by Leung Chi-man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-117). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT (English) --- p.i-ii / ABSTRACT (Chinese) --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.iv / LIST OF CONTENTS --- p.v-viii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix-x / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xi / ABBREVIATIONS --- p.xii / TERMS --- p.xiii-xiv / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- History and taxonomic background of Acinetobacter --- p.1 -3 / Chapter 1.2 --- "Microbiology, ecology and habitats of Acinetobacter species" --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Isolation of Acinetobacter --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Clinical importance of Acinetobacter species --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Acinetobacter 226}0ؤ An endemic nosocomial pathogens of particular importance in Hong Kong --- p.6-7 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Lack of knowledge of Acinetobacter genomic DNA groups --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Human carriage of Acinetobacter species --- p.8-9 / Chapter 1.2.6 --- Species from environment --- p.9-10 / Chapter 1.3 --- Identification of Acinetobacter --- p.10-11 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- DNA-DNA hybridization --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Phenotypic identification by conventional tests --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Genotypic identification by Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA) --- p.12-13 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Other PCR methods --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.5 --- Genotypic identification by tDNA fingerprinting --- p.14 / Chapter 1.4 --- Biotyping --- p.14-15 / Chapter 1.5 --- Background of this research project --- p.15 / Chapter 1.5.1 --- Distribution of different species of Acinetobacter --- p.15-16 / Chapter 1.5.2 --- Consideration of taxonomical problems --- p.16 / Chapter 1.5.3 --- Characterization of Acinetobacter isolates --- p.17 / Chapter 1.6 --- Research objectives --- p.18 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- MATERIALS AND METHODS / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials --- p.19 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Reference strains --- p.19-20 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Antimicrobial agents and chemicals --- p.20-21 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- "Carbohydrates, enzymes and other materials" --- p.22 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Commercial media and media prepared manually --- p.23-26 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Reagents --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1.6 --- Instruments and Software used in this study --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2 --- Methods --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Routine laboratory collection --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Blood culture collection --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Human carriage site collection --- p.29-31 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Surveillance screening of clinical specimens --- p.31-32 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Environmental samples 226}0´ؤؤ vegetable --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Environmental samples 一 soil --- p.32-34 / Chapter 2.3 --- General bacteriological techniques for genus identification --- p.34-37 / Chapter 2.4 --- Molecular techniques used for the delineation of genomic DNA groups --- p.37 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Amplified ribosomal restriction DNA analysis (ARDRA) --- p.37-39 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Characterization of acinetobacters by tRNA spacer (tDNA) fingerprinting analysis --- p.40-42 / Chapter 2.5 --- Biotyping of Acinetobacter spp --- p.42 / Chapter 2.6 --- Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) --- p.43-44 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- DISTRIBUTION OF ACINETOBACTER SPECIES / Chapter 3.1 --- Results --- p.45 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Isolation of acinetobacters from surveillance screening of clinical specimens --- p.45-49 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Isolation of acinetobacters from routine laboratory specimens --- p.49-50 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Distribution of acinetobacter genomic DNA groups in all clinical specimens --- p.50-51 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Isolation of acinetobacters from blood culture --- p.51 -52 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- Isolation of acinetobacters from human carriage sites --- p.53-55 / Chapter 3.1.6 --- Isolation of acinetobacters from environmental samples --- p.56-59 / Chapter 3.2 --- Discussion --- p.60 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Prevalence of Acinetobacter species in clinical specimens --- p.60-61 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Distribution of acinetobacter genomic DNA groups in clinical specimens --- p.61 -63 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Distribution of different genomic DNA groups of Acinetobacter on carriage sites --- p.63-65 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Distribution of different genomic DNA groups of Acinetobacter in environmental samples --- p.65-66 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- AN ASSESSMENT OF TDNA FINGERPRINTING IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF ACINETOBACTER SPECIES / Chapter 4.1 --- Results --- p.67 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Complexity of tDNA fingerprint patterns --- p.67 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Assessment of tDNA fingerprinting --- p.67-69 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Construction of fingerprints database with the reference Acinetobacter strains --- p.70 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Delineation of different genomic DNA groups in the fingerprints database --- p.71 / Chapter 4.1.5 --- Cluster analysis of tDNA fingerprints of Acinetobacter isolates classified by ARDRA --- p.71-73 / Chapter 4.2 --- Discussion --- p.74-75 / Chapter 4.3 --- Conclusion --- p.75-76 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- "BIOTYPING OF ISOLATES FROM CLINICAL SPECIMENS, CARRIAGE SITES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES" / Chapter 5.1 --- Results --- p.77 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Biotypes of A. baumannii --- p.77 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Biotypes of genomic DNA group --- p.3 78 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Biotypes of genomic DNA group 13TU --- p.78-79 / Chapter 5.2 --- Discussion --- p.79-80 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITIES OF ACINETOBACTER SPECIES / Chapter 6.1 --- Results --- p.81 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Bacterial strains --- p.81 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Susceptibilities of Acinetobacter genomic DNA groups --- p.82-86 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Distribution of resistance patterns in Acinetobacter species --- p.87-90 / Chapter 6.2 --- Discussion --- p.91 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Antimicrobial susceptibilities of different genomic DNA groups of Acinetobacter from different sources --- p.91-92 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Emergence of P-Lactam resistance --- p.92 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Activity of sulbactam --- p.93 / Chapter 6.2.4 --- Susceptibility of carbapenem --- p.93 / Chapter 6.2.5 --- Quinolones resistance --- p.94 / Chapter 6.2.6 --- Aminoglycoside resistance --- p.94-95 / Chapter 6.3 --- Conclusion --- p.95 / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- GENERAL DISCUSSION / Chapter 7.1 --- Significance of delineation of genomic DNA groups of Acinetobacter --- p.96-98 / Chapter 7.2 --- Epidemiology and clinical implication of Acinetobacter species in Hong Kong --- p.99-104 / Chapter 7.3 --- Characterization of Acinetobacter --- p.104 / Chapter 7.4 --- Future work --- p.104-105 / REFERENCES --- p.106-117 / APPENDIX --- p.118-126