoxicity of specific components of extracellular products.

Animals↗

Neurotoxic effect on two fish species and a PC12 cell line of the supernate of Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio anguillarum.

The biological effects of supernates obtained from different strains of Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio anguillarum isolated from diseased fish have been studied by inoculation on two fish species, eel and rainbow trout, and two fish cell lines. These supernates possess neuroexcitatory properties, and so, when they are injected into both fish species, they trigger convulsions, wriggling, contortive swimming and respiratory arrest coupled with increased respiratory reflex. Furthermore, after the application of the supernates on cultures of noradrenergic pheochromocytoma PC12 cells, an increase of acetylcholine, released from the cells was obtained. The amount of released acetylcholine depends on the source of assayed supernates and on the dose applied to the cells. On the basis of the results obtained with PC12 cells, we suggest that the supernates from pathogenic Vibrio strains injected into fish may elicit an increased release of acetylcholine in the motor endplate of some muscles related to locomotion and ventilation of the inoculated fish.

Acetylcholine↗

Pathogenicity of Vibrio alginolyticus for cultured gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata L.).

The in vivo and in vitro pathogenic activities of whole cells and extracellular products of Vibrio alginolyticus for cultured gilt-head sea bream were evaluated. The 50% lethal doses ranged from 5.4 x 10(4) to 1.0 x 10(6) CFU/g of body weight. The strains examined had the ability to adhere to skin, gill, and intestinal mucus of sea bream and to cultured cells of a chinook salmon embryo cell line. In addition, the in vitro ability of V. alginolyticus to adhere to mucus and skin cells of sea bream was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy. The biological activities of extracellular products of V. alginolyticus were hydrolytic activities; the products were able to degrade sea bream mucus. V. alginolyticus was cytotoxic for fish cell lines and lethal for sea bream. Moreover, the extracellular products could degrade sea bream tissues. However, experiments performed with the bath immersion inoculation technique demonstrated that V. alginolyticus should be considered a pathogen for sea bream only when the mucus layer is removed and the skin is damaged.

Animals↗

Kinetics of adhesion of selected fish-pathogenic Vibrio strains of skin mucus of gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata L.).

The kinetics of adhesion of Vibrio strains isolated from diseased fish to skin mucus of gilt-head sea bream was studied. A modified Langmuir adsorption isotherm was calculated, and the results obtained indicate that the strains tested (Vibrio alginolyticus DP1HE4 and Vibrio anguillarum-like DC12R8 and DC12R9) showed a saturation kinetics except for V. alginolyticus (CAN), which showed a proportional adsorption kinetics. The adhesive capability for skin mucus does not seem to be an essential virulence factor of pathogenic strains of Vibrio, since this specific interaction depended on several environmental factors, temperature and salinity being the most important. However, the absence of an inhibitory effect of mucus on the pathogenic microorganisms, and the capability of the Vibrio strains to utilize mucus as a carbon source, could favor their settlement on the skin with a potential for infection of cultured, stressed fish.

Animals↗

Development of methanogenic consortia in fluidized-bed batches using sepiolite of different particle size.

The addition of support materials, such as sepiolite, to fluidized-bed anaerobic digesters enhances the methane production by increasing the colonization by syntrophic microbiota. However, the efficiency in the methanogenesis depends on the particle size of the support material, the highest level of methane production being obtained by the smaller particle size sepiolite. Because of the porosity and physico-chemical characteristics of these support materials, the anaerobic microbial consortia formed quickly (after one week of incubation). The predominant methanogenic bacteria present in the active granules, detected both by immunofluorescence using specific antibodies and by scanning electron microscopy, were acetoclastic methanogens, mainly Methanosarcina and Methanosaeta.

Anaerobiosis↗

Role of extracellular products in the pathogenicity of Vibrio strains on cultured gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata).

The enzymatic activities of extracellular products (ECP) from different pathogenic Vibrio strains and their virulence for fish (cultured gilt-head seabream, Sparus aurata L.) were tested. ECP were obtained by growing the bacteria on cellophane overlays. Cytotoxic effects of ECP on fish cell lines were rapid and strong, provoking mortality of fish after 24 to 72 h of the ECP inoculation. A close relationship between proteolytic activities (gelatinase and caseinase) of the ECP and the presence of lytic effects in the muscular tissue at the injection site was observed. Therefore, these activities may be considered responsible for the fish tissue damage.

Animals↗

Bacteriophages presence in human faeces of healthy subjects and patients with gastrointestinal disturbances.

