Frequency and significance of fungal isolations from conjunctival sac and their role in ocular infections

Five hundred conjunctival swabs, from 150 males and 100 females with no history of ocular infections, were collected and cultured for the isolations of fungi. Eighty (16%) of the total specimens yielded positive fungal isolations. The isolation rate was more from the males than the females subjects. Mycelial fungi were predominant than the yeast organisms. Aspergillus species were the commonest isolates with A. flavus taking the lead in the isolations being positive 16 of the total 24 Aspergillus species isolated. A variable rate of fungal isolations was observed in different months of the year. The percentage of the isolations increases after the local use of Efcorlin-N. Nineteen of the 20 eyes studied did not yield the same fungal species in the repeated samples.

Laboratory-scale production of acetoin plus diacetyl by Enterobacter cloacae ATCC 27613

Conditions for the laboratory-scale production of acetoin plus diacetyl by Enterobacter cloacae ATCC 27613 were studied. Thirty-five g acetoin plus diacetyl/50 g sucrose were obtained when fermentation was carried out in 2.5 liter medium containing 12.5 g peptone and 12.5 g yeast extract, at pH 7.0, in a 5 liter conical flask on a shaker (240 rpm) at 28-30 degrees C for 48 hr. Recovery of pure diacetyl was 85% of the total acetoin plus diacetyl.