2 and Fig. 2.1). Mycobacterial disease and primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) are not discussed in this section as Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the focus of separate guidelines [1] and PCNSL is discussed within the BHIVA Malignancy

Guidelines [2]. Opportunistic infections of the CNS carry a great risk of morbidity and mortality. Several factors influence the likelihood of a specific aetiology, including CD4 cell Z VAD FMK count, ethnicity, age, risk group, prophylactic history and geographical location. Clinical evaluation and imaging, often with spinal fluid evaluation, is essential in determining the aetiology and appropriate management. In particular, MR scanning and CSF nucleic acid amplification have refined the approach to diagnostic confirmation so that brain biopsy is less often required (e.g. PML). With the exception of cryptococcal meningitis, therapy is usually commenced without prior confirmation and for toxoplasmosis facilitates distinction of Toxoplasma encephalitis from primary CNS lymphoma with confidence, where imaging is nondiagnostic. Early introduction selleck chemicals of HAART is also vital in reducing morbidity and mortality, and

indeed for PML is the only form of treatment. Cryptococcosis is the commonest systemic fungal infection associated with immunosuppression secondary to HIV infection [3]. Prior to the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) cryptococcosis occurred in approximately 5–10% of individuals infected with HIV [3], although this was higher in certain areas of the world [4,5]. Since the advent of HAART the incidence of cryptococcal disease has dramatically reduced [6,7]. Cryptococcus is an encapsulated yeast ubiquitous in the environment.

Epidemiological studies have confirmed the theory that primary infections occur during childhood and are usually asymptomatic [8]. The organism most commonly associated with HIV-related cryptococcal disease in the UK is C. neoformans var. grubii (serotype A) while C. neoformans var. neoformans (serotype D) is the second major strain in HIV-seropositive individuals [9]. Symptomatic disease with another subtype, Cryptococcus neoformans var. gattii (serotype B/C), is also well described in HIV patients [10]. Other subtypes of Cryptococcus have also been rarely described to cause disease [11]. many C. neoformans var. neoformans has been found in association with bird (primarily pigeon) droppings, although nonavian sources are also found [12]. C. neoformans var. gattii has been isolated from eucalyptus trees [13]. Infections caused with C. neoformans var. gattii occur mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Infection with Cryptococcus spp. is by inhalation of the organism [14] and localized disease in the lung may occur. Without therapy the yeast rapidly spreads to the blood and is neurotropic, leading to the development of cryptococcal meningitis [15,16].

MEP

amplitude at time T after cTBS was defined as the averaged peak-to-peak amplitude of the MEPs recorded during the corresponding batch; this value was then expressed as the change in MEPs compared with pre-cTBS, i.e. [MEPs(T) – MEPs(pre-cTBS)]/MEPs(pre-cTBS). Thus, negative values reflect suppression after cTBS. Student’s t-tests were run to determine if MEP amplitudes were significantly different from zero after cTBS. Bonferroni was applied to correct for multiple comparisons. To account for the variance of the baseline, Student’s t-tests were also run on raw, non-normalized, data. Electroencephalography Omipalisib in vitro data recorded during batches of single-pulse TMS (Fig. 1C) were processed offline using the EEGlab toolbox (Delorme & Makeig, 2004) running in a MATLAB environment (Mathworks). The EEG signals were analysed with the common reference, as recorded. They were first high-pass filtered above 1 Hz. Continuous data were epoched from 200 ms before the TMS pulse to 600 ms after. Baseline correction was applied based on a pre-TMS interval of 200 ms. Disconnected channels were removed and

recomputed (spherical interpolation) after cleaning (see below). Independent component analysis was performed to separate residual electrical from physiological responses to a TMS pulse. Components related to electrical artifacts were identified by their activity strongly peaking at the vicinity of the stimulation sites during the first tens of milliseconds after a pulse, and by their spectrum covering a restricted frequency range with strong harmonics. Components PD-166866 clearly reflecting other artifacts, such as muscle contamination or eye blinks, were also removed. On average, 9.6 ± 4.1 (range 3–17) components were removed, most of the artifacts being identified in the first few components. We cannot exclude that true brain response to TMS was also partly removed with components identified as artifacts. However, as the same components were removed for all conditions within a subject, we