The variation of the content of enteric bacteria and their bacteriophages in faeces from the different types of diarrhoeal processes has been studied. A total of 122 samples of human faeces from both healthy individuals and patients with diarrhoeal diseases of functional or infectious origin were tested. Detection rates for all microbial parameters tested decreased in the faeces of individuals with functional gastrointestinal disturbances. On the contrary, no significant differences of the microbial detection frequency was observed in faeces containing pathogenic microorganisms compared to faeces of healthy subjects. Human faeces were a poor source of F-specific, Salmonella, and Bacteroides bacteriophages, whereas specific Escherichia coli phages were isolated in most samples tested. Coliphage concentrations in faeces of healthy individuals were not directly correlated with levels of faecal coliforms. On the basis of their high correlation, faecal streptococci and coliphages were the most adequate indicators of the intestinal ecosystem variations in subjects with diarrhoeal processes.

Bacteriophages↗

A direct membrane filter method for enumerating somatic coliphages in drinking water.

The application of a simple membrane filter method to enumerate specific somatic bacteriophages of Escherichia coli, using E. coli C as host strain, from drinking water samples was studied. The efficiency of the method using cellulosic membrane filters, samples pretreated with magnesium ions and Tween 80 added to agar medium-host cell lawns ranged from 68.9 to over 112%, depending on the phage content of the sample. To avoid the pre-treatment of the sample with magnesium salts, electropositive-charged filters of cellulosic ester (HA-PEI and HA-Nalco) and Virosorb-1MDS filters were tested in conjunction with the simple membrane filter method. The electropositive filters showed wide bacteriophage recovery rate intervals depending on the sample treatment, ranging between 31.4 and 96.2% for ester-type filters, and a mean recovery lower than 2.2% for Virosorb filters. On the other hand, it was proved that the use of Tween 80 as an eluent improved somatic coliphage recovery rates for all the filters tested. In short, this methodology provides a rapid analysis (6-8 h) of the somatic coliphages from drinking water using the membrane filtration technique.

Adsorption↗

[Microbial drug resistance and the presence of plasmids in Salmonella strains isolated from different sources].

BACKGROUND: To establish the relationship between the presence of plasmid and their antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella strains. METHODS: We tested 171 strains of Salmonella isolated from different sources: natural waters (73 strains), food (23 strains), and from clinical samples (75 strains). The disk diffusion method was used to test the antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains to 13 drugs. Plasmid analysis were performed by agarose gel electrophoresis technique. RESULTS: Antimicrobial resistances of the strains significantly varies according to their primary isolation sources. Strains isolated from the water environment exhibited a full susceptibility to cephalothin and colistin, whilst all the strains isolated from food were sensitive to ampicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, tobramycin and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. On the other hand, resistances to colistin, gentamicin and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole were not found in clinical isolates. From the 171 Salmonella strains tested, only 12.2% were sensitive to all the antimicrobials. The most frequently antibiotic resistances detected were to streptomycin (49.3%), tetracycline (33.1%) and nalidixic acid (30.7%). The percentage of strains that harboured plasmids was different depending on the source of isolation, ranging from 41.4% for water isolated, 76% for clinical isolates and 86.9% for food isolates. The relationship between antimicrobial resistance and plasmid presence is very close, since higher percentages of resistance to chloramphenicol, carbenicillin, cephalothin, kanamycin, neomycin, nalidixic acid and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole were obtained in strains containing plasmids. CONCLUSIONS: (a) The most frequently resistance detected in strains of Salmonella was to streptomycin (49.3% of the strains). On the other hand, only 0.6% of the strains were resistant to gentamicin. (b) Percentages of resistance to some antibiotics was higher in strains harbouring plasmids, that implies a relationship between the plasmid presence and the antibiotic resistance in Salmonella. (c) Curing of extrachromosomic elements by acridine orange showed a percentage of resistance lost greater than 70% for cephalothin, kanamycin, neomycin, and nalidixic acid. This indicates that the resistance to those antibiotics is mainly linked to plasmids. In the case of the unusual nalidixic acid-resistance, previously described in Shigella strains, suggests that are needed more studies to demonstrate the direct association between antimicrobial resistance and presence of plasmids.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Laboratory study of several enrichment broths for the detection of Salmonella spp. particularly in relation to water samples.

The selectivity and efficiency of several enrichment broths used for the the detection of salmonellas were comparatively evaluated under laboratory and environmental conditions. Media with selenite were less efficient in their inhibition of the growth of Gram-positive micro-organisms. Salmonellas grew slowly in tetrathionate broth and in media containing brilliant green. These media inhibited the growth of Salmonella typhi, which grew only in media containing selenite. The results obtained in the experiments with stressed salmonellas indicate that the media selenite F, selenite F with novobiocin, selenite cystine and Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RV/43), in conjunction with the double agar layer technique, showed an optimal efficiency for the detection of stressed salmonellas. When natural samples (freshwater and seawater) were used to evaluate the media, however, those containing malachite green, whether or not supplemented with sodium novobiocin, enhanced the recovery of salmonellas.

Colony Count, Microbial↗