All standard methods used were performed according to the established protocols (Sambrook et al., 1989). Following the shotgun sequencing of A. halophytica, an open reading frame of 1284 base pairs encoding 427 amino acids of ApSHMT was identified (accession number, AB695121). Amino acid sequence of ApSHMT showed

http://www.selleckchem.com/products/epacadostat-incb024360.html 81% identity with other cyanobacterial SHMTs, such as the Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. The identity was decreased to 59, 57, 56, and 42–46% for the SHMT from Bacillus stearothermophilus, E. coli, Burkholderia, and plants, respectively (data not shown). However, the amino acid residues important for the structure and function of SHMT (Y56, D202, and K231 for the interaction with PLP; R64 and D73, inter-subunit interaction; H127, cofactor binding; P258 and R363, substrate interaction; numbering was based on ApSHMT, accession number, AB695121) were highly conserved. Many physiological roles of SHMT have been

reported to date (Wilson et al., 1993; Voll et al., 2005; Trichostatin A Anderson & Stover, 2009; Bauwe et al., 2010; Beaudin et al., 2011). However, the role of SHMT in salinity stress has not been examined although salt-induced increase in SHMT in Anabaena cells has been reported (Srivastava et al., 2011). Therefore, we first studied the expression dynamics of ApSHMT gene under high salinity condition. The expression of ApSHMT was monitored by RT-PCR using the total RNA extracted from NaCl treated up- and down-shocked cells. As a control, the RNase P gene, AprnpB, was used. The NaCl up-shock caused a rapid induction in the ApSHMT transcript expression within 1 h, continued until 12 h, and slightly decreased at 48 h (Fig. 1a). By contrast, there

was no obvious change in ApSHMT transcripts under NaCl down-shock conditions (data Interleukin-2 receptor not shown). We examined in vivo the ApSHMT activity under NaCl up-shock conditions. The ApSHMT activity in A. halophytica cells increased approximately twofold by increasing salinity from 0.5 M NaCl to 2.5 M NaCl (Fig. 1b). To characterize the enzymatic properties of ApSHMT protein, we expressed recombinant ApSHMT with 6×His tag at N-terminus under the control of the cold-inducible promoter in E. coli. The expression of ApSHMT was optimum when 0.1 mM isopropyl thio-β-d-galactoside (IPTG) was added at OD620 nm c. 1.0 and the culture was maintained at 16 °C for 16 h. A protein band with expected molecular mass of 44 kDa was detected on SDS-PAGE (see lane 2 in Fig. 2a). Recombinant ApSHMT protein was purified to homogeneity in a single step from crude E. coli lysate using Ni2+-chelating sepharose chromatography (lane 3 in Fig. 2a). The activity of recombinant ApSHMT was assayed with dl-threo-3-phenylserine or l-serine. The former substrate has been used to investigate the aldolase reaction in bacteria (Misono et al., 2005). The enzyme reaction followed the Michaelis–Menten kinetics.

rTMS was then applied in two of the three groups (Group 1, rTMS + iHFS; Group 2, rTMS w/o iHFS), whereas in the third group iHFS alone was applied instead. After this first intervention session, the tactile discrimination and SEP recordings were reassessed. After this second assessment, tactile iHFS was applied to Group http://www.selleckchem.com/products/AG-014699.html 1 for 20 min, whereas in Group 2 a wait period was allowed to pass before the third assessment, but without applying the iHFS protocol. Then, in a third assessment,

discrimination thresholds and SEPs were again recorded. The total time between the second and third assessments was approximately 25 min. In Group 3 only the iHFS protocol was applied. Two-point discrimination thresholds for each subject were measured once during the second and third assessment, but measured three times at the baseline assessment. This was to familiarize subjects with the discrimination tasks and to obtain a stable baseline performance. All statistical analyses, apart from calculation of two-point

