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Enterococcus massiliensis strain sp. nov. (= CSUR P1927 = DSM 100308) is a new species within the genus Enterococcus . This strain was first isolated from a fresh stool sample of a man during culturomics study of intestinal microflora. Enterococcus massiliensis is a Gram-positive cocci, facultative anaerobic and motile. E. massiliensis is negative for mannitol and positive for β-galactosidase, contrary to E. gallinarum . The complete genome sequence is 2 712 841 bp in length with a GC content of 39.6% and contains 2617 protein-coding genes and 70 RNA genes, including nine rRNA genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFew bottlenecks of wild populations are sufficiently well-documented to constitute models for testing theories about the impact of bottlenecks on genetic variation, and subsequent population persistence. Relevant details of the Bennett’s wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) introduction into New Zealand were recorded (founder number, source and approximate bottleneck duration) and suggest this may provide a rare opportunity to examine the efficacy of tests designed to detect recent bottlenecks in wild populations. We first assessed the accuracy of historic accounts of the introduction using genetic diversity detected in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and at five microsatellite loci. Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA D-loop sequence haplotypes were consistent with the reported origin of the founders as Tasmania, rather than one of the Bass Strait islands in which Bennett’s wallabies are also found. Microsatellite allele frequencies from the Tasmanian source population were then used to seed bottleneck simulations encompassing varying sizes and numbers of generations, in order to assess the severity of bottleneck consistent with diversity observed in the New Zealand population. The results suggested that the founder number was unlikely to have been as small as the three animals suggested by the account of the introduction. Nonetheless, the bottleneck was probably severe; in the range of three to five pairs of wallabies for one to three generations. It resulted in significantly reduced levels of allelic diversity and heterozygosity relative to the source population. This bottleneck is only detectable under the infinite allele model (IAM) and not under the stepwise mutation model (SMM) or the two-phase model (TPM), and possible explanations for this are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-two patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 65 of their healthy relatives and 20 spouses were studied for the presence of lymphocytotoxic antibodies (LCA), anti-lymphocyte antibodies (ALA), antibodies to DNA and a common idiotype (Id) PR4. Seventy-one per cent of the patients had positive levels of LCA, and in 34% the PR4 Id was detected; normal levels were found in their families. Anti-PR4, an anti-Id, failed to block the lymphocytotoxic activity in those nine patients who both carried the Id and had LCA. This indicates that the Id was not present on LCA. There was no correlation between anti-DNA antibodies and LCA, suggesting that different mechanisms are involved in their expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adjuvant arthritis, induced by injections of Freund's complete adjuvant into the footpads of some rat strains, has been recognized as a useful animal model for many years. There has, however, been notable lack of success in reproducing this model in other species, We now describe the development of adjuvant arthritis in healthy strain mice approximately 2 months after injection of Freund's complete adjuvant. Although the clinical appearance of the mice and the joint histopathology closely resemble the adjuvant arthritis reported in the rat. We were unable to detect rheumatoid factor in sera from the affected animals. In parallel studies of T cell proliferation, affected animals responded to sonic mycobacterial antigens but not to the 65-kD heat shock protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, suggesting that some other epitope is important in the development of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several reports have linked the presence of certain serum autoantibodies with particular clinical manifestations of autoimmune disease. For example, the Jo-1 antibody is now established as a marker for fibrosing alveolitis in polymyositis. To investigate the possible association of further autoantibodies or idiotypes with fibrosing alveolitis in autoimmune rheumatic disease a panel of autoantibodies was measured in serum samples from 28 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (10 with and 18 without lung involvement), 21 patients with scleroderma (12 with fibrosing alveolitis and nine without), and 41 patients with 'lone' fibrosing alveolitis. Antibodies measured were IgM and IgG anti-dsDNA and anti-ssDNA antibody; IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibody; anti-poly (ADP-ribose) antibody; antibodies to two common idiotypes of anti-DNA antibodies, designated 134 and 16/6; and IgM, IgG, and IgA isotypes of rheumatoid factor. None of these antibodies was specifically associated with lung involvement in SLE or scleroderma, but a trend was found towards an increase in all autoantibodies in association with lung disease in SLE, while the reverse trend was seen in scleroderma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Here we report the development of two rapid real-time quantitative PCR assays with TaqMan ® probes to detect the MCR-1 plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene from bacterial isolates and faecal samples from chickens. Specificity and sensitivity of the assay were 100% on bacterial isolates including 18 colistin-resistant isolates carrying the mcr-1 gene (six Klebsiella pneumoniae and 12 Escherichia coli ) with a calibration curve that was linear from 10 1 to 10 8 DNA copies. Five out of 833 faecal samples from chickens from Algeria were positive, from which three E. coli strains were isolated and confirmed to harbour the mcr-1 gene by standard PCR and sequencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacillus testis strain SIT10 (= CSUR P1492 = DSMZ 101190) is the new type strain collected from stool from a 2-year-old boy from Senegal during a culturomics study. This Gram-positive bacterium is a facultative anaerobic rod and a member of the Bacillaceae family. We describe here the features of this bacterium, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. The 3 987 349 bp long genome (one chromosome but no plasmid) with 42.8% GC content contains 4005 protein-coding and 171 sRNA genes, including 19 5S rRNA gene, 15 16S rRNA genes and ten 23S rRNA genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actinomyces polynesiensis strain MS2 gen. nov., sp. nov. is a newly proposed genus within the family Actinomycetaceae , isolated from the stools of a healthy individual in Raiatea Island (French Polynesia, South Pacific). Actinomyces massiliensis is an anaerobic, Gram-positive organism. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation—2 943 271 bp with a 70.80% G+C content, assembled into 15 scaffolds and containing 2080 genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]