Microbiology Commons^™

High Heterotrophic Counts In Potable Water And Antimicrobial Resistance Among Indicator Organisms In Two Peri-Urban Communities Of Karachi, Pakistan, Sadia Shakoor, Imran Ahmed, Saima Mukhtiar, Israr Ahmed, Farzeen Hirani, Shazia Sultana, Rumina Hasan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: Fecal contamination of potable water leads to unsafe water supply. Although many urban areas of large metropolitan cities receive safe water, peri-urban areas are often not monitored by public health authorities and water supply and quality remain unknown. We assessed microbiological quality and rates of antimicrobial resistance in viable indicator bacteria in two peri-urban communities of Karachi, Pakistan. Water samples were collected over 5 months (October 2015 to February 2016) from these peri-urban communities and samples were processed for microbiological quality as per Standing Committee of Analysts, United Kingdom and World Health Organization guidelines and criteria for drinking water. …

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy For Analysis Of Kidney Stones, Aysha Habib Khan, Sheharbano Imran, Jamsheer Talati, Lena Jafri

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Purpose:
To compare the results of a chemical method of kidney stone analysis with the results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy.
Materials and Methods:
Kidney stones collected between June and October 2015 were simultaneously analyzed by chemical and FT-IR methods.
Results:
Kidney stones (n=449) were collected from patients from 1 to 81 years old. Most stones were from adults, with only 11.5% from children (aged 3-16 years) and 1.5% from children aged adults, the calcium oxalate stone type, calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM, n=224), was the most common crystal, followed by uric acid and calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD, n=83). In …

Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis- A Case Report, Renee M. Horner, Douglas S. Gardenhire, Ralph D. Zimmerman

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

ABSTRACT

Background: Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP) is a rare pulmonary disorder caused by a congregation of excessive lipoproteinaceous material in the alveolar spaces due to impaired surfactant metabolism. The congregation of the protein in the alveolar space leads to difficulty in breathing, impaired pulmonary immunity, and susceptibility to both opportunistic and acquired pulmonary infections. Although Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis is rare, there are potential treatments. Whole-lung lavage is the most widely accepted therapy and course of treatment. An additional form of therapy, GM-CSF stimulating therapy, uses recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology to increase white cell production.

Purpose: The purpose …

Metatranscriptome Of Human Faecal Microbial Communities In A Cohort Of Adult Men, Galeb S. Abu-Ali, Raaj S. Mehta, Jason Lloyd-Price, Himel Mallick, Tobyn Branck, Kerry L. Ivey, David A. Drew, Casey Dulong, Eric Rimm, Jacques Izard, Andrew T. Chan, Curtis Huttenhower

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The gut microbiome is intimately related to human health, but it is not yet known which functional activities are driven by specific microorganisms' ecological configurations or transcription. We report a large-scale investigation of 372 human fecal metatranscriptomes and 929 metagenomes from a subset of 308 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. We identified a metatranscriptomic 'core' universally transcribed over time and across participants, often by different microorganisms. In contrast to the housekeeping functions enriched in this core, a 'variable' metatranscriptome included specialized pathways that were differentially expressed both across participants and among microorganisms. Finally, longitudinal metagenomic profiles allowed ecological …

Brain Is A Potential Sanctuary For Subtype C Hiv-1 Irrespective Of Art Treatment Outcome, For Yue Tso, Guobin Kang, Eun Hee Kwon, Peter Julius, Qingsheng Li, John T. West, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Subtype C HIV-1 is responsible for the largest proportion of people living with HIV-1 infection. However, there is limited information about the roles of the brain and its cell types as a potential sanctuary for this subtype and how the sanctuary may be affected by the administration of anti-retroviral therapy (ART). To address this issue, we collected postmortem brain tissues from ART treated HIV-1 infected Zambian individuals who experienced complete viral suppression and those who did not. Tissues from various brain compartments were collected from each individual as frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded brain specimens, for detection and quantification of …