discrimination thresholds, were performed using Graphpad Prism v 5.0. All data are expressed as mean ± SEM. The change in SEP amplitude for P1 and P2, as well as the paired-pulse ratio (PPR) between the different time points, was tested with a one-way repeated-measures (RM)-anova for Groups 1 and 2. The effect of iHFS alone on the PPR (Group 3) was tested with a paired Student’s Methocarbamol t-test. In order to compare differences in the responses elicited by rTMS and iHFS between Groups 1 and 2, the ratios were normalized to the baseline condition, with the baseline value being selleck screening library expressed as 1. Data were analysed using a two-way anova, using ‘Time’ (each of the three SEP measurements) as the within-subjects factor, and ‘Group’ (with or without iHFS) as the between-subjects factor. The same analyses were repeated to test the effect of rTMS/iHFS on two-point discrimination. In order to investigate correlations between changes in the PPR across conditions, we used a Pearson correlation analysis plotting the change in the PPR

for each subject between different conditions vs. the PPR in the baseline condition. These changes were expressed as percentage changes relative to the baseline PPR. The change in the PPR measured immediately after rTMS plotted against the baseline ratio assessment was denoted as ‘∆ rTMS – baseline’, and the PPR measured after iHFS in the rTMS + iHFS group, or after a 25-min wait period in the rTMS w/o iHFS group plotted against the baseline ratio assessment was denoted as ‘∆ last – baseline’. In addition, to look for a possible correlation between changes in cortical excitability and tactile acuity, changes in the PPR were plotted against changes in two-point discrimination. Comparison of the normalized PPRs of the rTMS + iHFS and rTMS w/o iHFS groups with two-way anova (Fig.

e. FgGFP1 (male) × Z3643 (female)]. Availability of individual MAT

transcript expression profiles in various fungal strains provides clues to the variation in self-fertility among the Fg complex at the level of MAT loci. The differing expression pattern of individual MAT genes in all F. asiaticum strains compared with F. graminearum strains can be attributable to the defect in self-fertility in these strains. Failure to up-regulate MAT1-1-2 and MAT1-1-3, and reduced up-regulation of MAT1-1-1, MAT1-2-1, and MAT1-2-3 during the entire sexual cycle may cause a putative set of genes under the control of these MAT genes to be abnormally or not properly expressed, leading to self-sterility in F. asiaticum. Nevertheless, similarity in expression patterns of MAT1-1-1, MAT1-2-1, selleckchem and MAT1-2-3 in all F. graminearum and F. asiaticum strains

examined cannot exclude the possibility that the early induction pathway of sexual development controlled by these genes is Adriamycin research buy not responsible for the self-fertility differences in these Fg complex strains. To test these postulates, a comparison of genome-wide expression profiles using combinations of wild-type F. graminearum and F. asiaticum strains and their MAT-deleted strains would be necessary. To date, several approaches have been used to identify the target genes of MAT loci in several filamentous fungi (Qi et al., 2006; Hallen et al., 2007; Keszthelyi et al., 2007; Klix et al., 2010; Bidard et al., 2011). For example, comparing transcription profiles during sexual development, or between a fertile fungal strain and its transgenic strain lacking a MAT gene (e.g. in P. anserina, F. verticillioides, Flucloronide and S. macrospora), provided several sets of genes

differentially regulated in the mutant strains. However, the genes directly regulated by individual MAT genes remain undetermined. The developmental up-regulation pattern and transcript abundance in two sets of MAT genes (a set of MAT1-1-1, MAT1-2-1, and MAT1-2-3, and the other of MAT1-1-2 and MAT1-1-3) provide new insight into functional role(s) of individual MAT genes for sexual development in F. graminearum, which are also supported by the phenotypic changes in the gene deletion strains. The former set of MAT genes can be considered key regulators of sexual development, particularly required for the early sexual stage for the following reasons. First, the gene expressions peaked at 2 dai, and the transcripts were more (at least 65-fold higher) abundant than those of the latter set of MAT genes at 2 dai. Secondly, the absence of perithecium-like structures in ΔMAT1-2-1 strain or the presence of barren perithecia in the ΔMAT1-1-1 strain, which were even smaller than those in the ΔMAT1-1-2 and ΔMAT1-2-3 strains, on carrot agar could be attributable to blockage of early events such as internuclear recognition, formation of ascogenous hyphae, and nuclear fusion.

