Sixty thousand of deaths among cultured Ezo abalone Haliotis discus hannai occurred within a few days at an abalone farm in Japan in the middle of August, 2002. Dead animals were characterized by a hemolymphatic edema around the major circulatory system. Vibrios showing swarming motility dominated in the edema. The pathogenic vibrios were identified as Vibrio harveyi based on a phylogenetic analysis and a phenotypic characterization. In both immersion and injection experiments, the swarming vibrios fulfilled Koch's postulates as a pathogen for Ezo abalone. Using a GFP-tagged V. harveyi S20, a clump of bacterium was detected on the gills of the abalone within 48 hours after contact with the bacterium. This is the first report of V. harveyi infection in Ezo abalone Haliotis discus hannai.

We isolated FR198248 from the cultured broth ofAspergillus terreus No.13830 as a new anti-influenza agents. The structure of FR198248 was elucidated by several spectroscopic experiments as a novel tetrahydroxybenzaldehyde compound. Furthermore, we described the

A novel anti-influenza agent, FR198248, was isolated from the cultured broth of a fungal strain No.13830. The strain was identified as Aspergillus terreus from morphological characteristics. FR198248, a new type of hydroxyl benzaldehyde compound, showed anti

In vitro and in vivo antibacterial activities of FK037, a new parenteral cephalosporin, were compared with those of cefpirome, ceftazidime and flo-moxef. The advantages of in vitro activity of FK037 were as follows: (1) a broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, (2) the most potent activity (MIC₉₀: 25 μg/ml) of the cephalosporins tested against highly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (H-MRSA), (3) a strong activity against Enterobac-ter spp. and Citrobacter freundii resistant to the third-generation cephalosporins tested. The MICs of FK037 for 90% of the clinical isolates tested (MIC₉₀s) were 0.012 μg/ml for Streptococcus pyogenes, 0.05 μg/ml for Escherichia coli, 0.1 μg/ml for Streptococcus pneumoniae, 0.2 μg/ml for Haemophilus influenzae and Proteus mirabilis, 0.39 μg/ml for Klebsiella pneumoniae, 1.56 μg/ml for methicillin-sensitive S. aureus, Proteus vulgaris and En-terobacter aerogenes, 3.13 μg/ml for Staphylococcusepidermidis and Moraxella catarrhalis, 6.25 μg/ml for C. freundii, 12.5 μg/ml for low-level methicillin-resistant S. aureus (L-MRSA), Enterobacter cloacae and Pseu-domonas aeruginosa, and 25 μg/ml for H-MRSA and Serratia marcescens. FK037 was similar in potency to cefpirome against strains except MRSA, and was superior to ceftazidime and flomoxef against strains except P. vulgaris and/or M. catarrhalis. The increase in MICs of FK037 against 2 L-MRSA strains (2- or 4-fold) was smaller than that of cefpirome and flomoxef (16- to 64-fold) after the third serial culture in the presence of each drug. FK037 was highly bactericidal against S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa at the MIC or higher. FK037 had a potent protective activity against murine experimental systemic infections due to a wide variety of bacteria. Its protective activity was the strongest among the cephalosporins tested against H-MRSA and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. Against the other strains, FK037 was as effective as cefpirome and similar or superior to flomoxef and ceftazidime though it was inferior to ceftazidime against P. aeruginosa. Transmission electron microscopic studies revealed that FK037 inhibited septum formation and induced thick cross walls and bacteriolysis at the division sites in MRSA after 4 h incubation.

The antimicrobial activities of N 4 -octyl-6,6-dimethyl-N 2 -(4-methylbenzyl)-1,6-dihydro-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine (HM-242), a novel synthetic compound, were compared with those of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). HM-242 was a more potent microbicide than CHG in vitro; however, its minimal inhibitory concentrations were similar. In particular, HM-242 killed various Grampositive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, both efficiently and rapidly. HM-242 also showed potent virucidal activity against enveloped viruses such as influenza virus and herpes simplex virus. These characteristics suggest that HM-242 may well be useful as an antiseptic.