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Copyright of African Journal of Clinical & Experimental Microbiology is the property of African Journals Online (AJOL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Raw milk contains wide microbial diversity, composed mainly of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which are used as probiotics in both human and animal husbandry. We isolated, characterized, and evaluated LAB from indigenous Bangladeshi raw milk to assess probiotic potential, including antagonistic activity (against Escherichia coli O157: H7, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes), survivability in simulated gastric juice, tolerance to phenol and bile salts, adhesion to ileum epithelial cells, auto- and co-aggregation, hydrophobicity, a-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and antibiotic susceptibility tests. The 4 most promising LAB strains showed probiotic potential and were identified as Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum (which produced plantaricin EF), Lactobacillus fermentum, and Lactobacillus paracasei. These strains inhibited all pathogens tested at various degrees, and competitively excluded pathogens with viable counts of 3.0 to 6.0 log cfu/mL. Bacteriocin, organic acids, and low-molecular-weight substances were mainly responsible for antimicrobial activity by the LAB strains. All 4 LAB strains were resistant to oxacillin and 3 were resistant to vancomycin and streptomycin, with multiple antibiotic resistance indices >0.2. After further in vivo evaluation, these LAB strains could be considered probiotic candidates with application in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Clinical & Experimental Microbiology is the property of African Journals Online (AJOL) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has multiple devastating public health and socio-economic effects across the world, Nigeria along with other West African countries is simultaneously faced with a recurrent Lassa fever epidemic. The complicating scenario is the similarity in the clinical manifestation of COVID-19 and Lassa fever, making the misdiagnosis of the initial presentation of both diseases a significant risk with an increased likelihood of co-infection. However, the strict implementation of COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures across Nigeria after the initial outbreaks concurrently resulted in the reduction of Lassa fever cases. The abrupt change in the behaviour of Lassa fever epidemiological data, which are attributable to the implementation of COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures at the national, sub-national and community levels, requires detailed investigation during and after the COVID-19 epidemic to elucidate the interactions and evolutionary dynamics of Lassa fever cases in Nigeria., (© 2021 The Authors.)

We can provide increasing insight, albeit still incomplete, into the changes in MELC that accompany induced globin gene expression. It is suggested that these transformed CFU-E-like erythroid precursor cells exhibit in their uninduced state a DNA methylation pattern and globin gene chromatin configuration (DNase I sensitivity) that is compatible with actual or potential gene transcription. Such features may reflect alterations in chromatin configuration that occurred earlier, during the differentiation of erythroid precursor cells, which is associated with the restriction in developmental potential that is characteristic of progression to the CFU-E (or MELC) stage of erythropoiesis. Uninduced MELC display a low level of globin gene transcription, producing globin mRNA or mRNA precursors whose processing or stabilization is the site of action of hemin. The major increase in MELC globin gene transcription that is initiated by HMBA or butyric acid is accompanied by an increase in DNase I hypersensitivity in the regions 5' to the active globin genes. This suggests that reorganization of chromatin structure in the globin gene domains is associated with accelerated globin gene transcription and may be characteristic of a developmental stage transition during terminal differentiation in the erythroid cell lineage.

Studies are described employing two erythropoietic systems to elucidate regulatory mechanisms that control both normal erythropoiesis and erythroid differentiation of transformed hemopoietic precursors. Evidence is provided suggesting that normal erythroid cell precursors require erythropoietin as a growth factor that regulates the number of precursors capable of differentiating. Murine erythroleukemia cells proliferate without need of erythropoietin; they show a variable, generally low, rate of spontaneous differentiation and a brisk rate of erythropoiesis in response to a variety of chemical agents. Present studies suggest that these chemical inducers initiate a series of events including cell surface related changes, alterations in cell cycle kinetics, and modifications of chromatin and DNA structure which result in the irreversible commitment of these leukemia cells to erythroid differentiation and the synthesis of red-cell-specific products.

Friend virus-transformed murine erythroleukemia cells express the program of erythropoietic differentiation under the influence of the previously described, potent inducing agent, hexamethylene bisacetamide. Commitment to differentiation, defined as the ability to continue the processes of differentiation in the absence of inducer, has been examined at the single-cell level, with a combination of suspension and cell-cloning techniques. Recruitment of committed cells is shown to occur prior to the detectable accumulation of hemoglobin or the appearance of morphological changes characteristic or erythroid maturation. The stability of the commitment of murine erythroleukemia cells to differentiate is found to be dependent upon both the concentration of hexamethylene bisacetamide and the duration of exposure to the inducing agent. Under conditions less than optimal for induction, a single cell can give rise to a colony containing both differentiated and undifferentiated cells. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that fully stabilized differentiation, in addition to the previously demonstrated requirement for the inducing agent to be present during a cell-cycle S phase, involves subsequent stabilizing event(s) caused by a direct or indirect action of the inducing agent.

