The following sequencing primers were applied: forward 27f described previously and reverse (685r3) 5′-TCTRCGCATTYCACCGCTAC-3′ (Lane, 1991; obtained from MWG Biotech, Cork, Ireland). The obtained PCR products were sequenced using DYEnamic ET Dye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Kit (GE Healthcare), according to the manufacturer’s instructions as follows: 25 cycles at 95 °C for 30 s, 54 °C for Crizotinib concentration 30 s and 72 °C for 1 min. Each product was sequenced four times – two times with each of the primers (forward and reverse) given previously. Sequence determination was performed in a MegaBACE 1000 automatic sequencer (GE

Healthcare). The rRNA gene sequence (664 bp) of the bacterial species obtained in this study was aligned with those of other bacterial species available from GenBank database. Sequences were analysed for close homology using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (blast) tool available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information

(NCBI; Bethesda, MD) (http//:www.nbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST). ClustalW (Thompson et al., 1994) by mega4 software (Tamura et al., 2007) was used for multiple alignments of nucleotide and amino acid sequences. JModelTest 0.1.1 (Posada, 2008) was used to find the best model for construction of phylogenetic trees based on nucleotide acid. PhyML 3.0 (Guindon & Gascuel, 2003) by Phylemon 2 (Sanchez et al., 2011) and 1000 bootstrap replications were used to build a phylogenetic Tryptophan synthase tree. Isolates from boa heart (OSB1-11), anaconda heart (OSA1-11) Baf-A1 chemical structure and corn snake heart (OSG1-11) were grown in 45 mL of TSB for 24 h at 28 °C and shaking (140 r.p.m.) in an incubator (Kuhner, Basel, Switzerland). Then, the cultures were centrifuged at 10 000 g for 15 min at 4 °C and the pellet resuspended in 0.85% (w/v) sterile (121 °C 5 min−1) saline. The optical density (OD600 nm) was measured to give a value of 1, which gave ~1 × 109 colony forming units (CFU) mL−1. Tenfold serial dilutions were prepared in saline and the colony counts performed using Miles &

Misra’s method (Miles et al., 1938). Groups of 10 apparently healthy rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) of 12 g average weight were used for a dose dependent experimental challenge following Koch’s postulates where low to high bacterial concentrations were administered to the animals. Thus, each fish was injected intraperitoneally with 0.1 mL amounts containing 4 × 105 or 4 × 106 CFU per fish. The fish were maintained in aerated free-flowing freshwater at 18 ± 2 °C and they were lightly fed with a commercial diet throughout the 7-day period after challenge. The fish were monitored for any signs of disease, and any moribund or dead animals were removed from and examined microbiologically as before. At the end of the experiment, all survivors were sacrificed with an overdose of anaesthetic (Benzocaine; Sigma-Aldrich, Basingstoke, UK) and examined microbiologically, as before.

In conclusion, travelers seem to be well aware of the risk of TT and are compliant to perform at least the recommended TP for which physicians predominantly consider travelers’ TR. However, especially the high rate of non-recommended intake of ASA and the different dosage regimes recommended for TP with Caspase inhibitor ASA or heparin indicate the need of better and widely available information for travelers and of evidenced-based guidelines for physicians. We thank the physicians of the participating

centers for taking part in this study, especially Prof. Dr Harms-Zwingenberger, Dr Knappik and colleagues of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Berlin; Prof. Dr Knobloch and colleagues of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Thiazovivin cell line Tuebingen; Dr Anger, Bielefeld; Dr Bindig, Georgensgmünd; Dr Drewes, Worpswede; Dr Grau, Stuttgart; Dr Knossalla, Augsburg; Dr Schmolz, Ludwigsburg; and Dr Steinhäußer, Backnang. Additionally, we thank the International Society of Travel Medicine for supporting the study by a grant of 5,000 USD

(“runners-up award”) which enabled us to perform this study. Finally, we thank Mrs Virginia Olsen (Seattle, USA) for checking the language style of the manuscript. The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare with respect to this article. “
“Background. Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) during travel is a significant potential infectious disease threat to travelers. However, there is uncertainty in the travel medicine community regarding the evidence base for both estimates of risk for latent TB infection (LTBI)

