Control and eradication of the brucellosis is loosed on vaccination of susceptible animals by Rev 1 vaccine. Production of this Vaccine is done by brucella agar culture media that is imported. Recently, the price of the medium has increased because of economic sanctions. Therefore, regarding the production of glycerol dextrose agar in Iran and its record in international sources, this study was done for possible replacement with this medium. So, 10 batches of vaccine were produced using this medium and they were compared with the vaccines produced by brucella agar with the same master seed. The number of live bacteria in 1 ml of bulk product was counted by counting the number of colony forming unit (CFU). In addition, other quality tests like morphology of colony or determination of the percentage of rough organisms, safety and efficacy test were done on each batch. The results indicated the mean numbers of live bacteria in 1 ml of bulk products was134.37×109 and 118.55×109 (CFU) and the percentage of rough colonies was %0.75 and %1.281 for Vaccines produced by brucella agar and glycerol dextrose agar respectively. There was not any difference in other quality tests includes safety and efficacy and all quality parameters remained within the standard ranges. Thus regarding the suitable results, this new culture medium can be used for Rev1 vaccine production.

Alpha-naphthol is a two-ring aromatic hydrocarbon with toxic and mutagenic properties. Bioremediation technology is considered to be an efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly approach to the remediation of the sites contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In this study, six fungal species of the Trichoderma genus were cultured in potato dextrose agar (PDA) media containing 10-200 mg/kg of α-naphthol for the adaptation of the fungal strains. The removal of α-naphthol was assessed 30 days after the growth of the adapted fungal colonies at various concentrations of α-naphthol (50, 100, and 150 mg/kg). According to the obtained results, all the fungi could grow in the culture media containing α-naphthol, removing α-naphthol from the media. The highest removal efficiency belonged to T. viridescens, while the lowest removal efficiency belonged to T. koningii. In addition, the growth ability of the fungi was determined based on the colony diameters, and the results indicated the highest and lowest colony diameters in case of T. koningii and T. viridescens, respectively. In other words, an inverse correlation was observed between the fungal growth rate and α-naphthol removal efficiency. On the other hand, the results of enzyme activity assay demonstrated that the activity of peroxidase and catalase increased with higher α-naphthol contamination. The highest enzyme activity was observed in T. viridescens, growing in the media containing 150 mg/kg of α-naphthol, which indicated a marked correlation between α-naphthol removal efficiency and enzyme activity. Therefore, it could be concluded that T. viridescens had the highest enzyme activity and α-naphthol removal efficiency. . .

The inhibitory activity of Pistacia eurycarpa Yalt. Essential Oil (EO) toward Aspergillus flavus (PTCC: 5004) was evaluated by agar dilution method and vapor phase method. For the first method, the EO was added to agar medium to obtain concentrations of 0, 5, 000, 6, 000, 7, 000, 8, 000, 9, 000, and 10, 000 μ L L-1. For the vapor contact assays, uncovered inoculated potato dextrose agar plates and maize plates were placed inside airtight containers whose headspace was saturated by EO vapor. The results showed that at agar dilution test, the EO completely inhibited the growth of the tested mold at ≥ 10, 000 μ L L-1. In vapor contact method, mycelia growth was inhibited 60. 87% in PDA plates and no growth was observed within twenty days of incubation in maize plates.

Introduction: Saffron (Crocus sativus L. ) a perennial herbaceous is one of the most important crops. It is a valuable ketchup and its demand for consumption has been increased due to many medicinal and pharmacological applications. Saffron is a male sterile and can be propagated only by its corm and produces daughter corms. Cultivation of saffron is challenged by biotic stresses and corm rot as a biotic stress, is one of the most destructive diseases subterranean organs. Because of the insufficient information about corm rot etiology, investigation and identification of harmful agents is essential. Different pathogens such as fungi affect growth of corm and identification of these fungi is critical in cultivation of saffron. Occurrence of saffron corm rot has been reported from many countries and various microorganisms such as Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Sclerotinia, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Bacillus and Burkhulderia have been isolated from rotted corm of saffron. The present study was conducted to identify fungi associated with corm of saffron in Khorramabad. Materials and Methods: Infected corms of saffron were randomly collected from different regions of Khorramabad in Lorestan province (10 regions). The infected tissues were surface-sterilized with sodium hypochlorite (5%) for 1 min, and washed three times by sterile distilled water, dried on sterile filter paper and directly placed on the surface of potato dextrose agar medium. The PDA plates were incubated for 7 days at 25±2°C and then were purified using single spore method. Morpho-cultural characteristics of fungi were studied on carnation leaf agar and potato carrot agar media. Microscopic measurement and images of reproductive structures were carried out under a Nikon microscope. Pathogenicity test was conducted to evaluate the ability of isolates to colonize saffron corms. Conidial suspension was prepared from cultured isolates on potato dextrose broth medium and adjusted at a concentration of 1×106 conidia/ml. To inoculation, saffron corms were submerged in the conidial suspension, then planted in an aseptic soil and maintained for 4 weeks under controlled conditions in a greenhouse with 23 ± 2°C and 70% relative humidity. The disease incidence and severity was inspected daily and finally Koch’s postulates were tested. Results and Discussion: Totally, 58 isolates were collected and four species including of Alternaria alternata, Fusarium solani, F. acuminatum and F. oxysporum were isolated and identified on the basis of morphological characteristics. The A. alternate (25 isolates) and F. acuminatum (4 isolates) were the most and the least frequent respectively. According to the pathogenic test under the controlled conditions, F. oxysporum was the most aggressive and A. alternate was weakly pathogenic. There was not previous report of incidence of F. acuminatum and F. solani on saffron corm from the world and Iran respectively. The results of this research are in agreement with previous studies that showed corm rot is a major challenge in saffron cultivation. Corm rot is a complex disease and frequency, diversity and distribution of pathogens may be different due to cultivar type, agricultural practices, and climatological parameters. However, Fusarium spp. are the main agent of corm rot and F. oxysporum is the most predominant in saffron growing areas of the world. Moreover, Fusarium spp. have been reported as serious pathogen of subterranean organs of many crops such as potato, rice, wheat, and barley. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that corm rot is a serious constraint in saffron production. Although A. alternata was the most frequent species in rotted corms, Fusarium spp. especially F. oxysporum were more aggressive and virulent on saffron. In addition, isolating saprophytic fungi such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Rhizopus in our research showed that saffron corm is potentially exposed to infectious by varous fungi. Etiology of saffron corm rot is essential and results of this study can be helpful in management of saffron cultivation.