Hexamethylene bisacetamide (diacetyldiamino hexane) is a potent inducer of erythroid differentiation in murine erythroleukemia cells. Hexamethylene bisacetamide and the closely related pentamethylene bisacetamide were synthesized with radioactive labels in various portions of the molecule and the uptake, metabolism, and intracellular distribution determined. Bisacetamides are taken up by the cell; an intracellular concentration equal to the extracellular concentration is achieved by 6-8 h. Commitment to differentiation is not detected until at least 10 h after equilibration. Both uptake and commitment to differentiate are concentration and temperature dependent. The majority of the compound is deacetylated upon cell entry and the acetate portion incorporated nonspecifically into lipid and protein. Acetate competes with the incorporation of hexamethylene bisacetamide into protein and lipid, but does not affect inducing activity. The diamine portion of the molecule is detected only in the cytoplasm, in a trichloroacetic acid-soluble and acetylated form, whereas the acetate moiety is detected in both cytoplasm and nucleus and in both a trichloroacetic acid-soluble and insoluble form. The cellular uptake of diamines and bisacetamides (acetylated diamines) are similar, but acetylation of the diamine greatly increases inducing activity.

We can provide increasing insight, albeit still incomplete, into the changes in MELC that accompany globin gene expression induced by polar chemicals, such as DMSO, and other agents. These transformed, CFUe-like erythroid precursor cells exhibit in their uninduced state, a DNA methylation pattern and globin gene (formula; see text) chromatin configuration (DNase I sensitivity) that is compatible with actual or potential gene transcription. Such features may reflect alterations in chromatin configuration that have occurred at a stage prior to leukemic transformation, during the differentiation of earlier erythroid precursor cells and associated with the restriction in developmental potential characteristic of progression to the CFUe (or MELC) stage of erythropoiesis. Uninduced MELC display a low level of globin gene transcription, producing globin mRNA or mRNA precursors whose processing or stabilization is the target of action of hemin. The major increase in MELC globin gene transcription that is initiated by DMSO, HMBA, or butyric acid, is accompanied by, and perhaps preceded by, an increase in DNase I hypersensitivity in the regions 5' to the active globin genes. This suggests that reorganization of chromatin structure in the globin gene domains is associated with accelerated globin gene transcription and may be characteristic of a developmental transition during terminal differentiation in the erythroid cell lineage.

Hexamethylenebisacetamide is a potent inducer of erythroid differentiation in murine erythroleukemia cells. A series of chemical compounds structurally related to hexamethylenebisacetamide were tested for inducing activity including polymethylene chains terminally substituted with various combinations of carboxylate, amino, amide, or sulfoxide groups. Effective "dimerization" of dimethyl sulfoxide through a linear polymethylene chain increases its inducing activity by a magnitude similar to that observed when N-methylacetamide is effectively dimerized in such a manner. It was found that all potent inducing agents possess both a hydrophilic and hydrophobic portion of the molecule, as well as a planar portion. All are Lewis bases, possessing a free electron pair available for hydrogen bonding. The polymethylene chain joining functional groups must be flexible and must be 5 to 6 carbon atoms in length to achieve maximal activity. Introduction of triple or double (cis or trans) bonds into the polymethylene chain does not alter activity.

Globin structural genes from a murine erythroleukemia cell line were analyzed by Southern blot hybridization of genomic DNA and after isolation of cloned globin genes from a genomic library. The globin genes isolated from the erythroid cell line did not differ, when analyzed by extensive restriction endonuclease digestion, from globin genes isolated from nonerythroid cells. No gross structural differences were seen between murine erythroleukemia globin genes, either before or after hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA)-mediated erythroid differentiation, and globin genes from normal mouse liver DNA. Whereas the murine erythroleukemia genome hybridizes extensively to cloned Friend leukemia virus probes, there was no evidence of viral integration into sequences adjacent to the globin genes.

A DNA-binding protein has been purified from Escherichia coli infected with bacteriophage T7 by DNA-cellulose chromatography. The protein is absent in uninfected cells. The purified protein has a molecular weight of 31,000 and binds strongly and preferentially to single-stranded DNA. In vitro studies show that this protein can stimulate the rate of polymerization catalyzed by the T7-induced DNA polymerase 10-15 times under conditions where the polymerase is unable to effectively use a single-stranded template. The degree of stimulation is dependent upon the ratio of binding protein to DNA template and is independent of polymerase concentration. The observed stimulation is specific for the T7 DNA polymerase in that addition of the protein to reactions catalyzed by E. coli DNA polymerases I, II, or III or T4 DNA polymerase is without effect.