Florfenicol in long-term travelers and for information regarding which travelers may benefit from pre- or post-travel TB screening. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk for tuberculin skin test (TST) conversion, used as a surrogate for LTBI, in long-term travelers from low- to high-risk countries. Methods. We performed a systematic review to acquire all published and unpublished data on TST conversion in long-term civilian and military travelers from 1990 to June 2008. Point estimates and confidence intervals (CIs) of the incidence of TST conversion were combined in a random effects model and assessed for heterogeneity. Results. The cumulative risk with CI for LTBI as measured by TST conversion was 2.0% (99% CI: 1.6%–2.4%). There was a marked heterogeneity (χ2 heterogeneity statistic, p < 0.0001) which could not be explained by evaluable study characteristics. When stratifying by military and civilian studies, the cumulative risk estimate was 2.0% (99% CI: 1.6–2.4) for military and 2.3% (99% CI: 2.1–2.5) for civilian studies. Conclusion. The overall cumulative incidence of 2.

This complex microbial community comprises bacteria, protozoa, fungi (Hespell et al., 1997; McSweeney et al., 2005), methanogenic archaea (Morvan et al., 1996) and bacteriophages (Klieve & Bauchop, 1988). The rumen bacteria are most abundant and carry out a considerable part of the biological degradation of plant

fiber (Koike & Kobayashi, 2009). Comparative sequence analysis of rumen bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone libraries has consistently shown the dominance of two phyla in the rumen: low G+C Gram-positive (LGCGP) bacteria and the Cytophaga–Flavobacter–Bacteroides (CFB) group (Whitford et al., 1998; Tajima et al., 1999; Koike et al., 2003). Within the CFB group, Prevotella-related sequences were found to be predominant in the total 16S rRNA gene sequences retrieved from the particle-associated community learn more in the rumen (Whitford et al., 1998; Koike et al., 2003). In a comprehensive 16S rRNA gene clone library-based analysis of rumen bacterial diversity,

Prevotella ruminicola-related sequences were found to be the single most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (Edwards et al., 2004). The genus Prevotella was proposed to distinguish certain SGI-1776 solubility dmso former Bacteroides species (e.g. Bacteroides melaninogenicus and Bacteroides oralis, which were later reclassified as Prevotella melaninogenicus and Prevotella oralis, respectively) from ‘true’Bacteroides species cAMP more closely related to Bacteroides fragilis (Shah & Collins, 1990). There are four characterized rumen Prevotella spp.: P. ruminicola (formerly known

as Bacteroides ruminicola), Prevotella bryantii, Prevotella albensis and Prevotella brevis (Avgustin et al., 1997). Cultivated rumen Prevotella strains exhibit a higher degree of genetic divergence (Mannarelli et al., 1991; Ramsak et al., 2000), and differences in the polysaccharide-degrading abilities of the four species characterized have been demonstrated (Matsui et al., 2000). In a phylogenetic analysis of a fiber-associated rumen bacterial community, large clusters of Prevotella-related sequences were retrieved from in situ incubated fiber in the rumen of sheep, implying the possible involvement of Prevotella in fiber breakdown (Koike et al., 2003). Furthermore, P. ruminicola contribute to plant cell wall degradation by acting synergistically with cellulolytic bacteria (Osborne & Dehority, 1989). In previous studies, attempts have been made to describe rumen Prevotella quantitatively. Culture-based studies showed that Prevotella strains account for 60% of total cultivable bacteria from the rumen of cows (Van Gylswyk, 1990). Based on restriction enzyme profiling of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene sequences from rumen samples, Wood et al. (1998) reported that the relative abundance of rumen Prevotella/Bacteroides ribotypes in the total eubacterial 16S rRNA gene could range from 12% to 62%.

The Ll.LtrB intron cassette was taken

from the plasmid pCACYS3 and is found downstream of the Clostridia thiolase (thl) promoter (Pthl) in pCACYS3. This plasmid was digested with HindIII and XbaI to replace the thl promoter with an IPTG-inducible tac promoter. The tac promoter was amplified with the primers prFtacx and prRtach, containing HindIII and XbaI sites, using pTac99A as a template (Table 2; Baek et al., 2007). The PCR product was digested with HindIII and XbaI and ligated into pCACYS3 at the same restriction sites to construct pCACYS3-tac. The pBBR1MCS2-HindIIIdel plasmid without a HindIII site was digested CP-868596 order with XmaI and ligated with pCACYS3-tac digested with XmaI and HpaI to generate pBBR1Int. Then, pBBR1Int, which contains the Ll.LtrB intron cassette downstream of an inducible tac promoter, was digested with BsrGI and HindIII and was ligated with the retargeted intron created by overlapping PCR using the