expect changes in EEG response to TMS after cTBS to be related to cTBS-induced changes in brain excitability. Grand-average of TMS-induced 4��8C EEG responses were then calculated for the group. For pre-cTBS and for each time batch after cTBS, we calculated the grand-average time-domain response at the C3 electrode (over M1). For each of the pre-cTBS and post-cTBS conditions, we identified the amplitude of four TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs) that are commonly reported in the literature (Paus et al., 2001; Komssi et al., 2004; Bonato et al., 2006; Komssi & Kahkonen, 2006; Van Der Werf & Paus, 2006; Fitzgerald, 2010), i.e. P30, N45, P55 and N100. Then, changes in amplitude compared with pre-cTBS were calculated for each TEP as [TEP(T) – TEP(pre-cTBS)]/TEP(pre-cTBS).

Most healthcare practitioners require the patient to be registered with

their practice or organisation in order to access services. However, this is currently not in place for the provision of most community pharmacy services with the exception of some minor ailment schemes.1 With the advent of further new pharmacy services the concept of patient registration is considered as an important next step in the enhancement of pharmaceutical care.2 Before patient registration can become a reality, research is needed to determine the general public’s views about the concept and this small-scale study aims to explore this. A qualitative exploratory study where semi-structured interviews were conducted with a broad range of individuals based on a purposive sampling framework (age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic group) to gain a broad spectrum of demographic characteristics to Trichostatin A represent the general public. Initial recruitment involved identification of individuals known to the study team followed by a snowball approach. An interview schedule

was designed to capture a) views about community pharmacy in general, b) the concept of patient registration plus c) specific feedback on one proposed model of patient registration with a community pharmacy (i.e. patient choses pharmacy, consent granted to access medical and medication records, information restricted to registered pharmacy but patients can still use other pharmacies). The study gained

research ethics approval from the University Ethics JQ1 ic50 Committee. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for subsequent thematic analysis. Twelve individuals were interviewed (5 males and 7 females) ranging in ages from 20 to 79 years of age. Three participants were British-Caucasian, three African-Caribbean, four Asian and two of Arabic ethnicity with a range of previous exposure to community pharmacy and representing the full range of socioeconomic groups. Four key themes were identified and these were related to views about a) the community pharmacy – whether this was seen as a healthcare provider or a business outlet, b) the pharmacist – in terms of their professional knowledge and their role within the pharmacy, c) impact of patient registration on – changing the role of the pharmacist, whether or not everyone should enough register, benefits to certain patient groups and d) access to information – for provision of more informed advice / service but the issue of confidentiality arose as a concern. When the specific model of patient registration was proposed, this was well received by the participants in terms of ensuring patient safety, flexibility, transparency and sharing of information, thus allowing the pharmacist to prescribe for minor ailments. However, reservations about accessing medical information were raised and therefore restricting access to medical records was viewed as being important.

Shewanella species have attracted considerable attention in recent years because of their respiratory versatility and potential applicability to biotechnological processes, such as bioremediation (Hau & Gralnick, 2007) and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) (Kim et al., 1999; Newton et al., 2009). Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is the most extensively studied strain in the genus Shewanella in terms of its annotated genome sequence (Heidelberg et al., 2002), genetic accessibility, and abilities to respire solid

metal species (e.g. iron and manganese oxides) (Myers & Nealson, 1988a; Nealson & Saffarini, 1994). Solid metal respiration requires distinct mechanisms to transfer electrons from intracellular electron donors (e.g. NADH) to extracellular electron http://www.selleckchem.com/products/apo866-fk866.html acceptors. Extensive studies have been performed to understand extracellular electron-transfer selleck screening library (EET) pathways of S. oneidensis MR-1 (Shi et al., 2007;