Brain Is A Potential Sanctuary For Subtype C Hiv-1 Irrespective Of Art Treatment Outcome, For Yue Tso, Guobin Kang, Peter Julius, Qingsheng Li, John T. West, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Subtype C HIV-1 is responsible for the largest proportion of people living with HIV-1 infection. However, there is limited information about the roles of the brain and its cell types as a potential sanctuary for this subtype and how the sanctuary may be affected by the administration of anti-retroviral therapy (ART). To address this issue, we collected postmortem brain tissues from ART treated HIV-1 infected Zambian individuals who experienced complete viral suppression and those who did not. Tissues from various brain compartments were collected from each individual as frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded brain specimens, for detection and quantification of …

Contribution Of The Gp120 V3 Loop To Envelope Glycoprotein Trimer Stability In Primate Immunodeficiency Viruses, Dane Bowder, Haley Hollingsead, Kate Durst, Duoyi Hu, Wenzhong Wei, Joshua Wiggins, Halima Medjahed, Andrés Finzi, Joseph Sodroski, Shi-Hua Xiang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The V3 loop of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp120 exterior envelope glycoprotein (Env) becomes exposed after CD4 binding and contacts the coreceptor to mediate viral entry. Prior to CD4 engagement, a hydrophobic patch located at the tip of the V3 loop stabilizes the non-covalent association of gp120 with the Env trimer of HIV-1 subtype B strains. Here, we show that this conserved hydrophobic patch (amino acid residues 307, 309 and 317) contributes to gp120-trimer association in HIV-1 subtype C, HIV-2 and SIV. Changes that reduced the hydrophobicity of these V3 residues resulted in increased gp120 shedding and …

Ultrastructure Of Meelsvirus: A Nuclear Virus Of Arrow Worms (Phylum Chaetognatha) Producing Giant "Tailed" Virions, George L. Shinn, Brianna L. Bullard

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Most known giant viruses, i.e., viruses producing giant virions, parasitize amoebae and other unicellular eukaryotes. Although they vary in the level of dependence on host nuclear functions, their virions self-assemble in the host cell's cytoplasm. Here we report the discovery of a new prototype of giant virus infecting epidermal cells of the marine arrow worm Adhesisagitta hispida. Its 1.25 μm-long virions self-assemble and accumulate in the host cell's nucleus. Conventional transmission electron microscopy reveals that the virions have a unique bipartite structure. An ovoid nucleocapsid, situated in a broad "head" end of the virion is surrounded by a thin …

Synthesis, Secretion, And Perception Of Abscisic Acid Regulates Stress Responses In Chlorella Sorokiniana, Maya Khasin, Rebecca E. Cahoon, Sophie Alvarez, Richard Beckeris, Seong-Il Eyun, Qidong Jia, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Kenneth Nickerson, Wayne R. Riekhof

Kenneth Nickerson Papers

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that has been extensively characterized in higher plants for its roles in seed and bud dormancy, leaf abscission, and stress responses. Genomic studies have identified orthologs for ABA-related genes throughout the Viridiplantae, including in unicellular algae; however, the role of ABA in algal physiology has not been characterized, and the existence of such a role has been a matter of dispute. In this study, we demonstrate that ABA is involved in regulating algal stress responses. Chlorella sorokiniana strain UTEX 1230 contains genes orthologous to those of higher plants which are essential for ABA …

Bacterial Inoculants, Endophytic Bacteria And Their Influence On Nicotiana Physiology, Development And Microbiome, Andrea Marisa Sanchez Barrios

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Soil and root microbial communities have been studied for decades, and the incorporation of high-throughput techniques and analysis has allowed the identification of endophytic/non-culturable organisms. This has helped characterize and establish the core microbiome of many model plant species which include underground and aboveground organs. Unfortunately, the information obtained from some of these model plants is not always transferable to other agronomic species. In this project, we decided to study the microbiome of the Nicotiana genus because of its importance in plant physiological and plant-microbe interactions studies. The data obtained was used as baseline information that allowed us to better …

