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The high resistance of K. pneumoniae strains to various antibiotics is remarkable. The most important virulence factors for K. pneumoniae include fimbriae, capsule, lipopolysaccharide, outer membrane proteins, and iron transport molecules. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of capsule (wabG) and fimbriae (fimH) coding genes in MDR K. pneumoniae strains isolated from patients admitted to Isfahan (Iran) hospitals. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates was carried out by the disk diffusion method. Definitive confirmation of MDR isolates was done by tracing the 16S-23S ITS gene, and the presence of capsule (wabG) and fimbriae (fimH) genes was investigated in the isolates. Data analysis was done using an independent parametric T-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). One hundred and two K. pneumoniae isolates were detected in the samples, including urine, respiratory tract, blood, throat, cerebrospinal fluid, direct discharge, wound secretions, pleural fluid, joint fluid, abscess discharge, stool, and sputum. Men were significantly more infected with K. pneumoniae than women. The highest frequency of the isolates was related to urine (40%), followed by the respiratory tract (27%). The largest number of isolates were found in the ICU (37%) and emergency (28%) departments. Out of the 102 isolates of K. pneumoniae, 50 isolates (49%) were MDR, and 50 (49%) were carbapenemresistant. Of the 50 MDR isolates, 48 (96%) and 47 (94%) had fimH and wabG genes, respectively. High frequencies of MDR and carbapenem-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae with a high prevalence of fimH and wabG genes are significant and should be considered by healthcare management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pili producing genes in different life cycles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) were assessed. M. tuberculosis has two life cycles: dormant and active states. We aimed to assess the pili producing genes such as curli pili of M. tuberculosis (mtp) encoded by the mtp gene (Rv3312A) and fimbrial low-molecular-weight protein encoded by flp gene (Rv3656c) which were compared and analyzed. Methods: Two hundred M. tuberculosis isolates were investigated both at active and dormant states for production and expression of pili. The dormant M. tuberculosis was achieved by incubation in a sealed tube (modified Wayne method). The susceptibility of M. tuberculosis was evaluated on genes, rpob, inh, katg, and gyra by using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and single-strand conformational polymorphism methods. The PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to express pili genes mtp and flp and then the PCR products was digested using restriction enzyme Fnu4HI, XmaI, and MspJI and AciI, TagII, and HaeII, respectively. The transmission electron microscopy was also used to detect pili in different isolates. The result was compared and analyzed using H37RV as a gold standard. Results: The mtp and flp PCR products were 263 and 122 bp in the studied strains irrespective of M. tuberculosis different life cycles, respectively. The PCR products were analyzed on 8% Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and in the 180/200 (20%), producing five fragments of 25,40,45,63,90 bp with the Fun4HI and two fragments of 126,138 bp with the XmaI and uncut with the MspJI for mtp gen were obtained at the dormant and active states of M. tuberculosis (P < 0.05). Similarly in flp gene producing three fragments of 22,35,65 bp with AciI and two fragments of 35.87 bp with TagII and two fragments of 38.84 bp with HaeII were obtained (P < 0.05). In contrast to genotyping analysis, the electron microscopy examination showed protruding of pili from M. tuberculosis, especially in dormant mycobacterium (15/100; 15%), that was multidrug resistance and extensive drug resistance isolates (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Pili were shown by electron microscopy, although at the gene expression, the insignificant difference was observed at the dormant strains in comparison to active states. Therefore, we may conclude that other genes might be involved in pili production of M. tuberculosis that needs further investigation. Although, the resistance phenomena might influence the pili producing gene expression that showed in our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the presence of an arrector pili smooth muscle is documented in many monkey species, its regional peculiarities are hitherto not well documented. We aimed to study this aspect in the face of rhesus monkeys with different areas of hair coat. Eight different regions of six monkeys (male and female) were studied using light microscopy and immunohistochemistry (antibody against smooth muscle alpha actin). We identified two regions (lips and eyelids) with vellus hairs that did not show an arrector pili muscle. In the eyelids, the hairs are rather small and short; in the lips, the vellus hairs were surrounded by striated muscle fibers from the orbicularis oris muscle. In all other regions (frontal region, forehead, cheek, chin), the vellus hairs contained an arrector pili muscle with comparable morphology. Only in the chin region, where additional striated muscles from the face muscles were present, the arrector pili muscles were thinner. All vibrissae showed a close relation to striated muscle fiber bundles of the facial muscles. They never developed smooth muscle bundles assigned as arrector pili equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]