Fredrickson et al., 2008). These studies have revealed that this bacterium has multiple EET pathways, including (i) direct pathways with the aid of outer-membrane cytochromes (OM-cyts), such as MtrC and OmcA (Shi et al., 2007) and (ii) indirect pathways via electron-shuttle compounds, such as flavins (Marsili et al., 2008; von Canstein et al., 2008). Studies have also revealed that EET and solid metal reduction are complex processes that are influenced by a variety of cellular factors, including nanowires (Gorby et al., 2006; El-Naggar et al., 2010) and cell-surface polysaccharides (Kouzuma et al., 2010). It is therefore reasonable to speculate that many unknown

factors are also involved in EET for solid metal reduction. To identify cellular components necessary for manganese-oxide (MnO2) reduction, this study constructed a random transposon (Tn)-insertion mutant library of S. oneidensis MR-1 and obtained a mutant with a decreased ability to reduce MnO2 Verteporfin in vivo after the selection of mutants on agar plates containing MnO2. Analyses of the mutant revealed that siderophore-mediated iron acquisition is involved in OM-cyt biosynthesis and MnO2 reduction. Shewanella strains were cultured at 30 °C in either LB medium or a modified lactate minimal medium (LMM) containing 5 μM FeSO4·7H2O as an iron source (Kouzuma et al., 2010). In assays examining iron concentration dependences, a FeSO4·7H2O-free trace-mineral solution was used. For anaerobic cultivation, Shewanella cells were inoculated in bottles (approximately 100 mL in capacity) containing 80 mL of LMM. They were capped with Teflon-coated butyl rubber septums, sealed with aluminum crimp seals, purged with pure nitrogen gas, and inoculated with bacteria (precultured in LMM with fumarate) at an initial optical density at 600 nm (OD600 nm) of 0.01. MnO2 and Fe(III) oxide powders were prepared according to Lovley & Phillips (1988). When necessary, 15 μg mL−1 gentamicin (Gm) or 50 μg mL−1 kanamycin (Km) was added to culture media. Tn mutagenesis of S.

The SSH Xoo MAI1 Selleck isocitrate dehydrogenase inhibitor nonredundant set of sequences was grouped into functional categories, using the Gene Ontology (GO) functional classification scheme (http://www.geneontology.org). We tested 17 clones by Southern blot analysis to verify that the DNA fragments derived from individual clones were present in the Xoo strain MAI1 and absent in the driver DNA (strains Xoo PXO86 or Xoc BLS256). Additionally, four fragments FI978105, FI978197, FI978167, and FI978100 (Table 1) were selected to screen genomic DNA from different Asian Xoo strains, African Xoo strains, African Xoc strains (MAI3 and MAI11), and one Asian Xoc strain (BLS256)

(Table 1). Briefly, for each strain, 5 μg of genomic DNA was digested with 10 U of RsaI and run on 0.8% agarose gels. The DNA was transferred to Hybond-N+ nylon membranes (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Little Chalfont,

UK). The insert DNA was amplified by PCR, using the nested primer 1 and nested primer 2R provided with the PCR-Select™ Trametinib datasheet Bacterial Genome Subtraction Kit (BD Biosciences Clontech). The amplified DNA fragment was gel purified, using the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, CA). The DNA fragments were labeled with [α32P] dCTP by random priming (MegaPrime labeling kit, Amersham Biosciences Europe GmbH, Succursale France, Saclay, Orsay). Hybridization and washes were conducted according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). Two subtracted DNA libraries (SSH) were constructed to isolate unique DNA sequences from the African Xoo strain MAI1. The sequence lengths of the 530 sequences obtained varied between 85 and 1144 bp, with the average being 396 bp. The initial set of 530 sequences was reduced to 134 unique consensus sequences, comprising 85 contigs and 49 singletons (Supporting Information, Table S1). From the nonredundant set of sequences, 62 sequences were specifically found in the MAI1-PXO86 library and 52

in the MAI1-BLS256 library. Twenty sequences were found in both libraries (Table 2). A blastn search with the Xoo MAI1 nonredundant sequences was performed. The results are summarized in Table S1 and Fig. 1. Half of the genes identified Amino acid comprised 67 unique sequences that belonged to two categories of proteins, that is, either ‘hypothetical proteins’ or of unknown function (Fig. 1). Several fragments were homologs to known genes related to pathogenicity and more specifically to those encoding pathogenicity, that is, to type III secretion system proteins (T3SS). Most knowledge on T3SS in Xoo is based on studies of the AvrBs3/PthA bacterial effector proteins, a family of type III effectors with transcription activator-like (TAL) activity known so far (Yang & White, 2004; White & Yang, 2009). Moreover, fragments with similarity to an Avr/Pth14 protein and a TAL effector (tal-C10b) of Xoo PXO99A were also isolated. These TAL effectors have been shown to control the induction of plant genes during infection (Kay et al., 2007; White & Yang, 2009).

