A review of patients with diphtheria seen in the Paediatric Unit, Alor Star General Hospital, from January 1985-March 1987 is reported. Their clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment and outcome were analysed and discussed. Clinical awareness regarding the diagnosis of diphtheria is emphasised.
Tempoyak is a traditional Malaysian fermented condiment made from the pulp of the durian fruit (Durio zibethinus). Salt is sometime added to proceed fermentation at ambient temperature. In various samples obtained from night markets, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were the predominant microorganisms, ranging from log 8.4 to log 9.2 cfu g(-1). No other microorganisms were present to such a level. These samples contained reduced amount of saccharose, glucose and fructose but increased amount of D- and L-lactic acid and acetic acid compared with samples of non-fermented durian fruit. Sixty-four isolates of LAB were divided into five groups by use of a few phenotypic tests. A total of 38 strains of LAB were selected for comparison by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of their whole cell protein patterns with a SDS-PAGE database of LAB. These strains were also examined for their carbohydrate fermentation patterns by use of API 50 CH. Isolates belonging to the Lactobacillus plantarum group were shown to be the predominant members of the LAB flora. In addition, isolates belonging to the Lactobacillus brevis group, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus mali, Lactobacilus fermentum and an unidentified Lactobacillus sp. were also observed. A high degree of diversity among isolates belonging to the Lb. plantarum group was demonstrated by analysis of their plasmid profiles.
Isolation of bacteriocinogenic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from the Malaysian mould-fermented product tempeh and characterization of the produced bacteriocin(s).
Plasmid DNA is one of the indispensable components in molecular biology research and a potential biomaterial for gene therapy and DNA vaccination. Both quality and quantity of extracted plasmid DNA are of the great interests in cloning and subsequent expression of genes in vitro and in vivo for basic research and therapeutic interventions. Bacteria with extremely short generation times are the valuable source of plasmid DNA that can be isolated through a number of existing techniques. However, the current methods have some limitations in isolating high quality plasmid DNA since the multimeric plasmid which is believed to be more efficiently transcribed by RNA polymerase than the monomeric form, is almost lost during the extraction process. Recently, we developed a rapid isolation technique for multimeric plasmid based on generation of a 'protein aggregate' using a zwitterionic detergent and alkali. Here we have investigated the roles of different parameters in the whole extraction process to optimise the production of high quality multimeric plasmid DNA. Moreover, we have showed the advantageous effects of nanoparticles to effectively sediment the 'protein aggregate' for smooth elution of multimeric plasmid DNA from it. Finally, quality assessment study has revealed that the isolated multimeric DNA is at least 10 times more transcriptionally active than the monomeric form isolated by the commercially available Qiaget kit.