Gene Expression And Lipid Accumulation In Green Microalga Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii (137c) Under Salt Stress Condition, Thanapa Atikij

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Biodiesel is an important alternative energy that can reduce CO2 emission, the main cause of Global warming. Algal biomass has been considered to be the third generation biofuels. One of the important strategies that enhance lipid accumulation; precursor of biodiesel production, is stress cultivation. High salt concentration is one of a potential approach to enhance lipid accumulation in microalgae. Here, we investigated the impacts of salt on lipid accumulation in green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (137c). The results revealed that higher concentrations of NaCl, KCl, and LiCl led to increasing of saturated fatty acid contents for 1.8, 1.2, and 1.1 folds …

Investigation Of Antiviral Molecules Inhibiting Viral Infection, Sitthichai Kanokudom

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

No abstract provided.

Microbiology: A Laboratory Experience, Holly Ahern

Milne Open Textbooks

As a group of organisms that are too small to see and best known for being agents of disease and death, microbes are not always appreciated for the numerous supportive and positive contributions they make to the living world. Designed to support a course in microbiology, Microbiology: A Laboratory Experience permits a glimpse into both the good and the bad in the microscopic world. The laboratory experiences are designed to engage and support student interest in microbiology as a topic, field of study, and career.

This text provides a series of laboratory exercises compatible with a one-semester undergraduate microbiology or …

A Link Between Gut Microbes & Depression: Microbial Activation Of The Human Kynurenine Pathway, Christina Cobb

CMC Senior Theses

Our gut microbiota is involved in human development, nutrition, and the pathogenesis of gut disorders, but has more recently been implicated as a possible mechanism in the pathophysiology of several brain disorders, including disorders of mood and affect, such as depression. Researchers have referred to this dynamic, bidirectional signaling pathway between the gut and the brain as the “gut-brain axis.” However, most research on this axis has been limited to rodent studies, and there has been little insight into the mechanism behind it. I propose that the kynurenine pathway, where tryptophan is converted to kynurenine, is a compelling mechanism mediating …

Nevada Desert Dust With Heavy Metals Suppresses Igm Antibody Production, Deborah E. Keil, Brenda J. Buck, Dirk Goossens, Brett Mclaurin, Lacey Murphy, Mallory Leetham-Spencer, Yuanxin Teng, James E. Pollard, Russell Gerads, Jamie C. Dewitt

Geoscience Faculty Research

Systemic health effects from exposure to a complex natural dust containing heavy metals from the Nellis Dunes Recreation Area (NDRA) near Las Vegas, NV, were evaluated. Several toxicological parameters were examined following lung exposure to emissive dust from three geologic sediment types heavily used for recreational off-road activities: yellow sand very rich in arsenic (termed CBN 5); a shallow cover of loose dune sand overlying a gravelly subsoil bordering dune fields (termed CBN 6); and brown claystone and siltstone (termed CBN 7). Adult female B6C3F1 mice were exposed by oropharyngeal administration to these three types of geogenic dusts at 0.01–100 …

Crop Rotations That Integrate Pasture Are Less Vulnerable To Nitrogen Leaching Due To Changes In Microbial Community Composition And Reduced Nitrification, Jeth Gv Walkup

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Agroecosystems occupy a large portion of the United States and receive a disproportionally high amount of terrestrial nitrogen inputs. As application rates increase, nitrogen use efficiency declines leading to higher rates of nitrogen loss. To develop sustainable agricultural practices, the long-term effects of management practices on the soil microorganisms that perform central roles in the transformation of nitrogen need to be studied. To study the long-term impacts of compost application and pasture integration in crop rotation, samples were collected from the existing 19-year-old Organic Crop Livestock Field (OCLF) experiment on the WVU organic research farm. The OCLF experiment includes a …

