Trichophyton schoenleinii is an anthropophilic dermatophyte mainly causing tinea favosa of the scalp in certain regions of the world, especially Africa and Asia. We investigated the in vitro susceptibilities of 55 T. schoenleinii isolates collected over the last 30 years from Iran, Turkey, and China to 12 antifungals using the CLSI broth microdilution method. Our results revealed that terbinafine and ketoconazole were the most potent antifungal agents among those tested, independently of the geographic regions where strains were isolated.

Recent investigations revealed the effects of herbal extracts on both fungal growth as well as aflatoxins production. In the present study, we tried to evaluate antifungal activity as well as antitoxin activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) extract. Strain American Type Culture Collection 15517 of Aspergillus parasiticus was used to perform antifungal susceptibility test according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute document M27-A3, and the rate of aflatoxin production was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography technique after exposure to different concentrations of licorice extract. Quantitative changes in the expression of the aflR gene were analyzed by measuring the cognate aflR mRNA level with quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay. Our obtained results demonstrated the inhibitory effect of licorice extract on Aspergillus parasiticus growth at 500 mg/mL of licorice extract. In addition, a significant decrease in aflatoxin production was revealed at the same concentration. However, the production of aflatoxin B1 was entirely inhibited in 10 g/mL of licorice extract. The level of aflR gene expression was significantly decreased after the exposure of fungal cells to 500 g/mL of licorice extract. Evaluation of the antifungal and antitoxin activity of licorice extract on Aspergillus parasiticus revealed its antifungal properties as well as its effective ability to decrease aflatoxin production.

INTRODUCTION: This study has been carried out on reviewing the use of new synthetic component of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) coated by Chitosan-linoleic acid (CS-LA) and to assess Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of nanoparticles on clinical samples and biofi lm formation in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At fi rst the synthesized ZnO NPs coated by CS-LA were identifi ed with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis (FTIR).Through in vitro tests, the value of MIC and Minimum fungicide concentration (MFC) of nanoparticles and standard and clinical strains of candida were evaluated in comparison with fl uconazole as the control group using the CLSI-M27 method. Finally, biofi lm formation was studied using MTT assay. RESULT: The results showed that MIC50 of fl uconazole and nanoparticle in clinical strains was 64 μg/ml and 128 μg/ml, respectively. The MIC of fl uconazole and nanoparticle in C. albicans (ATCC10231) was 8 μg/ml and 32 μg/ml respectively. The MFC of nanoparticle and fl uconazole for clinical samples was recorded at similar level (128 μg/ml). MTT results indicated that the capacity of inhibition of biofi lm formation was 43.07 % and 36.68 % by ZnO NPs and fl uconazole, respectively. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the new synthesized nanoparticle has appropriate effi cacy compared with fl uconazole in inhibitory activity on C. albicans growth and biofi lm formation. As a result, ZnO NPs can be introduced as an effective agent for diminishing adhesion capacity of C. albicans (Tab. 1, Fig. 4, Ref. 26).

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Two native ionizing radiation-resistant bacteria were isolated and identified from a soil sample collected from extreme conditions of the Lout desert in Iran. The hottest land surface temperature has been recorded in the Lout desert from 2004 to 2009. Also, it is categorized as a hyper arid place. Both ionizing radiation and desiccation may cause damage on genome. Soil sample was irradiated in order to eliminate sensitive bacteria then cultured in onetenth-strength tryptic soy broth medium. Bacterial suspension used for radiation treatment. Morphological and physiological characterization and phylogenetic studies based on 16S rRNA gene sequence were used for identification. The cells were rod shape, non-motile, non-spore forming and gram positive. The 16S rRNA gene sequence showed 99.5 % of similarity to Deinococcus ficus. Phylogenetic dendrogram demonstrated that the isolates branched with D. xibeiensis, D. ficus and D. mumbaiensis. Both isolates were resistant to [15 kGy of gamma radiation and [600 J m 2 of UV radiation. This is the first report on radiation resistant bacteria belonging to genus Deinococcus isolated from the Lout desert of Iran.