Pharmaceutical products contaminated with Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) strains constitute a serious health issue for susceptible individuals. New detection methods to distinguish DNA from viable cells are required to ensure pharmaceutical product quality and safety. In this study, we have assessed a droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) with a variant propidium monoazide (PMAxx) for selective detection of live/dead BCC cells in autoclaved nuclease-free water after 365 days, in 0.001% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX), and in 0.005% benzalkonium chloride (BZK) solutions after 184 days. Using 10 μM PMAxx and 5 min light exposure, a proportion of dead BCC was quantified by ddPCR. The detection limit of culture-based method was 10⁴ CFU/mL, equivalent to 9.7 pg/μL for B. cenocepacia J2315, while that of ddPCR was 9.7 fg/μL. The true positive rate from nuclease-free water and CHX using PMAxx-ddPCR assay was 60.0% and 38.3%, respectively, compared to 85.0% and 74.6% without PMAxx (p < 0.05), respectively. However, in BZK-treated cells, no difference in the detection rate was observed between the ddPCR assay on samples treated with PMAxx (67.1%) and without PMAxx (63.3%). This study shows that the PMAxx-ddPCR assay provides a better tool for selective detection of live BCC cells in non-sterile pharmaceutical products.

In this study, we compared pulsed-field gel electrophoretic (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), spa typing, and virulence gene profiles of 19 Panton–Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-positive, multidrug-, and methicillin-resistant clinical Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates obtained from a hospital intensive care unit in Pakistan. The isolates exhibited 10 pulsotypes, contained eight adhesin genes (bbp, clfA, clfB, cna, fnbA, fnbB, map-eap, and spa), 10 toxin genes (hla, hlb, hld, hlg, pvl, sed, see, seg, seh, and tst), and two other virulence genes (cfb, v8) that were commonly present in all isolates. The spa-typing indicated seven known spa types (t030, t064, t138, t314, t987, t1509, and t5414) and three novel spa types. MLST analysis indicated eight ST types (ST8, ST15, ST30, ST239, ST291, ST503, ST772, and ST1413). All isolates belonged to the agr group 1. Most of the isolates possessed SCCmec type III, but some isolates had it in combination with types SCCmec IV and V. The presence of multidrug-resistant MRSA isolates in Pakistan indicates poor hygienic conditions, overuse of antibiotics, and a lack of rational antibiotic therapy that have led to the evolution and development of hypervirulent MRSA clones. The study warrants development of a robust epidemiological screening program and adoption of effective measures to stop their spread in hospitals and the community.

Simple and rapid detection of Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) bacteria, a common cause of pharmaceutical product recalls, is essential for consumer safety. In this study, we developed and evaluated a ribB-based colorimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of BCC in (i) nuclease-free water after 361 days, (ii) 10 μg/mL chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) solutions, and (iii) 50 μg/mL benzalkonium chloride (BZK) solutions after 184 days. The RibB 5 primer specifically detected 20 strains of BCC but not 36 non-BCC strains. The limit of detection of the LAMP assay was 1 pg/μL for Burkholderia cenocepacia strain J2315. Comparison of LAMP with a qPCR assay using 1440 test sets showed higher sensitivity: 60.6% in nuclease-free water and 42.4% in CHX solution with LAMP vs. 51.3% and 31.1%, respectively, with qPCR. These results demonstrate the potential of the ribB-based LAMP assay for the rapid and sensitive detection of BCC in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Here, we report the draft genome sequences of two methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical isolates, hospital-associated perirectal isolate 32S (ST 239) from a colitis tracheostomy patient and community-associated MRSA isolate 42S (ST 772) from a hepatic-splenomegaly patient in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

We report the draft genome sequence of a methicillin-resistant clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolate with a novel spa type and sequence type (ST291), isolated from a renal failure patient in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

In pharmaceutical manufacturing, benefit is conferred in detection of specified microorganism (i.e., Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC), E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica) not readily identified by culture-dependent methods. It9s logical to test for the presence of “specified microorganism” using metagenomic analysis before culturing a “specified organism”, especially when the organism isn9t easy to culture. We developed a metagenomic analysis during enrichment to identify specified organisms. The enriched bacterial community consisted predominantly of Bacillus spp. and Stenotrophomonas spp., each contributing about 97-99% to total taxon abundance in TSB and 1/10× TSB. The specified microorganisms that were observed were Clostridium spp., Burkholderia spp., and Staphylococcus spp. (0.04 - 0.07%) in TSB, otherwise Burkholderia spp., Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Escherichia spp. (0.01 - 1.73%) in 1/10× TSB. PreQ0 biosynthesis (PWY-6703) and guanosine ribonucleotides de novo biosynthesis (PWY-7221) were the most abundant pathways in 1/10× TSB-24 h. BCC chiefly contributed to the toluene degradation (PWY-5180 and PWY-5182) pathways. Initial results demonstrate the potential of the metagenomic approach during enrichment in water-based environments. These results indicate that a metagenomic enrichment approach to evaluating water samples can be useful to monitor specified organisms over time, including oligotrophs such as BCC in 1/10× TSB.