4.0) [44]. Statistical significance of branching was verified by bootstrapping [45] involving construction and analysis of 1000 trees from the data set buy EVP4593 in the software MEGA. Sequences were assigned to operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on a 97% sequence similarity criterion [46]. Standard diversity and richness indices, including the Shannon-Weaver index [47] (a nonparametric diversity index combining estimates of richness, i.e. total numbers of ribotypes) and evenness (relative abundance of each OTU, indicating diversity) and the Chao1 index [48] (a nonparametric estimator of
the minimum OTU richness) were calculated using the FastGroupII web-based bioinformatics platform for analyses of 16S rRNA gene based libraries [49]. The coverage of the clone library was calculated with the formula [1-(n/N)] [50] where n is the number of phylotypes (OTUs) represented by one clone and N is the total number of clones. The sequence data for the clones have been submitted to the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ database
(NCBI) with accession numbers FJ375772 to FJ375932. Determination of cultivable, coliform, and ampicillin resistant counts Faeces samples were thawed PKC inhibitor and suspended in saline immediately before cultivation of aerobic bacteria. For both rectal swabs and faeces samples, colony forming units were determined for aerobic heterotrophic cells on chocolate medium (agar, horse blood, glucose, Vitox SR 090A, Vitox, SR 090H (Oxoid); University hospital, Tromsø, Norway) and for ampr aerobic heterotrophic cells on chocolate medium GW786034 clinical trial supplemented with 50 mg/l of ampicillin (Sigma). Coliform cells were determined for faeces
samples on MacConkey medium (Fluka BioChemika), and for ampr coliform cells on MacConkey medium supplemented with 50 mg/l of ampicillin. All plates were enumerated after 48 h of incubation at 37°C. Means and standard deviations (SD) for the cfu’s were calculated on the basis of nine replicates for each of the bear samples analysed. Identification Mirabegron of β-lactamase activity with the nitrocefin-test Extracellular β-lactamase activity was determined by the nitrocefin test method. A solution (0.5 g/l) of nitrocefin (chromogenic β-lactamase substrate, Calbiochem, San Diego, USA) was prepared according to the manufacturer’s instruction. Ten μl of the solution was added to single colonies and a colour change from yellow to pink within 30 minutes after application indicated β-lactamase activity. DNA extraction and test PCR amplification of 16S rRNA genes DNA was extracted from randomly chosen colonies by a boiling lysis method [51]. The general suitability of DNA for PCR was confirmed with amplification of the 16S rRNA gene, using the primers 16S-27F and 16S-1494R (Table 6).