Selumetinib primers prIBS, prUniv, prEBS2, and prEBS1 (Fig. 1 and Table 2). The final plasmid, pBBR1RInt, consists of the mob gene required for plasmid mobilization, the kanamycin-resistance gene, and the Ll.LtrB intron cassette and the region of the retargeted intron downstream of the tac promoter. To knock out the phaC1 gene in R. eutropha H16, the retargeted phaC1-specific intron was ligated with pBBR1Int to create pBBR1RIntphaC1. Then, the plasmid was introduced into R. eutropha H16 by conjugation. Recombinant R. eutropha H16 (pBBR1RIntphaC1) cells were induced by IPTG for the synthesis of ribonucleoprotein that contains the IEP (LtrA protein) and excised intron lariat RNA by splicing the RNA precursor (Lambowitz & Zimmerly, 2004). After RNA splicing, the ribonucleoproteins integrate the intron into the phaC1 gene by recognizing the target DNA site. The phaC1 knockout mutant R. eutropha PK was confirmed by colony PCR (Fig. 2). First, the integration of the intron into the phaC1 target site could be confirmed by PCR using the

primers Methocarbamol prEBS2 and prRphaC1 (Fig. 2b and Table 2). Also, the PCR fragments obtained with the primers prFphaC1 and prRphaC1 using the genomic DNAs of the wild-type R. eutropha H16 and the mutant PK strains as templates were compared (Fig. 2c); the PCR fragments obtained were 0.6 kb for R. eutropha H16 and 1.5 kb for R. eutropha PK, suggesting that the intron was successfully integrated into the mutant PK strain. The knockout efficiency was about 12.5% (two mutants out of 16 colonies). Ralstonia eutropha H16 can efficiently accumulate PHB as intracellular storage granules under a growth-limiting condition in the presence of excess carbon source (Lee, 1996; Pohlmann et al., 2006). When the phaC1 gene is knocked out, cells are expected to lose the ability to synthesize PHB (Fig. 3). To confirm the phaC gene knockout, R. eutropha PK was aerobically cultivated under an N- source-limited MR medium containing 15 g L−1d-fructose at 30 and 250 r.p.m. It was found that R.

In comparing the unit costs from standard labour costs with those from actual labour costs, both increases and decreases were found. Conclusions  Costing and the use of Microsoft Excel can be applied to the development of a costing template

for unit cost analysis of hospital pharmaceutical services. This programme can provide accurate unit costs for services. The results can be used when considering pharmacy service reimbursement, efficiency and service development. “
“Objectives Medication history-taking is recognised see more as a potential source of medication errors and is the subject of the first National Patient Safety Agency/National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Patient Safety Guidance. Medication lists are suggested as a way of improving medicines reconciliation, but, anecdotally, can falsely reassure prescribers that they have an accurate list of medicines if used in isolation. Methods Patients in possession of a medicines list on admission to hospital were approached as part of routine care. Data were collated regarding medication-history discrepancies, their source and whether a prescription amendment was made. Key findings One hundred

and twenty patients were reviewed and the median time for pharmacists TAM Receptor inhibitor to complete medicines reconciliation was 15 min. Eighty-three patients (69.2%) had only one medication list, 31 (26%) had two, five (4%) had three and one patient (0.8%) had four lists. In total, 447 discrepancies were identified of which 49 (11.0%) were initiated by the patient, including 32 (65.3%) to adjust a dosage regimen or not to comply with a dosing regime. For the 279 (62.4%) discrepancies attributable to secondary care staff, 119 (42.6%) prescribed medicines were omitted unintentionally. For the 119 (26.6%) discrepancies attributable to the primary care medicines lists, 48 (40.3%) related to inadequate or inaccurate information regarding medicine doses, frequency, strength or form. Each patient required a mean of 1.6 amendments

to their prescription despite bringing a list of medicines with them. Conclusions Medication lists should be interpreted with caution and assessed in combination with other sources of information, particularly the patient or their carer. Strategies to improve Y-27632 2HCl medicines reconciliation on admission to hospital are still needed and a single electronic patient record encompassing primary and secondary care medication records would be a positive step forward. “
“Objectives  The aim was to adapt a US adverse drug event (ADE) trigger tool for UK use, and to establish its positive predictive value (PPV) and sensitivity in comparison to retrospective health record review for the identification of preventable ADEs, in a pilot study on one hospital ward. Methods  An established US trigger tool was adapted for UK use.