A linear regression analysis found that duration of travel increased the risk of medication nonadherence. For each additional month of travel, the odds of being nonadherent increased 1.44 times compared to one less Lumacaftor price month (p = 0.045; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.06). Little is known about the impact of travel on chronic disease management, especially among VFR travelers. This small study is an attempt to fill this important gap in knowledge. We found that nearly one-third of VFR travelers in our study population experienced

health problems while traveling in Africa or Asia that were related to one or more chronic medical conditions. This rate exceeded that of travelers who reported an acute health problem related to an infectious disease. The two patients in our study requiring hospitalization after travel were admitted as a result of cardiovascular issues, and none required admission for an infectious illness. Although we found a low rate of travelers’ diarrhea in our cohort (N = 5 or 4.5%), these rates were comparable to other reports of acute diarrhea

in long-term or immigrant VFR travelers.[4, 8] Furthermore, we EPZ5676 datasheet found very high rates of medication nonadherence during VFR travel, particularly with travel of longer duration. We also found that the likelihood of a health problem while traveling corresponded to the number of chronic medications the traveler was taking. These findings are important

because we also found that the focus of pre-travel counseling in our clinic conformed to the traditional emphasis on vaccine-preventable Erastin cell line illnesses, malaria prophylaxis, and advice on safe food and water. Prior studies have shown that the leading cause of death among travelers is cardiovascular disease, so the worsening of blood pressure control found among our African travelers is concerning.[21, 29] These results suggest that for VFR travelers on numerous medications or traveling for extended trips, it may be important for the pre-travel visit to include strategies for chronic disease management and medication adherence during travel. Following this recommendation is likely to be challenging. In our study, the pre-travel visit occurred a median of only 7 days prior to departure, with a median visit length of only 30 minutes, compelling the provider to prioritize the focus of the visit. Prior studies have shown that VFR travelers tend to underestimate their risk and rarely seek care from specialized travel clinics. Therefore, the onus of providing this advice falls on primary care providers, who already have many competing priorities and increasingly constrained time to spend with patients.

, 1998; Osset et al., 2001). The antimicrobials are mainly organic acids produced from the fermentation of sugars, which leads to the typical low pH of the vagina. This low pH is able to inhibit the growth of most pathogens (Boskey et al., 2001). Probiotics are defined as ‘live microorganisms which when administered in adequate

amounts confer a health benefit on the host’ (FAO/WHO, 2006). Use of lactobacilli as probiotic agents in the human genitourinary tract has a long history of safe use, which dates from 1915 (Newman, 1915). Among the physiological traits that are desirable for potential probiotic lactobacilli, adhesion to epithelial surfaces is of paramount importance. It is well known that, in healthy women, the cervix produces mucus that is mainly composed of mucin, among other components (Moghissi this website et al., 1960) acting as a protective Selleckchem BTK inhibitor barrier for the uterus and the vagina (Wang & Lee, 2002). A good adhesion to mucin is thus a desirable characteristic, which may increase the residence time of probiotic lactobacilli, as happens with intestinal Lactobacillus strains (McGrady et al., 1995; Perea Vélez et al., 2007). The quick turnover of the vaginal mucosa makes adhesion a crucial feature for the establishment and colonization of probiotic lactobacilli; thus, it is necessary to characterize the bacterial adhesion an efficient in vitro model (Van den Abbeele et al., 2009).

In the present study, the adhesion abilities Baf-A1 datasheet of 32 vaginal and 11 intestinal Lactobacillus strains to mucin have been characterized.