Very little is known about the relative influence of context on sub-cortical vs. cortical

structures in the auditory system, and current models of the auditory system cannot easily explain this aspect of the results. It is hoped that Buparlisib concentration future studies can address these questions further by examining functional interactions between multiple regions of the auditory hierarchy during the processing of extended stimulus sequences. An important new finding from our study is that ISS during music listening extends beyond auditory regions of superior temporal cortex. Of particular interest is the identification of right-lateralized regions of the IFG, including BAs 45 and 47, as well as the PGa subdivision of the inferior parietal cortex. Importantly, ISS was greater for the Natural Music condition compared with both control conditions see more in these fronto-parietal regions (Fig. 6). These brain structures have been implicated in previous studies of music processing: the IFG has been implicated in processing temporal structure (Levitin & Menon, 2003, 2005) and violations of syntactic structure (Maess et al., 2001; Koelsch, 2005),

and the AG has been implicated in musical memory (Platel et al., 2003). Beyond the processing of these specific musical features, however, our results from the ISS analysis indicate that activity in these fronto-parietal structures is consistently synchronized to structural features in the musical stimulus, and suggest a role for these brain regions in the on-line tracking of musical structure. One possibility is that a fronto-parietal circuit involving right-hemisphere homologs of Broca’s and Geschwind’s areas support the processing of musical structure by engaging attentional and working memory resources necessary for the processing

of extended nonlinguistic stimulus sequences. These resources are probably necessary for holding musical phrases and passages in mind as a means of tracking the long-term structure of a musical Isotretinoin stimulus. Consistent with this hypothesis, a recent study examining expectation violation in response to brief string quartet compositions showed that right-hemisphere SMG and BA 44 of Broca’s area are modulated by musical expertise, and may underlie enhanced attention and working memory function in musicians (Oechslin et al., 2012). Our analysis also revealed significant ISS in the PMC, MCC and pre-central gyrus in response to the Natural Music condition, and ISS was greater in these brain regions for the Natural Music condition relative to the control conditions (Fig. 77B). The PMC and pre-central gyrus are associated with sensory-motor integration and motor imagery (Zatorre et al., 2007; Sammler et al., 2010).

The long-term consequences of this viral rebound and re-suppression are unknown. There were no differences in the frequency of emergence of viral resistance, or of Pifithrin-�� serious adverse events, although few patients developed drug resistance and thus confidence in the estimate of this effect is low. One potential

concern is the development of CNS disease in patients on PI monotherapy [6, 11]; however, we did not identify a difference in this outcome although the quality of the evidence is low. Further data are required. Overall, there is no significant clinical benefit of PI monotherapy compared with standard combination ART, which might offset the disadvantage of a lower rate of viral suppression with PI monotherapy. For this reason PI monotherapy should not be used in unselected patient populations for maintaining virological suppression where standard ART is an acceptable alternative. There may be potential benefits of PI monotherapy, in terms of drug resistance, long-term drug toxicity and cost [15] but further data are required. The ongoing ‘Protease Inhibitor monotherapy vs. Ongoing Triple therapy in the long-term management of HIV infection’ (PIVOT) trial has been designed to address Regorafenib in vivo these issues [16]. The primary endpoint is drug resistance. We recognize that PI monotherapy may well be an acceptable option in some specific patient populations but there

are few data to provide recommendations. Clinicians might consider PI monotherapy in patients who are unable to tolerate NRTIs due to toxicities or as a short-term measure to manage or bridge complex clinical scenarios (e.g. stopping certain NNRTI-containing regimens or managing toxicity overdose or acute illness). Where PI monotherapy is considered, DRV/r (dosed once or twice daily) or LPV/r (dosed twice daily) should be used. ATV/r monotherapy Fludarabine research buy is not recommended as it has been associated with higher rates of virological failure [17, 18]. PI monotherapy is not recommended

in patients with active hepatitis B coinfection. We recommend against treatment interruption or intermittent therapy in patients stable on a virally suppressive ART regimen (1A). Proportion of patients with a CD4 cell count <350 cells/μL not on ART. Several RCTs have investigated the efficacy of CD4 cell count-guided intermittent therapy as a potential strategy to reduce long-term risk of drug toxicity and drug resistance [1-4]. In the largest of these, patients were randomly allocated to either CD4 cell count-guided intermittent therapy (stopping ART once CD4 cell count >350 cells/μL, restarting when CD4 cell count falls to 250 cells/μL) compared with a continuous ART [1]. The trial showed intermittent therapy was associated with a significantly higher rate of opportunistic disease and all-cause mortality and a higher rate of major cardiovascular, renal or hepatic disease. The effect was seen at all CD4 cell count levels.

