H. Jacob

Microbial community analysis of the hypersaline water of the Dead Sea using high‐throughput amplicon sequencing

Amplicon sequencing using next‐generation technology (bTEFAP®) has been utilized in describing the diversity of Dead Sea microbiota. The investigated area is a well‐known salt lake in the western part of Jordan found in the lowest geographical location in the world (more than 420 m below sea level) and characterized by extreme salinity (approximately, 34%) in addition to other extreme conditions (low pH, unique ionic composition different from sea water). DNA was extracted from Dead Sea water. A total of 314,310 small subunit RNA (SSU rRNA) sequences were parsed, and 288,452 sequences were then clustered. For alpha diversity analysis, sample was rarefied to 3,000 sequences. The Shannon–Wiener index curve plot reached a plateau at approximately 3,000 sequences indicating that sequencing depth was sufficient to capture the full scope of microbial diversity. Archaea was found to be dominating the sequences (52%), whereas Bacteria constitute 45% of the sequences. Altogether, prokaryotic sequences (which constitute 97% of all sequences) were found to predominate. The findings expand on previous studies by using high‐throughput amplicon sequencing to describe the microbial community in an environment which in recent years has been shown to hide some interesting diversity.

Estimation and Identification of Airborne Bacteria and Fungi in the Outdoor Atmosphere of Al-Mafraq Area - Jordan

Airborne bacteria and fungi were analyzed during November, 2013. Morbidity due to respiratory diseases was also reported. The studied zones include Al-Mafraq downtown, Al al-Bayt University, Al-Zaatari refugee camp and the open desert. A total of sixty air samples were collected by a microbiological air sampler on nutrient and tryptic soy agars as cultivation media for bacteria. Potato dextrose, Sabouraud dextrose and malt extract agars were used as cultivation media for fungi. Statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between almost all studied zones (P<0.05). The highest bacterial level was detected in Al-Mafraq downtown with 2055 CFU m, whereas the lowest level was detected in the open desert with 23 CFU m. The highest level of fungi was detected in Al-Zaatari refugee camp (405 CFUm), whereas the lowest level of fungi was observed in the open desert zone (13 CFUm). Bacteria and fungi levels were within the suggested threshold value limits for culturable bacteria and fungi. Eleven different bacterial species and four fungal species were isolated from these zones and identified by biochemical and molecular techniques. Fungi were examined macroscopically and microscopically and compared to the morphology of published fungal species. The identified bacterial species were Bacillus cereus, Bacillus aerius, Bacillus safensis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus axarquiensis, Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus methylotrophicus, Bhargavae acecembensis, and Cellulomonas sp. The isolated bacteria were all aerobic, Gram-positive, endospore-forming bacteria and catalase positive. The identified fungi were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium sp. and Fusarium sp. In respect to respiratory diseases in the studied area, the most frequent lung diseases in the studied area was bronchitis (42%), followed by chest infection (25%), pneumonia (21%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (12%).In conclusion, the isolated microbial species may appear to originate from the dusts of human and animal.

The Slaughtering and Dressing Procedures of Livestock Inside the Butcher Shops Generate High Levels of Bacterial Contamination

Background and Objective : Raw meats from animal carcasses are most frequently contaminated with bacteria during the slaughtering and dressing process. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the bacterial quality of raw meat from lamb, goat and beef carcasses immediately after slaughtering at butcher shops in Al-Mafraq city-Jordan. Materials and Methods : A total of 243 meat samples were aseptically cut from the hand, leg and back of carcasses at three butcher locations, designated as site-C (the central part of the city), site-N (the north side of the city) and site-S (the south side of the city). Samples were processed and then cultured on nutrient agar and xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD) agar plates aerobically at 35 °C for 48 h for enumeration of bacteria and total Enterobacteriaceae count (TEC) by aerobic plate count (APC). APC and TEC were expressed as colony forming units per gram of meat (CFU/g). Results : APC and TEC in the raw meats ranged from 11.6-28.1 X 10 6 CFU/g on nutrient agar and from 23-120 X 10 3 CFU/g on XLD agar medium. By meat type, the lamb had the highest APC and TEC, followed by beef. By location, the highest APC and TEC were shown in the C-Site, followed by the S-Site. There were significant differences between APC counts by location and meat type ( P < 0.05). APC and TEC at the legs of the tested carcasses were significantly higher than the hand and back regions ( P < 0.05). Conclusion : There were high levels of bacterial loads on raw meat carcasses during slaughtering and dressing process inside the butcher shops. The bacterial load exceeded the guideline set up by international studies and was influenced by location, meat type and part of the carcass. To improve the quality of locally produced raw meat, these findings emphasized the need to curb slaughtering animal inside the butcher shops.