Impacts Of Trace Metal Pollution, Urbanization And Aquifer Recharge On Spokane River Macroinvertebrates, Carolyn K. Connelly

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

This study analyzed macroinvertebrate communities of the Spokane River to determine: 1) accumulation of toxic trace metals in macroinvertebrate tissue, 2) effects of aquifer recharge, and 3) impact of urbanization. I predicted that aquifer inflows of cold, clean water would mitigate effects of pollution, and that reaches above the City of Spokane would be less negatively affected by urbanization; both were unsupported. I also predicted that effects of toxic trace metals would decrease within distance downstream; this prediction was supported. I sampled 12 riffles of the Spokane River between the Washington/Idaho border and Riverside State Park in late summer 2010. …

Resolution Of The Nutritional Requirements And Metabolic Profile Of Clostridium Scindens Atcc 35704, A Major Bile Acid-Dehydroxylating Anaerobe In The Human Gut, Rachana Shrestha

Masters Theses

Bile acids (cholate and chenodeoxycholate) are synthesized from cholesterol in the human liver, and secreted in small intestine for food digestion. However, a portion of these primary bile acids is converted in the colon to toxic secondary bile acids, deoxycholate and lithocholate. Secondary bile acid formation is the result of 7α-dehydroxylating anaerobes, and one of the key players in this conversion is Clostridium scindens. Interestingly, little is known about the basic physiology and nutrition of C. scindens. Therefore, the goal of this research was to understand the nutritional requirement, and determine the 7α-dehydroxylation activity and end products from …

The Rtfa Gene Regulates Plant And Animal Pathogenesis And Secondary Metabolism In Aspergillus Flavus, Jessica Michelle Lohmar

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic fungal plant and human pathogen and producer of mycotoxins including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). As part of our ongoing studies to elucidate biological functions of the A. flavus rtfA gene, we examined its role in pathogenicity of both plant and animal model systems. rtfA encodes a putative RNA-Pol II transcription elongation factor, previously characterized in Saccharomycese cerevisiae, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus fumigatus, where it was shown to regulate several important cellular processes, including morphogenesis, secondary metabolism. In addition, an initial study in A. flavus indicated that rtfA also influences development and production of AFB1, however its effect …

Waterborne Disease Reduction Using Evidence-Based Microbiology Verification In Lower Nyakach, Kenya, Richard R. Blodgett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Waterborne diseases continue to plague the poorest people in low-income countries and are estimated to cause 4,600,000 acute incidents of diarrhea resulting in over 2,000 deaths daily. A major challenge is performing microbiology tests to monitor drinking water quality. Friends of the Old (FOTO) implemented a novel strategy using evidence-based microbiology to educate communities about the relationship between contaminated water and disease. Two commercially available tests for E.coli, adapted for fieldwork, provided easily interpreted results of contamination that correlate with WHO's disease risk categories. Simple and effective household water treatment options 'solar pasteurization and/or chlorination' were provided to all 14,400 …

Molecular Determinants Of Trim5Α Restriction And Recruitment Of Autophagic Effectors, Sabrina Imam

Dissertations

TRIM5α is an anti-viral restriction factor that inhibits the lifecycle of retroviruses. TRIM5α binds to and forms a hexameric lattice around the retroviral capsid, thereby initiating its antiviral activities, which include: (1) inhibition of viral infection; (2) inhibition of viral reverse transcription; (3) disassembly of the capsid; and (4), activation of innate signaling pathways. The formation of this assembly also activates the E3 ubiquitin ligase function of TRIM5α. Ubiquitin modification is associated with directing substrates to particular cellular pathways. We and others have shown that TRIM5α cytoplasmic bodies colocalize with proteins involved in the autophagy pathway, and we hypothesized that …

Uncovering The Mechanisms Underlying The Immunogenicity Of Adenovirus Vaccine Vectors, Natalie Nidetz

