AbstractAcinetobacteris a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, which are oxidase-negative, exhibiting a twitching motility under a magnifying lens. Besides being important soil microorganisms, due to their contribution to the soil fertility,Acinetobacterspecies, particularlyA. baumannii, hold a prominent place within the genus because, it is the most virulent among the other species, causing varying degrees of human infections in clinical environments. However, results of different research have shown thatAcinetobacterspecies can be isolated from such natural environments as surface water, wastewater and sewage, healthy human skin, plant, animal and food material as well as domestic appliances. The presence of some otherAcinetobacterspecies in the natural environment has been associated with beneficial roles including soil improvement, detoxification of oil spillages and as microflora in human and plant bodies. In this paper, we carried out an overview of various natural ecological niches as reservoirs of pathogenic and non-pathogenicAcinetobacterspecies.

No abstract

Global increase in diabetes (DM) prevalence necessitated the need to establish the association between DM and environmental triggers including MAP (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis) that have been postulated to play a role in DM etiopathology for effective management. The present investigation aimed to assess the odds ratio (OR) presenting the association between MAP and DM. MAP-related DM studies were systematically retrieved from 6 databases until 31 September 2021 according to PRISMA principles for data abstraction. The abstracted dataset was fitted to the fixed-effects (FE) and random-effects (RE) models using the Mantel–Haenszel approach. Sixteen studies involving 2072 participants (1152 DM patients (957 type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) & 195 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)) and 920 healthy controls) met the inclusion criteria. Results revealed a significant association between anti-MAP antibodies (abs) seroprevalence and T1DM (FE: OR 7.47, 95% CI 5.50–10.14, p value < 0.0001; RE: OR 7.92, 95% CI 4.39–14.31, p < 0.0001) and MAP DNA with T1DM (FE: OR 4.70 (95% CI 3.10–7.13, p value < 0.0001), RE: OR 3.90 (95% CI 0.93–16.38, p value = 0.06)). Both anti-MAP abs and MAP DNA based meta-analyses had medium heterogeneity (I2 = 47.2–61.0%). Meanwhile, no significant association between MAP and T2DM (FE: OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.54–2.37, p value = 0.74; RE: OR 1.19; 95% CI 0.34–4.12, p value = 0.69), its OR magnitude exceeded 1 and prediction interval (0.09–15.29) suggest possibility of association between the duo in the future. The leave-one-out sensitivity analysis depicts a robust meta-analysis in all cases. In conclusion, the study manifests a positive association between MAP and T1DM, highlighting that MAP prevention and environmental control would indubitably revolutionize T1DM management. Also, its projects possible link between MAP and T2DM as more data becomes available. However, it remains elusive whether MAP triggers T1/T2DM or a mere comorbidity in T1/T2DM. Epidemiological activities to fill the global/regional data gaps on MAP-related T1DM and T2DM are advocated in order to assess the burden of MAP-related DM and improve their clinical management.

Certain environmental variables are responsible for the survival of microorganisms in aquatic environments. The influence of these environmental factors in each season (winter, autumn, spring and summer) of the year can be used to track changes in a microbial population in freshwater resources. In this study, we assessed the effect of seasonal shifts in environmental variables including temperature, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and turbidity (TBS) among others on the density of Acinetobacter species in the Great Fish, Keiskamma and Tyhume rivers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Water samples and values of the environmental factors were taken from the rivers for 12 months. The density of presumptive Acinetobacter species was estimated from the culture of water samples on a CHROMagar selective medium, while the Acinetobacter-specific recA gene was targeted for the identification of Acinetobacter species using PCR assay. The multivariate relationship between seasons and changes in variables was created using PCA, while the effect of seasonal shifts in the environmental variables on the density of Acinetobacter species was evaluated using correlation test and topological graphs. Positive association patterns were observed between the seasons, environmental factors and the bacterial density in the rivers. In addition, temperature, TBS, TSS and BOD tended to influence the bacterial density more than other physicochemical factors in the rivers across the seasons. Of the total 1107 presumptive Acinetobacter species, 844 were confirmed as Acinetobacter species. Therefore, these findings suggested that the rivers contain Acinetobacter species that could be useful for basic and applied study in ecology or biotechnology, while their clinical relevance in causing diseases cannot be underestimated.

This work was designed to elucidate selected physicochemical, functional, and structural properties of native and modified yam (Dioscorea rotundata) starch. The isolated starch was chemically modified using 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% phosphoric acid solution at 50°C for 1 h, and yield, swelling power, gelation, water holding capacity, paste clarity, blue value, and amylose and amylopectin content of the native and modified yam starch were determined. Structural changes in the native and starch modified with 25% phosphoric acid were evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and optical microscopy. The result showed that the yield, swelling power, water holding capacity, paste clarity, blue value and amylose and amylopectin content of native yam starch was 33.38% (217 g), 3.84 g/g, 1.0 v/g, 10%, 0.52 and 25.96, respectively, whereas gelation study of the native and modified starch indicated that native starch was viscous and modified starch firm. However, yield, swelling power, water holding capacity, paste clarity, blue value, and amylose content of modified yam starch reduced in a dose dependent manner with phosphoric acid. The reduction in the values of the various functional properties could be associated with the effect of phosphoric acid on the starch granular structure. The result of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and optical microscopy revealed that the yam starch was modified by phosphoric acid with changes in functional groups spectra such as-OH stretch (3177 cm −1), H 2 O absorbed (1644 cm −1) (amorphous region), C-H stretch (2923 cm −1), CH 2 O (1253 cm −1), and CO -C (1078 cm −1) when compared to native starch. The morphology of native and modified yam starch granules ranged from oval to eliptical. However, modified starch granules were rough in surface. In conclusion, the characterized physicochemical and functional properties and structure exhibited by native and modified yam starch indicated that, yam could be a cheap and valuable source of starch for industrial application.