6%. HIV/HBV

coinfection was not independently associated with HIV transmission. “
“According to the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS, HIV-infected patients on successful antiretroviral Forskolin in vitro treatment have a negligible risk of transmitting HIV sexually. We estimated the risk that patients considered to have an undetectable viral load (VL) are actually viraemic. A Danish, population-based nationwide cohort study of HIV-infected patients with VL <51 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL for more than 6 months was carried out for the study period 2000–2008. The observation time was calculated from 6 months after the first VL <51 copies/mL to the last measurement of VL or the first VL >50 copies/mL. The time at risk of transmitting HIV sexually was calculated as 50% of the time from the last VL <51 copies/mL to the subsequent VL if it was >1000 copies/mL. The outcome was the time at GKT137831 mouse risk of transmitting HIV sexually

divided by the observation time. We identified 2680 study subjects contributing 9347.7 years of observation time and 56.4 years of risk of transmitting HIV (VL>1000 copies/mL). In 0.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5–0.8%] of the overall observation time the patients had VL >1000 copies/mL. In the first 6 months this risk was substantially higher (7.9%; 95% CI 4.5–11.0%), but thereafter decreased and was almost negligible after 5 years (0.03%; 95% CI 0.0–0.2%). The risk was higher in injecting drug users, but otherwise did not differ between subgroups of patients. The risk of viraemia and therefore the risk of transmitting HIV sexually are high in the first 12 months of successful antiretroviral treatment, but thereafter are low. Some studies have indicated that HIV-infected patients with low or undetectable viral load (VL) are at low risk of transmitting the infection sexually [1,2]. These data recently led the Swiss Federal Fenbendazole Commission for HIV/AIDS to state that ‘a seropositive person without additional sexually

transmitted disease in antiretroviral treatment with suppressed VL cannot transmit HIV sexually’ [3]. The statement has been a subject of intense debate [4,5]. Although no countries to date have changed their official guidelines concerning the use of barrier protection accordingly, many HIV-infected patients and their uninfected partners will embrace, or may already have embraced, these recommendations. One role of the treating physician is to advise the discordant couple, especially the uninfected partner, with regard to the use of barrier protection to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. According to the recommendations of the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS, advice must be given based on whether the index patient is on stable highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), has undetectable VLs (VL must have been suppressed for more than 6 months) and does not have other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and on whether their next VL can be assumed to be undetectable [3].

Special attention was paid not only to the analysis of genes that are putatively associated with host adaptation, for example genes encoding secreted proteases. Genes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and mating were also found to be of future interest (Burmester et al., 2011). Additional insights are expected from the envisaged genome comparison including the other five sequenced human pathogenic dermatophyte species. The species selection was based on different biological

parameters and pathogenicity-related hypotheses (White et al., 2008), and the basic traits of the selected strains such as growth rate and resistance to diverse antibiotics were already monitored (Achterman et al., 2011). Because these species encompass anthropophilic (T. rubrum, the most common BKM120 cost inducer of dermatophytosis in humans worldwide; T. Inhibitor Library manufacturer tonsurans, often associated with tinea capitis in America), zoophilic (T. equinum, associated with horses; M. canis, associated with cats and dogs) and geophilic (M. gypseum) dermatophytes, a comparative genome analysis will, among other topics, address factors that are potentially

involved in host preference, adaptation during chronic vs. inflammatory infection and saprophytic growth. An increasing, lively interest in the molecular biology of dermatophytes combined with the establishment of fundamental genetic approaches has strongly Inositol monophosphatase 1 advanced the research in these filamentous fungi. Basic prerequisites have been launched, such as genome sequencing projects, expression profile data sets and efficient targeted gene inactivation techniques. Nevertheless, molecular research is still preliminary in these genetically less amenable microorganisms. Therefore, further efforts have to be undertaken for the improvement of existing and the establishment of additional genetic tools and methodologies. Such efforts will be worthwhile, given the fact that dermatophytoses are widespread and of particular clinical interest. Using the available techniques, now fundamental questions can be addressed in dermatophytes,