Dissertations

Vaccination is historically the most effective tool for preventing infectious disease but current vaccine strategies fail to generate robust immunity to major infectious diseases such as HIV and malaria. Therefore, newer vaccine approaches are needed. Vaccines generated from viral, adenovirus based, vectors (AdVs) have proven highly immunogenic in multiple disease models. However, the clinical use of many AdVs is limited by the presence of pre-existing antibodies in human populations, which prevent expression of antigenic genes during immunization with AdVs based on common adenovirus (Ad) serotypes, such as HAdV-5C. Immunization with rare serotype based AdVs, such as HAdV-28D, are not affected …

Nitric Oxide Inhibits Biofilm Formation By Vibrio Fischeri Via The Nitric Oxide Sensor Hnox, Cecilia Thompson

Dissertations

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important signal secreted by the squid, Euprymna scolopes, and is thought to limit symbiotic biofilm formation, the initial step in colonization by the bacterium, Vibrio fischeri. Previous work demonstrated that a mutant defective for NO-sensor HnoX (heme nitric oxide/oxygen binding) had a competitive advantage over wild-type V. fischeri, but the mechanism by which this occurred remains unknown. HnoX is encoded upstream of hahK, a recently identified positive regulator of biofilm formation. I thus hypothesized that HnoX inhibits colonization by controlling HahK-induced biofilm formation during the initiation of colonization.

I assessed the impact of an hnoX …

Immunobiology Of Adenovirus-Vector Vaccines For Mrsa, Emily Orvis

Master's Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive, extracellular bacterium that has emerged as an

important human pathogen. This bacterium is a leading cause of skin and soft tissue infections

(SSTIs) in humans, often leading to invasive and life-threatening infections. Treatment of S.

aureus infections is becoming more complicated due to the rise of methicillin-resistant S. aureus

(MRSA) strains, which are becoming increasingly resistant to a number of antibiotics. In the

United States, invasive MRSA infections result in more deaths annually than any other infectious

agent.

Despite a dire need, there is currently no vaccine against S. aureus infections. The failure

of past …

Surveying Host Innate Immune Responses To Interferon Antagonist-Deficient Murine Coronaviruses, Aaron Brian Volk

Master's Theses

Two coronaviruses (CoVs)—severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus—have emerged in the 21st century from animal reservoirs into the human population, each causing an epidemic associated with significant disease and mortality. CoV epidemics are currently only controllable by rigorous public health measures; no targeted therapeutics or vaccines exist to treat or prevent any human CoV infection. One method of generating attenuated CoV strains to be studied as vaccine candidates involves specifically disrupting CoV-encoded interferon (IFN) antagonists, thereby rendering the virus vulnerable to host innate antiviral immunity. Deubiquitinating (DUB) activity encoded within CoV nonstructural protein …

Characterizing Immune Response To Hiv-1 Infection In Bicd2-Knockout Cells, Omar Abdel-Rahim

Master's Theses

An important part of the HIV-1 infection cycle is the attachment of the intracellular viral core to the host microtubule network, facilitated by attachment of the viral capsid to cargo adaptor proteins. One such cargo adaptor is Bicaudal D Homolog Protein 2 (BICD2). BICD2 can attach to both the HIV-1 capsid and the dynein/dynactin complex and facilitate the trafficking of the viral core towards the host nucleus. Removal of BICD2 can disrupt this viral translocation, resulting in an elevated immune response that impairs productive HIV-1 infection. In my research, we investigated what viral particles are detected in the absence of …

Understanding The Dynamics Of Protein Lipoylation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Sarah C. Flury

Master's Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal bacterium that also acts as an opportunistic pathogen. The pathogenicity of S. aureus has often been attributed to the wide range of virulence factors that the bacterium produces. While virulence factors do contribute a great deal, there is a growing field of research that aims to investigate the role of metabolism in bacterial virulence.

