Ali Taher Abaas currently working at College of Pharmacy, Univ. of Thi-Qar, Iraq

To identify the bacteria that producing the enzyme of metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) with (E test) method among patients of intensive care unit this study had been conducted in Al-Imam Al-Hussein hospital in Thi-qar province for the period from 1st September to end of December 2011. A total of 320 swabs and samples were collected from 17 different sites of Intensive Care Unit environment and inoculated on a normal cultural media, then incubated at 37o C for 24 hour. The growth revealed different bacterial colonies which had been tested for their morphological and biochemical characteristics. The final diagnosis by using API20 E was used for the gram negative bacteria and API staph. Used for Staphylococcus. Sixty eight of pure isolates were obtained including 24 (35.29%) Gram positive bacterial isolates, 44 (64.71%) of Gram negative bacterial isolates. Sensitivity tests for all isolates were done using 25 types of commonly used antibiotics in Iraq, the results revealed that the genus Enterobacter spp. had a high resistance as a Gram negative bacteria and Staphylococcus spp. had a high resistance as a Gram positive bacteria to most of the tested antibiotics. The ability of bacteria isolates to produce Metallo ß-lactamase using progressive concentration stripes method (E test) was studied. The results showed (1.4%) of these isolates gave positive results for each Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae and Proteus mirabilis.

Flavio De Maio has completed Medical Biotechnology degree at the age of 24 from Catholic University of Rome and presently he is engaged in microbiology and virology specialization school. He has published some papers in reputed journals and some posters in recognized congresses.

Flavio De Maio has completed Medical Biotechnology degree at the age of 24 from Catholic University of Rome and presently he is engaged in microbiology and virology specialization school. He has published some papers in reputed journals and some posters in recognized congresses.

Veronica Medrano Romero graduated from Biology in Mayor de San Andres University in La Paz, Bolivia. She got her Master degree in Medical Sciences in the University of Tsukuba, Japan in 2011. Currently, she is a second year student of the Doctoral Program in Biomedical Sciences in the same university.

Genetic competence is a specific physiological state developed to undergo natural transformation. The machinery for DNA-uptake is similar among bacteria but the competence regulatory circuits are species-specific. Among Gram-positive bacteria, there are two different and evolutionary distinct central competence regulators, the alternative sigma factor ComX (also known as σH) and the transcription factor ComK. Some species, like Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, have both regulators. However, only in B. subtilis their function has been clearly and extensively studied. In B. subtilis, these regulators form a regulatory network in which ComK is the main regulator of competence achievement and σH controls sporulation development. In non-spore forming species (Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus), the main competence regulator is ComX/σH and it has been reported that ComK can enhance the σH directed transcription of comG and comE operons in S. aureus. Listeria monocytogenes is a non-spore forming bacteria without any reports of competence development, but the competence machinery genes (controlled by ComK) have been reported to be important for optimal phagosomal escape. Here, we review the current knowledge regarding competence regulation among Gram positive bacteria.

K.A.E. Mullen completed her PhD in Animal Science from North Carolina State University in 2013. She is currently completing her post-doctoral studies involving research on organic dairy herds and the use of non-pharmacological agents to treat mastitis.

There is anecdotal evidence of the efficacy of plant essential oils for treatment of mastitis in dairy cattle and there is need for alternatives to antibiotics in the growing U.S. organic dairy industry, where antibiotic use is prohibited. However, the potential mechanisms of action of essential oils in mastitis therapy has not been well studied. An essential oil-based botanical intramammary infusion, Phyto-Mast (CowMaster LLC, Kutztown, PA), has been used with some effectiveness as a dry treatment in mature cows. One component of this botanical infusion, thyme essential oil, has documented evidence of antibacterial activity. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Phyto-Mast and thyme essential oil against mastitis-causing pathogens.