related to the pathogenicity as well as general host and environmental adaptation mechanisms, sexual development, basic biology and evolution. We are sorry that space limitations did not allow us to cite all important papers. We thank Axel A. Brakhage, Christoph Heddergott and the electron microscopy centre at the University Hospital Jena for providing the scanning electron micrograph in Fig. 1, and Bernard Mignon for the photograph visualizing the guinea-pig animal model in Fig. 2. Work in our laboratory is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Hans Knoell Institute. “
“The chaperonin 60 (Cpn60) is present in all three kingdoms of life and is one of the most conserved proteins in living organisms. The Escherichia coli Cpn60 (GroEL) is the best studied representative of the huge Cpn60 family.

44–47 The risk of importation of multidrug-resistant selleck screening library A baumannii seems difficult to assess because clones carrying genes for resistance are already circulating in France. The French Health Authorities published in 2010 guidelines to limit the spread of highly resistant bacteria. These French guidelines were developed by

the members of a national working group, from their experiences and following the international literature.16 The guidelines target two main commensally MDR, CPE and VRE, that have only been observed in France sporadically, but may spread on a sporadic or epidemic way when introduced in the hospital by carriers needing medical or surgical cares in French hospitals The aims of these guidelines are to control and limit the hospital spread of these two pathogens among (1) repatriated patient hospitalized more than 24 h in foreign hospitals, whatever the medical or surgical wards in high-level resistance prevalence areas; or (2) among travelers hospitalized in foreign countries within the last year.

The CPE culture MK-2206 mouse media recommended in these guidelines are also able to detect other Gram-negative MDR such as A baumannii and P aeruginosa. However, these media perform rather poorly to detect some bacteria that produce enzymes, which confer only low levels of carbapenem resistance (e.g., OXA-48). This flaw underlines, however, the urgent OSBPL9 needs to make available new generation of tests, most probably molecular

that will allow detection of such resistance mechanisms. Even if some countries are well known to present high-level rates of multidrug resistance, as outlined above, the French guidelines do not provide a list of “suspected” countries, as the epidemiological situation is changing continuously and few countries have no risk of multidrug resistance. These guidelines include six recommendations (1–6) to be taken upon patients’ hospital admission and four recommendations (7–10) when the patient is detected positive for CPE or VRE carriage after systematic rectal screening (Table 1). Upon hospital admission of patients at risk of CPE and VRE carriage, the French guidelines recommend to inform the Infection Control Team and the patient about the situation. The best way to detect repatriated patients is through an automatic alert system. During the first 48 h after admission and before the microbiological results of the screening (rectal swab or stool sample) are obtained, it is recommended to put the patient in contact isolation precautions.48 When CPE or VRE is detected on screening sample, it is recommended (1) to maintain the contact precautions; (2) to identify the mechanism of resistance (e.g., resistance to imipenem: VIM, KPC, OXA-48); and (3) to alert the French Public Health Authorities for the national Healthcare-Associated Infections Early Warning and Response System.

3). Furthermore, the EHNA inhibition was long lasting, because no activity could be detected after passage in culture medium 1 and 6 h after the EHNA treatment (Table 1). The low ADA activity detected after 24 h (0.27 ± 0.05 nmol NH3 min−1 mg−1 protein) was probably due to new trophozoites grown after the incubation in the culture medium. We have evaluated the interaction of EHNA-treated T. vaginalis on NO production by human neutrophils stimulated with T. vaginalis. Figure 4 shows that neutrophils alone produced low levels of NO (1.98 ± 0.35 μM); however, when stimulated

with lipopolysaccharide (positive control), the concentration increased 35 times (70.26 ± 14.69 μM). When the trichomonad-culture supernatants from EHNA-treated Dorsomorphin in vitro trichomonads and the T. vaginalis lysate were incubated with neutrophils, both conditions inhibited the NO production. On the other hand, and expectedly, the co-culture with intact T. vaginalis trophozoites produced a high find protocol amount of NO. However, when incubated in the presence of 1 h EHNA-treated parasites, the NO production effect was reverted. The same effect was observed with adenosine and inosine. In order to identify the ADA-related sequences on T. vaginalis genome, we performed a phylogenetic analysis. NCBI blast searches

of GenBank yielded two complete T. vaginalis ADA-related sequences (XP_001317231 and XP_001325125). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR experiments were performed and the relative abundance of ADA-related genes ada(125) and ada(231) mRNA vs. α-tubulin was determined by densitometry. As shown in Fig. 5a and b, both genes were expressed, although ada(231) in higher quantity when compared with the ada(125) : α-tubulin ratio. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method and proportional (p) distance