My project focuses on the necessity of a metabolic cofactor, lipoic acid. To ensure sufficient amounts of lipoic acid are available for enzyme activity, S. aureus has evolved two pathways to obtain the important nutrient. The lipoic acid salvage pathway is …

Metabolic Engineering Of Synechococcus Elongatus Pcc 7942 For Mycosporine-2-Glycine Production Under Salt Stress Condition, Panwad Pingkhanont

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ไมโครสปอรีน-ไลก์ อะมิโน แอซิด (MAAs) เป็นกลุ่มของสารเมแทบอไลต์ทุติยภูมิ สังเคราะห์โดยจุลินทรีย์และสาหร่ายหลายชนิด สารกลุ่มนี้มีหน้าที่สำคัญในการคัดกรองรังสียูวี และยังมีหน้าที่อื่นๆ ได้แก่ การต้านอนุมูลอิสระ ปกป้องเซลล์จากภาวะเครียด และควบคุมการออสโมซิส โดยไมโครสปอรีน-2-ไกลซีน (M2G) เป็นหนึ่งในสารกลุ่ม MAAs ที่มีความสามารถในการต้านอนุมูลอิสระมากกว่าสารอื่นๆ ในกลุ่มเดียวกัน ดังนั้นจึงเป็นที่สนใจที่จะเพิ่มการผลิต M2G เพื่อนำไปประยุกต์ใช้ในอุตสาหกรรมความงาม และเวชสำอาง ในการศึกษานี้ประสบความสำเร็จในการแสดงออกของยีนในชีวสังเคราะห์ M2G (Ap3858-3855) จาก Aphanothece halophytica ในไซยาโนแบคทีเรียน้ำจืด Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 จากการวิเคราะห์การถอดรหัสของยีน Ap3858-3855 พบว่า ยีนทั้ง 4 ยีนนี้เป็น monocistronic mRNA heterologous expression ของยีน Ap3858-3855 ใน S. elongatus พบว่าทุกยีนมีการแสดงออกมากขึ้นภาวะเครียดจากเกลือ NaCl ยีน Ap3857 แสดงออกเพิ่มมากที่สุด 2.39 ± 0.25 เท่า และภายใต้ภาวะเครียดจากเกลือ KCl ยีน Ap3856 แสดงออกเพิ่มมากที่สุด 3.70 ± 0.35 เท่า ระดับการแสดงออกของยีนที่เกี่ยวข้องกับภาวะเครียดออกซิเดชั่น (sodB, cat และ tpxA) ในเซลล์แสดงออก พบว่าภายใต้ภาวะเครียดจากเกลือ NaCl มีเพียงยีน tpxA แสดงออกมากขึ้น 4.58 ± 0.58 เท่า ขณะที่ภาวะเครียดจากเกลือ KCl กระตุ้นการแสดงออกของ sodB และ tpxA 4.09 ± 0.86 และ 11.81 ± 1.02 เท่า ตามลำดับ ส่วนการแสดงออกของยีนที่เกี่ยวข้องกับสารออสโมไลท์ ได้แก่ Synpcc7942_0808 และ …

Production Of Monoclonal Antibodies Against Interferon Gamma Of Asian Elephant Elephas Maximus For Tuberculosis Diagnosis In Elephants By Interferon Gamma Release Assay, Songkiat Songthammanuphap

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Tuberculosis is a zoonotic disease that can be transmitted from infected animals to humans. Wild animals such as elephants and non-human primate have been reported to be infected by M. tuberculosis (MTB) complex, which can cause tuberculosis in animals as well. The common TB diagnostic approaches in human such as chest X-ray and tuberculin skin test are not practical in the elephants. Moreover, the gold standard of the bacteria culture from trunk wash has low sensitivity, is time-consuming and can only detect tuberculosis in the active stage. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis covering all phases of the MTB infection is in …

การคัดแยกและลักษณะสมบัติของแบคทีเรียที่ผลิตเซลลูเลสจากดินบริเวณรากของมันสำปะหลัง, พิชญ์วสุ เอี่ยมยั่งยืน