The long-term consequences of this viral rebound and re-suppression are unknown. There were no differences in the frequency of emergence of viral resistance, or of GSK1120212 purchase serious adverse events, although few patients developed drug resistance and thus confidence in the estimate of this effect is low. One potential

concern is the development of CNS disease in patients on PI monotherapy [6, 11]; however, we did not identify a difference in this outcome although the quality of the evidence is low. Further data are required. Overall, there is no significant clinical benefit of PI monotherapy compared with standard combination ART, which might offset the disadvantage of a lower rate of viral suppression with PI monotherapy. For this reason PI monotherapy should not be used in unselected patient populations for maintaining virological suppression where standard ART is an acceptable alternative. There may be potential benefits of PI monotherapy, in terms of drug resistance, long-term drug toxicity and cost [15] but further data are required. The ongoing ‘Protease Inhibitor monotherapy vs. Ongoing Triple therapy in the long-term management of HIV infection’ (PIVOT) trial has been designed to address ALK inhibitor these issues [16]. The primary endpoint is drug resistance. We recognize that PI monotherapy may well be an acceptable option in some specific patient populations but there

are few data to provide recommendations. Clinicians might consider PI monotherapy in patients who are unable to tolerate NRTIs due to toxicities or as a short-term measure to manage or bridge complex clinical scenarios (e.g. stopping certain NNRTI-containing regimens or managing toxicity overdose or acute illness). Where PI monotherapy is considered, DRV/r (dosed once or twice daily) or LPV/r (dosed twice daily) should be used. ATV/r monotherapy Farnesyltransferase is not recommended as it has been associated with higher rates of virological failure [17, 18]. PI monotherapy is not recommended

in patients with active hepatitis B coinfection. We recommend against treatment interruption or intermittent therapy in patients stable on a virally suppressive ART regimen (1A). Proportion of patients with a CD4 cell count <350 cells/μL not on ART. Several RCTs have investigated the efficacy of CD4 cell count-guided intermittent therapy as a potential strategy to reduce long-term risk of drug toxicity and drug resistance [1-4]. In the largest of these, patients were randomly allocated to either CD4 cell count-guided intermittent therapy (stopping ART once CD4 cell count >350 cells/μL, restarting when CD4 cell count falls to 250 cells/μL) compared with a continuous ART [1]. The trial showed intermittent therapy was associated with a significantly higher rate of opportunistic disease and all-cause mortality and a higher rate of major cardiovascular, renal or hepatic disease. The effect was seen at all CD4 cell count levels.

“
“Previous studies in HIV-infected populations have yielded conflicting results on the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on cognition. Our objective was to investigate the effect of several years of ART with stable

Y-27632 cell line central nervous system penetration effectiveness (CPE) score on neuropsychological performance in HIV-infected individuals. We analysed a clinical cohort of HIV-infected patients who initiated ART between June 2003 and December 2006 and maintained stable CPE scores. Patients were evaluated with a short neuropsychological battery. Using linear regression, we examined the relationship between results of cognitive tests and CPE scores in all patients. Patients were divided into three similarly sized groups (CPE ≤ 1, CPE between 1.5 and 2.5, and CPE ≥ 2.5). We found that ART with high CPE scores was associated with poorer executive performances in HIV-1-infected patients. These results suggest that cognitive performance in treated HIV-infected patients could be influenced by ART. “
“To investigate the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy in Cameroon. Baseline

blood samples from 169 patients were tested retrospectively for hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B core (anti-HBc), anti-HCV and – if HBsAg or anti-HCV result was positive or indeterminate – for HBV DNA or HCV RNA, Ceritinib solubility dmso respectively, using the Cobas Ampliprep/Cobas TaqMan quantitative assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). HBV DNA was detected in 14 of the 18 patients with positive or indeterminate HBsAg results [8.3% of the total study population, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.6–13.5]. The median