(Fig. 5c). Four well-resolved terminal clades supported by high bootstrap values were identified, confirming the presence of two ADA orthologues for T. vaginalis. The first clade grouped consistently ADA1 vertebrate sequences and ADA-related sequence from T. spiralis. The second clade was formed Celecoxib by E. histolytica, D. discoideum and T. vaginalis sequences. The third clade grouped the ADAL sequences, whereas the fourth clade was formed by ADA2 sequences. Plasmodium falciparum and L. major ADA-related sequences were placed independently between the four clades mentioned. Trypanosoma brucei and E. coli were the most divergent sequences. The tree topology strongly suggests homologous functions on the T. vaginalis genome. In order to screen freshly isolated clinical isolates besides TV-VP60, we have determined ADA activity in five other T. vaginalis isolates.

The size of DNA fragments ranged from 1030 to 19 937, 1000 to 11 247, 521 to 21 735, and 380 to 31 103 bp in

the four phages, φVh1, φVh2, φVh3, and φVh4, respectively. XbaI produced more number of fragments (13, 12, 16, and 18) ranging from 492 to 28 279, 1034 to 11 254, 458 to 11 331, and 224 to 39 618 bp of the four phages, respectively (Fig. 3). The genome size based on PFGE profiles generated with ScaI and XbaI showed little variation (0.8–3.3 kb) with the two enzymes, and the genome size of each phage was calculated as an average of the two profiles. The estimated genome size of the four phages was 85, 58, 64, and 107 kb corresponding to φVh1, φVh2, φVh3, and φVh4, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis of phages based on DraI REA pattern showed distinct nature of phage φVh3, which separated from the cluster of the other three siphoviruses at 63% hierarchical level (Fig. 4a). Similarly, the phylogenetic analysis based on PFGE http://www.selleckchem.com/products/CAL-101.html upon restriction with ScaI and XbaI revealed that the phage φVh3 was distinct and did not cluster with other three siphoviruses as observed in the cluster analysis of DraI REA (Fig. 4b and c). Among the three www.selleckchem.com/products/SGI-1776.html siphoviruses, phage φVh4 was distinct from the other two phages, which branched separately at 56% and 70% hierarchical level in the ScaI and XbaI PFGE dendrograms, respectively. Phages φVh1 and φVh2 showed clustering

at 83% and 86% hierarchical level with ScaI and XbaI, respectively, suggesting their similarity. Vibrio harveyi Vh57 PIK3C2G susceptible to all the four phages was successfully transformed with the plasmid DNA (pHSG396). The transformants harboring the plasmid produced blue colonies on PYSS agar supplemented with chloramphenicol, Xgal, and

IPTG. The transductants obtained after infection of plasmid transformed donor strain with the four phages grew on PYSS medium supplemented with chloramphenicol producing blue colonies as they acquired the plasmid PHSG 396 DNA. The frequency of transduction of four phages ranged from 4.1 × 10−7 to 2 × 10−9 PFU−1 (Table 1). So far, 227 tailed phages infecting Vibrio spp. have been described, among which 67 belonged to the family Siphoviridae (Ackermann, 2007). In this study, three phages (φVh1, φVh2, and φVh4) with a long noncontractile tail (130–329 nm long) and an isometric head (approximately 60–115 nm in diameter) belonged to the family Siphoviridae and resemble the phages described earlier (Pasharawipas et al., 2005; Vinod et al., 2006; Shivu et al., 2007). One phage, φVh3, belonged to the family Podoviridae according to criteria of head, tail, and genetic material (Ackermann, 2001). According to Ackermann, capsid and tail size of tailed phages range from 30 to 160 and 10 to 800 nm, respectively (Ackermann, 2005). Reports on the isolation of bacteriophages belonging to the family Podoviridae from the aquaculture ecosystems are scanty. A member of this group infecting V.