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

มันสำปะหลังเป็นหนึ่งในพืชเศรษฐกิจที่นิยมเพาะปลูกในเกือบทุกภาคของประเทศไทย ปกติหลังการเก็บเกี่ยวผลผลิต ใบและลำต้นจะถูกทิ้งไว้เพื่อรอการไถกลบสำหรับเตรียมแปลงปลูกในครั้งถัดไป งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อคัดแยกและศึกษาสมบัติของแบคทีเรียที่สามารถย่อยสลายเซลลูโลสซึ่งเป็นส่วนประกอบหลักของพืช จากดินบริเวณที่ปลูกมันสำปะหลัง 5 สายพันธุ์ ได้แก่ เกษตรศาสตร์ 50, พิรุณ 1, พิรุณ 2, ห้วยบง 60 และ ห้านาที ณ ศูนย์วิจัยพืชไร่ จังหวัดระยอง โดยคัดแยกบนอาหารแข็งที่มีสับสเตรตต่างกัน 3 ชนิด ได้แก่ คาร์บอกซีเมทิลเซลลูโลส, Avicel และเซลลูไบโอส จากนั้นคัดเลือกแบคทีเรียที่มีความสามารถในการย่อยเซลลูโลส 2 ใน 3 หรือ 3 ใน 3 ชนิดของสับสเตรต มาวิเคราะห์ลำดับนิวคลีโอไทด์ 16S rDNA และวิเคราะห์หาปริมาณน้ำตาลรีดิวซ์ คัดเลือกแบคทีเรีย 3 ไอโซเลทที่มีความสามารถในการย่อยสลายเซลลูโลสดีที่สุด ซึ่งได้แก่ Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus pumilus และ Paenibacillus kribbensis แล้วนำแบคทีเรียทั้ง 3 ไอโซเลทมาทดสอบหาภาวะที่เหมาะสม พบว่าที่อุณหภูมิ 37 องศาเซลเซียส และความเป็นกรดด่าง (pH) 7 แบคทีเรียสามารถย่อยสลายเซลลูโลสได้ดีที่สุดจากสับสเตรตทั้ง 3 ชนิด จากนั้นนำมาทดสอบในการย่อยกระดาษกรอง ขนาด 1.5*1.5 เซนติเมตร ภาพจากกล้องจุลทรรศน์แบบส่องกราดแสดงให้เห็นว่า สภาพเส้นใยของกระดาษกรองเปลี่ยนแปลงไปมากที่สุด เมื่อเลี้ยงรวมกับ Paenibacillus kribbensis ในขณะที่ชุดการทดลองการย่อยใบมันสำปะหลังโดยตรง และชุดการทดลองการย่อยใบมันสำปะหลังในดิน เห็นผลการเปลี่ยนแปลงโครงสร้างของใบมันสำปะหลังมากที่สุดเมื่อใช้แบคทีเรียผสมกันทั้ง 3 ไอโซเลท หลังจากนำดินจากชุดการทดลองการย่อยใบมันสำปะหลังในดินไปวิเคราะห์คุณสมบัติ โดยศึกษาพารามิเตอร์ ความเป็นกรดด่าง, ปริมาณอินทรียวัตถุ, ฟอสฟอรัส, โพแทสเซียม, แคลเซียม, แมกนีเซียม, ไนโตรเจน และ ปริมาณอินทรีย์คาร์บอนรวมในดิน พบว่าไม่มีความแตกต่างอย่างมีนัยสำคัญในทุกการทดลอง เมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับชุดควบคุม อย่างไรก็ดีแบคทีเรียผสมจากการทดลองนี้ มีแนวโน้มที่สามารถนำไปประยุกต์ในสภาพแวดล้อมจริงได้ แต่ควรมีการยืนยันประสิทธิภาพที่เห็นผลชัดเจนมากกว่านี้ต่อไป.