Among them, eight strains were selected to characterize their adhesion abilities to Caco-2, HT-29, and HeLa cells, three well-known epithelial cell models. The interference of the lactobacilli cells and their secreted proteins on the adhesion of the vaginal pathogens C. albicans and Actinomyces neuii to the vaginal cell line HeLa was determined as well. Finally, secreted and surface proteins were identified, with some of them being suggested as molecular elicitors of the interaction between the lactobacilli and the mucosal surface. The Lactobacillus strains used in this study were isolated from the vagina of fertile women or had an intestinal origin and were selected because of their good probiotic properties (Martín et al., 2008a, unpublished data). Actinomyces neuii R1 was isolated from a vaginal swab of a woman with vulvovaginitis, whereas C. albicans CECT 1392, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103), and Lactobacillus plantarum 299V (DSM 9843) were obtained from the Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo, the American Type Culture Collection and the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, respectively. Lactobacilli were grown in MRS broth (Difco, Detroit), whereas C. albicans and A. neuii were grown in BHI broth (Oxoid, Cambridge, UK) supplemented with 1% (w/v) yeast extract (Difco), 0.

Recent studies have reported that sulfate is the main terminal electron acceptor in the Urania basin brine (Borin et al., 2009). Nitrate, oxygen, and manganese may be important electron acceptors in the upper parts of the interphase between the brine from which several cultures of A. macleodii were isolated, and that may support much

higher levels of microbial life (Borin et al., 2009). AltDE was previously reported to possess nitrate reductase activity, but no growth assays were conducted (Ivars-Martinez et al., 2008b). In our growth assays, combined nitrogen was not a limiting factor due to the presence of peptone in the marine broth at a concentration of 5 g L−1. Thus, the inhibitory AG-014699 price effect on growth by withholding nitrate was likely due to respiratory requirements. Deep sea basins are some of the most remote and extreme environments on earth and little is known about their physiology. The existence of a mud volcano at the bottom of the Urania basin may indicate that hydrogen from geological sources is also present (Yakimov

et al., 2007). More studies are needed to determine whether the hydrogenase present in all Deep ecotypes contributes to environmental adaptation. While metagenomic data have led to many new hypotheses about the microbial ecology in benthic environments, the development of genetic tools in A. macleodii Deep ecotype will facilitate the elucidation of the genetic basis for survival in these extreme deep sea environments. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technology Program (DE-FG36-05GO15027).

Ivacaftor mw We thank Dr Francisco Rodriguez-Valera for kindly providing us with the A. macleodii Deep ecotype strains. “
“Penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 5 plays a critical role in maintaining normal cellular morphology in mutants of Escherichia coli lacking multiple PBPs. The most closely related homologue, PBP 6, is 65% identical to PBP 5, but is unable to substitute for PBP 5 in returning these mutants to their wild-type shape. The relevant differences between PBPs 5 and 6 are localized in a 20-amino acid stretch Avelestat (AZD9668) of domain I in these proteins, which includes the canonical KTG motif at the active site. We determined how these differences affected the enzymatic properties of PBPs 5 and 6 toward β-lactam binding and the binding and hydrolysis of two peptide substrates. We also investigated the enzymatic properties of recombinant fusion proteins in which active site segments were swapped between PBPs 5 and 6. The results suggest that the in vivo physiological role of PBP 5 is distinguished from PBP 6 by the higher degree of dd-carboxypeptidase activity of the former. Of the 12 known penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) in Escherichia coli, four are dd-carboxypeptidases (dd-CPases): PBPs 4, 5 and 6, and DacD (Holtje, 1998; Ghosh et al., 2008).

Recent studies have reported that sulfate is the main terminal electron acceptor in the Urania basin brine (Borin et al., 2009). Nitrate, oxygen, and manganese may be important electron acceptors in the upper parts of the interphase between the brine from which several cultures of A. macleodii were isolated, and that may support much

higher levels of microbial life (Borin et al., 2009). AltDE was previously reported to possess nitrate reductase activity, but no growth assays were conducted (Ivars-Martinez et al., 2008b). In our growth assays, combined nitrogen was not a limiting factor due to the presence of peptone in the marine broth at a concentration of 5 g L−1. Thus, the inhibitory selleck chemicals effect on growth by withholding nitrate was likely due to respiratory requirements. Deep sea basins are some of the most remote and extreme environments on earth and little is known about their physiology. The existence of a mud volcano at the bottom of the Urania basin may indicate that hydrogen from geological sources is also present (Yakimov

et al., 2007). More studies are needed to determine whether the hydrogenase present in all Deep ecotypes contributes to environmental adaptation. While metagenomic data have led to many new hypotheses about the microbial ecology in benthic environments, the development of genetic tools in A. macleodii Deep ecotype will facilitate the elucidation of the genetic basis for survival in these extreme deep sea environments. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technology Program (DE-FG36-05GO15027).

