Indonesia is one of the countries where dengue infection is prevalent. In this study we measure the prevalence and distribution of dengue virus (DENV) DENV-infected Aedes aegypti in Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, during the wet season when high dengue transmission period occurred, as baseline data before implementation of a Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti trial for dengue control. We applied One-Step Multiplex Real Time PCR (RT-PCR) for the type-specific-detection of dengue viruses in field-caught adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. In a prospective field study conducted from December 2015 to May 2016, adult female Aedes aegypti were caught from selected areas in Yogyakarta City, and then screened by using RT-PCR. During the survey period, 36 (0.12%) mosquitoes from amongst 29,252 female mosquitoes were positive for a DENV type. In total, 22.20% of dengue-positive mosquitoes were DENV-1, 25% were DENV-2, 17% were DENV-3, but none were positive for DENV-4. This study has provided dengue virus infection prevalence in field-caught Aedes aegypti and its circulating serotype in Yogyakarta City before deployment of Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti.

Abstract. Kusharyati DF, Pramono H, Ryandini D, Manshur TA, Dewi MA, Khatimah K, Rovik A. 2020. Bifidobacterium from infant stool: the diversity and potential screening. Biodiversitas 21: 2506-2513. Bifidobacteria spp. are a group of Lactic Acid Bacteria commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of adults and infants. LAB are known as probiotics and have many health benefits. This research aimed to isolate Bifidobacteria from infant stool, identify, explore their diversity, and screen their potential as probiotics. Stool samples were collected from 3 healthy infants in Banyumas Regency. The potential screening included lysozyme resistance, antimicrobial activity, and exopolysaccharide production. A total of 7 Bifidobacterium species were isolated from infant stool: B. catenulatum, B. minimum, B. indicum, B. dentium, B. asteroides, B. galicum, and B. coerinum. B. indicum isolates (Bb3F and Bb1B) had the greatest inhibition activity against Escherichia coli and Candida albicans with 10.80 and 9.70 mm, respectively. Bifidobacteria isolates were resistant to lysozyme from egg whites up to 200 µg.mL-1. B. catenulatum Bb1A isolate had the highest yield of exopolysaccharide production with 74 mg.L-1. Among them, three Bifidobacterium strains (Bb1B, Bb2A, and Bb2E) were considered potentially as probiotics.

Abstract. Rovik A, ‘Aziz S, Pramono H. 2020. Isolation and selection of Bacillus cereus specific phages from hospital wastewater. Biodiversitas 21: 2871-2877. Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) is a pathogenic bacterium that frequently contaminates food by producing entero and emetic toxins. B. cereus has shown resistance to various antibiotics, especially β-lactam antibiotics. An alternative to control B. cereus contamination is the use of bacteriophages. This study aimed to isolate and screen B. cereus specific phages from hospital wastewater in Banyumas District. The research was conducted descriptively through isolation, purification, titer determination, host ranges, and adsorption rate determination. A total of 29 isolates of B. cereus-phages were isolated from hospital wastewater in Banyumas with various titers, ranged from 0.14-3.76 x 107 PFU.mL-1. Isolated phages could be grouped into two, narrow host range (14 phages) and broad activity spectra (15 phages) that infect both Gram-positive and negative bacteria i.e. B. subtilis, B. fragilis, B. licheniformis, Citrobacter freundii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella thypi, and Escherichia coli. The infections had a latency period of 60-120 minutes. The decrease of culture absorbance value ranged from 0.06 to 0.41, while the control tended to increase by 0.39. The largest decreases were showed by phage isolates RSBMS-2 and RSBMT-1 with 0.41 and 0.37, respectively.

Introduction: Indonesia is ranked the 4th most populous country in the world. Since Covid19 is highly transmissible from human to human, Indonesia might suffer a long period of the Covid19 pandemic than other less-populous countries. This study aimed to find the correlations of tropical climate, population density and confounding factors with Covid19 progression in Indonesia from March to August 2020. Methods: The climatological data, population density, laboratory testing, and the confirmed Covid19 cases were statistically analyzed. The correlations between each data were performed with Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The values of statistical significance were considered at 95% and 99% confidence intervals. Results and Discussion: Indonesia recorded more than 1,315 confirmed Covid19 cases in almost all provinces (30 out of 34) during the dry season (March to August 2020). During the early pandemic, DKI Jakarta and East Java have been the epicenters of the pandemic in Indonesia. Humidity and precipitation have a weak negative correlation, while the temperatures have a weak positive correlation. Population density and laboratory testing have a strong positive and significant correlation with the cumulative confirmed Covid19 cases. Conclusion: Our study indicates that tropical climate less affects the cumulative Covid19 case in Indonesia than population density and laboratory testing capacity.

The meat and fisheries products have high nutritional content which is highly ideal for bacterial growth. Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) have several potential advantages as a bio-preservative agent in the food industry because they produce antimicrobial substances against pathogenic bacteria e.g. bacteriocin. Our previous study has succeeded in isolating and characterizing LAB from the mangrove sediments of Logending Beach, Kebumen. This present study aimed to determine the activity of bacteriocinogenic-LAB against food-borne pathogens and their potential for fisheries product preservation. The study consisted of five serial stages, as follows: screening of LAB isolates, cell-free supernatant production and its inhibition activity, extraction of partially purified bacteriocin, bacteriocin confirmation against proteolytic enzymes, and in-vitro test of partially-purified bacteriocin against Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, and Salmonella typhi. A total of 25 out of 99 isolates were able to grow on MRSA+1% CaCO3 medium. Initial screening showed that the cell-free supernatant of 14 LAB isolates was able to inhibit the growth of S. thypi, S. flexneri, and L. monocytogenes. There was an increased inhibitory activity of partially purified bacteriocin when compared with the cell-free supernatant which was statistically different (p<0.01). It indicated that the purification was successfully performed. Bacteriocin expressed a lower inhibition against S. typhi than L. monocytogenes and S. flexneri. The ANOVA test showed that each indicator pathogenic-bacterium expresses a very significant sensitivity to the partially purified bacteriocin.