HBV viral load was 2.47 × 107 IU/mL [interquartile range (IQR) 3680–1.59 × 108; range 270 to >2.2 × 108]. Twenty-one patients (12.4%, 95% CI 7.9–18.4) were found with HCV RNA (all with positive HCV serology). The median HCV viral load was 928 000 IU/mL (IQR 178 400–2.06 × 106; range 640–5.5 × 106). No patient was co-infected with HBV and HCV. In multivariate analysis, HCV co-infection was associated with greater age [≥45 years vs. <45 years, odds ratio (OR) 11.89, 95% CI 3.49–40.55, P<0.001] and ever abnormal serum alanine aminotransferase level [≥1.25 × upper limit of normal (ULN) vs. <1.25 × ULN, OR 7.81, 95% CI 1.54–39.66, P=0.01]; HBV co-infection was associated with abnormal serum aspartate aminotransferase level (OR 4.33, 95% CI 1.32–14.17, P=0.02). These high rates of active HBV and HCV co-infections in HIV-positive Cameroonian patients requiring antiretroviral therapy underline the need to promote: (i) screening for HBV and HCV before treatment initiation; (ii) accessibility to tenofovir (especially in HBV-endemic African countries); and (iii) accessibility to treatment for HBV and HCV infections.

(The ISTM Certificate in Travel Health® calls for familiarization with pediatric aspects by including many find more questions on the subject.) What is presently lacking is a uniform definition of “children,” a dilemma which extends into the travel medicine literature. In recent articles in the JTM and elsewhere, authors of major articles use 14, 16, 18, and 20 years of age as the upper age limit of their subjects. And while the authors do segregate their subjects into groups by age (apparently agreeing that infants have little in common with older teenagers),

there is no uniformity in the segregations, making comparisons difficult. Moreover, some authors compare travel-related illness among adults versus those in children, using Maraviroc the author’s definition of “children.” (The American Academy of Pediatrics defines pediatrics as “beginning with the fetus and continuing until the age of 21 years—and longer if it is an ongoing problem that is basically a childhood condition.”)8 The many recent studies in this issue and elsewhere on children returning home ill should not give a false impression that taking children overseas is particularly hazardous. Until recently, little data existed on the specific morbidity and mortality though anecdotal experience and informal surveys suggested that serious illness and deaths were

rare.9 The present studies reinforce those impressions. These studies limit themselves to describing the types of illnesses seen in returning children and the vast majority of the illnesses were relatively minor. This was true even for children who go on adventurous trips and for very young children. But the studies included only children seen in specific large MycoClean Mycoplasma Removal Kit medical centers with which the authors are affiliated. Excluded are children who returned home ill but were seen at other medical centers, by private physicians, or not at all. But likely, children with serious travel-related illnesses

would have gravitated to the larger medical centers. No deaths were reported. But deaths occurring overseas could have escaped inclusion in the studies. Experienced travel medicine practitioners, even those who possess little formal training in caring for children, generally possess the expertise to counsel parents on keeping their children healthy when they travel. And generally such practitioners should be the first consulted when children return home ill. The articles on pediatric travel medicine in this issue of JTM add substance to the growing literature on the subject, are evidence based, and all the articles reach the same general conclusion, that the risk of major travel-related illnesses in children is quite small. The author states he has no conflicts of interest to declare. “
“Background.

zeae. Deletion of PDC1 reduces lipid accumulation in the aerial but not the embedded mycelia. This suggests that the PAA pathway is the only pathway that produces lipids for the aerial mycelia and that PDC1-dependent lipid production is important for perithecia maturation. Additionally, PDC1 is required for vegetative growth of the embedded mycelia. Although lipid accumulation in the aerial mycelia was markedly reduced in the PDC1 deletion mutant,

the total amount of lipids was not significantly different compared with the wild-type strain (Fig. 2 and Fig. S4). This is unexpected, given that lipids from the aerial C59 wnt manufacturer mycelia constitute about 20% of the total lipid content in the carrot agar culture (Son et al., 2011). One possible explanation for this discrepancy could be that higher lipid concentrations in the densely embedded mycelia of PDC1 deletion mutants may compensate H 89 cost for the lower lipid accumulation in the aerial mycelia. Other enzymes, such as carnitine acetyl transferases (CATs), ACL, and acetyl-CoA hydrolase, could also be compensating for reduced lipid production in the embedded mycelia (Fig. S5). ACS1 is a downstream enzyme of PDC1 in PAA pathway and known to be required for POL production (Lee et al., 2011). The PDC1 deletion repressed