Regorafenib supplier We thank Dr Francisco Rodriguez-Valera for kindly providing us with the A. macleodii Deep ecotype strains. “
“Penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 5 plays a critical role in maintaining normal cellular morphology in mutants of Escherichia coli lacking multiple PBPs. The most closely related homologue, PBP 6, is 65% identical to PBP 5, but is unable to substitute for PBP 5 in returning these mutants to their wild-type shape. The relevant differences between PBPs 5 and 6 are localized in a 20-amino acid stretch Phospholipase D1 of domain I in these proteins, which includes the canonical KTG motif at the active site. We determined how these differences affected the enzymatic properties of PBPs 5 and 6 toward β-lactam binding and the binding and hydrolysis of two peptide substrates. We also investigated the enzymatic properties of recombinant fusion proteins in which active site segments were swapped between PBPs 5 and 6. The results suggest that the in vivo physiological role of PBP 5 is distinguished from PBP 6 by the higher degree of dd-carboxypeptidase activity of the former. Of the 12 known penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) in Escherichia coli, four are dd-carboxypeptidases (dd-CPases): PBPs 4, 5 and 6, and DacD (Holtje, 1998; Ghosh et al., 2008).

An enrichment culture, which could completely degrade 100 mg L−1 FE within 7 days was acquired by this website continuous enrichment (Fig. 1a). Several strains capable of transforming FE to FA were isolated on MSM plates containing 100 mg L−1 FE as the sole carbon source, but they all were incapable of completely degrading FE. We studied the degradation of FA, CDHB and HPP by the enrichment culture, and the results are shown in Fig. 1b–d. The enrichment culture demonstrated complete degradation of 50 mg L−1 FA, CDHB and HPP within 5 days. However, no single strain isolated from the LB plates and MSM plates

could degrade FA, CDHB and HPP. This indicates that the microorganisms capable of degrading FA, CDHB and HPP were in the enrichment culture and complete degradation of FE needs the interaction of a variety of microorganisms. Such phenomenon was also observed in the degradation of other environmental pollutants. Complete degradation of dimethyl isophthalate (DMI) requires the biochemical cooperation between strains Klebsiella oxytoca Sc and Methylobacterium mesophilicum Sr (Li et al., 2005; Li & Gu, 2007). Several strains capable of metabolising FE to FA were isolated on MSM plates. Strain T1 was selected for further investigation because of its high degradation rate and relatively rapid growth. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain T1 demonstrated similarity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence from members of the genus HTS assay Rhodococcus, the

degree of similarity attained was 100% with R. qingshengii djl-6 T (DQ090961) and 99% with R. baikonurensis GTC1041T (AB071951), respectively. The dendrogram illustrating the MycoClean Mycoplasma Removal Kit results of 16S rRNA gene analysis is presented in Fig. 2. There are many reports about degradation of environmental pollutants by Rhodococcus. R. phenolicus is capable of degrading chlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene and phenol (Rehfuss & Urban, 2005). Rhodococcus sp. strain djl-6 is capable of degrading carbendazim (Xu et al., 2006b). R. opacus SAO101 is capable of degrading p-nitrophenol and a novel p-nitrophenol degradation gene cluster has been identified from this strain (Kitagawa et al., 2004). However, this is the first report of

Rhodococcus sp. degrading FE. Rhodococci are ubiquitous and numerous in soil and able to survive under extremely harsh conditions (Shao et al., 1995). These features make them ideal candidates for bioremediation of contaminated environments. The time course of FE degradation by strain T1 is presented in Fig. 3a. Strain T1 was capable of rapid degradation of FE with more than 80% FE being degraded within 8 h. After 8 h, the degradation rate began to decline, and 94% FE had been degraded 24 h after inoculation. The initial and final cell densities in the cultures were 3.15 × 107 and 1.08 × 108 cells mL−1, respectively. These results indicate that strain T1 could use FE as the sole carbon source for growth. Only one metabolite (Rt = 2.9 min) was detected by HPLC analysis.