Background: The genus Nocardia is Gram-positive, aerobic filamentous bacilli and saprophytic micro-organisms that can be isolatedfrom freshwater, salt water, dust and decaying vegetation especially the soil. This study aimed to investigate the several mediafor to determine a suitable culture media with the ability to better for the isolation of Nocardia from soil.Methods: In this study, 400 soil samples were collected from different areas from Iran. The soil samples were then cultured onthe four culture media such as Humic acid vitamin B agar, Paraffin agar, Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented whit cycloheximideand carbon-free broth containing paraffin rods and incubated at 35°C. All of culture media investigated every 3 days for amonth. Colonies suspicious to Nocardia were stained with Gram-stain, acid-fast and partially acid-fast and evaluated for resistanceto lysozyme.Results: From 400 soil samples, the number of 62, 10, 28 and 19 strains of Nocardia were isolated by paraffin rods, Humic AcidVitamin B agar, Paraffin agar and Sabouraud dextrose agar whit cycloheximide, respectively. Most Nocardia strains were isolatedusing paraffin bait technique.Conclusions: Isolation of Nocardia spp. is enhanced by using the paraffin baiting technique that relies on the selective ability ofthis micro-organism to metabolize paraffin.

Objective: The general purpose of this study was to evaluate a new chromogenic medium "Candida ID agar" for identification of Candida species and compare it with Candida CHROM agar.Materials and methods: 150 clinical samples were cultured on Candida ID agar and Candida CHROM agar. The isolated yeasts were also identified using APi kit system and the results compared with Candida ID agar and Candida CHROM agar using laboratory test evaluation formula.Results: The sensitivity of Candida ID agar was 96.4% which was more than that in Candida CHROM agar of 51% especially for Candida albicans.Conclusion: Candida ID agar was more useful for identification of Candida albicans and differentiation of other Candida species in compare with CHROM agar.

Introduction & Objective: Adequate and proper hydration during surgery is one of the duties of anesthesiologist. Based on the different effects of dextrose–containing fluids and dextrose-free fluids on the level of blood sugar, we decided to evaluate the effects of these fluids on the blood sugar level after short-term surgeries. Materials & Methods: one hundred patients who were scheduled for elective surgery were randomly divided into two comparable groups and their blood sugar level were measured just before anesthesia and one hour after operation. The first group were hydrated with 1/3, 2/3 fluid and the second group with normal saline or Ringer fluids. The data were analyzed by SPSS software and student T-test. Results: Blood sugar level of both groups were the same before anesthesia but were increased after operation in both groups (the range of blood sugar level were -18 to +54 in group one and -18 to +30 in group two .Hyperglycemia was present after operation in most patients of both groups but the difference between two groups wasnt significant . Conclusion: Dextrose-free fluids can be used during short-term surgeries without any fear of hypoglycemia.

Neonatal hypoglycemia is common and its prompt management is important to reduce neurological sequelae. To determine the effect of two different glucose concentrations of intravenous (IV) fluid therapy in the incidence of hypoglycemia in sick premature infants, 200 preterm infants weighing 1500-2500 g were selected and randomly assigned into two groups. Group 1 received 10% dextrose in water (DW) and for group 2 we used 12.5% DW with recommended fluid volume according to the infant’s condition. First blood glucose sample was obtained during 2-3 hours of life before starting IV therapy and the two others were measured between 4-24 hours of life after starting IV fluid therapy. Plasma glucose < 36 mg/dl during 2-3 hours of life and level below 45 mg/dl between 4-24 hours of life were considered as hypoglycemia. Birth weight, gestational age and type of diseases in two groups were matched. Although there was no difference between volume of fluid, statistical differences were found to be significant between amounts of calories (P= 0.000) and dextrose (P= 0.000) received in two groups. We detected 15 and 30 cases of hypoglycemia in group 1 and 2, respectively. After starting IV fluid therapy, the incidence of hypoglycemia decreased especially in group 2 and comparison of cases with two consecutive low plasma glucose in two groups showed significant difference (P= 0.024, relative risk= 2.67). We recommend 12.5% DW when initiation of peripheral IV therapy is indicated in sick preterm infants weighing 1500-2500 g, especially when restriction of fluid is mandated.