ACS1 expression, although the ACS1 deletion did not suppress PDC1 expression. This suggests that the ACS1 deletion mutant must be accumulating toxic PAA pathway Rebamipide intermediates such as acetate, acetaldehyde, and ethanol. As ACS1 is crucial for ridding the fungal cells of these toxic compounds (Lee et al., 2011), the ACS1 deletion strain might be expected to demonstrate more severe

defects than the PDC1 deletion strain. The less severe phenotypes observed for the double mutant compared with the ACS1 deletion mutant support our hypothesis. Active fermentation pathways are commonly found in eukaryotes under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Plants also used PAA pathway for hypoxic growth of waterlogged root and also for other specific conditions such as seed growth and pollen tubes elongation (Peschke & Sachs, 1993; Gass et al., 2005). In filamentous fungi, PDC is regarded as an important postglycolytic enzyme in N. crassa under aerobic conditions and is closely associated with ethanol production in A. nidulans (Alvarez et al., 1993; Lockington et al., 1997). Similarly, G. zeae seems to utilize PDC1-dependent metabolic pathways for normal aerobic growth and possibly for ethanol fermentation. Aerial mycelia take nutrients from embedded hyphae for growth in obligate heterotrophic fungi. Nutrient translocation mechanisms are well studied in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which utilize triacylglycerol to translocate carbon sources absorbed from host plants to the extraradical mycelium (Bago et al., 2000, 2002; Lammers et al., 2001; Parniske, 2008).

Integration occurs via recombination between similar sequences in the chromosome target and episomal circle. This PAI is flanked by direct repeat sequences, suggesting that it may TGF-beta inhibitor also adopt a circular intermediate form that is essential for its integration into the chromosome. It has been suggested that this excision is mediated

by a PAI-borne integrase gene (int) related to the integrase gene of P4, a satellite element of phage P2 (Sakellaris et al., 2004). These structures may be involved not only in horizontal transference of the PAI but also in the excision promoted by quinolones as occurs in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). In this bacterium, quinolones induce the loss of a PAI by activation of the SOS system, which promotes the excision of phage-related sequences (Soto et al., 2006). Closely related islands that vary in structure can be found Palbociclib mouse in a wide range of Shigella species and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) (Al-Hasani et al., 2001). These islands are the result of the instability of the she PAI. In our isolates, we found diverse structures of this PAI, similar to the results obtained by Al-Hasani et al. (2001). This variation suggests that the right end of the she PAI may be unstable and undergoes deletions of varying lengths

to yield a variety of structural forms of the PAI. The presence of ShET-2 enterotoxin in E. coli shows that horizontal transference of VFs among bacteria belonging to different species had taken place. The presence of this toxin could increase the Bay 11-7085 virulence potential of these strains allowing them to cause more severe infections, although further investigation is needed to prove this hypothesis. Paiva de Sousa & Dubreuil (2001) studied the distribution of the astA gene among 358 strains of Enterobacteriaceae. The gene was found in 32.6% of E. coli. Most E. coli EAST-1-positive strains were found among EHEC (88%), EAEC (86.6%), A-EPEC (58.3%) and EPEC (13.7%). This toxin has also been detected in 15.1% EAEC (Mendez-Arancibia et al., 2008) in which in a plasmid of 60–65 MDa has been located. Analyses have shown that E. coli strains fall into four main phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2 and D) and that virulent

extraintestinal strains mainly belong to groups B2 and D, whereas most commensal strains belong to groups A and B1 (Clermont et al., 2000). A relationship between the presence of ShET-1 enterotoxin and phylogenetic group B2 has been observed, indicating the higher capacity of these strains to acquire VFs from other bacteria and reinforces the hypothesis that this enterotoxin plays a role as a VF in this phylogenetic group. On the other hand, ShET-2 was related to phylogenetic group B1, suggesting a possible increase in the virulence of these commensal strains. Finally, we found a relationship between the presence of the aggR gene and biofilm formation, with this gene being more frequent among biofilm-producing isolates. This association has also been found in several previous studies.