Human and animal skin and mucous membranes are the places where C. Albicans is present as a commensal, and can cause disease under certain condition. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of C. albicans in clinically healthy dogs and dogs with dermatological, gastrointestinal or urogenital disorders (diseased dogs). A total of 30 (7,09%) of 423 samples were found to be positive for C. albicans. C. albicans was isolated from 10 (52,63%) samples from the oral cavity of the dogs with clinical symptoms, and nine (45,45%) samples originated from the dogs without clinical symptoms. The slight difference in the number of isolates from the rectal cavity was observed, six (54,54%) and five (45,45%) of diseased and healthy animals, respectively. Significant differences were not observed in the total number of isolates between the dogs with clinical manifestation (16 (53,33%) isolates) and without clinical manifestation of disease (14 (46,66%)). The number of isolates in the observed categories as well as their micro- and macromorphology do not indicate an invasive form of C. albicans. Key words: C. albicans, isolation, dogs, oral cavity, rectum

Propolis is a resinous substance made by the bees that collect resin from the buds of plants and exudates of trees, enriching it with the salivary enzymes, pollen and wax. Beside of biological activities, propolis also has an antifungal activity. Candida albicans is a commensal yeast that may cause candidiasis in humans and animals, too. Ascosphaera apis is a heterothalic fungus and represents an agent of chalkbrood larval disease (cystic mycosis) of honeybees, Apis mellifera. Propolis from Bosnia and Herzegovina has shown an inhibitory effect on C. albicans and A. apis. 30% concentration of ethanol extracts of propolis has shown the strongest average inhibition zone with the disc diffusion method, with inhibition diameter of 7.56 mm for C. albicans and 14.5 mm for A. apis, as well as 8 mm for the reference strain of C. albicans ATCC 10231 and 12,2 mm for the reference strain of A. apis MUCL 30764. Key word: propolis, antifungal activity, Candida albicans, Ascosphaera apis

Malassezia pachydermatis is a commensal yeast that can be found on the skin or mucosal membranes of dogs and other mammalians. M. pachydermatis is the only lipid-independent malassezia. Apart from the dogs with Otitis externa, M. pachydermatis can be isolated from the dogs with no signs of the disease. The presence of M. pachydermatis was investigated in 70 dogs with no signs of inflammation of the external ear canal. M. pachydermatis was present in 29 (20,71%) of 140 tested samples of the external ear canal swab in dogs. Key words: dogs, external ear canal, Malassezia pachydermatis

Mycoplasma bovis is a serious, worldwide-spread but often overlooked pathogen causing respiratory disease, mastitis, and arthritis in cattle. In this study we characterize the protein and antigenic profiles of M. bovis field strains isolated in Bosnia and Herzegovina by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, and analyze possible variations among these strains. Greater differences occurred when comparing field strains with the reference strain PG45. One field strain isolated from lung samples of a heifer was markedly different from strains isolated from nasal swabs taken from cattle raised in another geographic region. A possible correlation may exist between protein and antigen profiles of M. bovis field strains, geographic regions and anatomical sites of isolation. Mycoplasma bovis, cattle, antigen, immunoblotting, protein, SDS-PAGE Mycoplasma bovis is the most pathogenic bovine mycoplasma in the parts of the world considered to be free of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. This pathogen primarily causes calf pneumonia, mastitis and arthritis. Other symptoms are seen less frequently. Diseases caused by M. bovis are found worldwide, causing significant economic losses. Yet, there are no effective control measures or standard protocols for their routine application available (Nicholas and Ayling 2003). Although M. bovis, like other mycoplasmas, possesses a small genome size, it is still highly invasive and able to colonize organ systems. It is now clear that one of the possible explanations for its ability to avoid bodily defence mechanisms and adapt to different environments in the host is due to phenotypic variations in mycoplasmas (Wise 1993; Razin et al. 1998; Minion 2002). Rosengarten et al. (1994) demonstrated highly variable membrane surface proteins (Vsps) of M. bovis which represent a family of antigenically and structurally related lipoproteins. These Vsps represent the predominant antigens recognized by the host immune response during infection, and they can undergo high frequency changes in size and expression. This system is responsible for the survival of these pathogens in the presence of cytolytic antibodies and for their adaptation to specialized environments within their respective hosts (Behrens et al. 1994; Razin et al.1998). A full understanding of phenotypic variation among M. bovis strains should be of great value when developing diagnostic methods and vaccines for the control of infections caused by this organism. Recently, M. bovis has been isolated, for the first time, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rifatbegovic et al. 2007). The aim of this study was to characterize the protein and antigenic profile of these M. bovis field strains by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulphatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) and immunoblot and to analyze possible variations among these strains.

a 1911 base pair gene fragment. The thermal profile for the reaction included an initial denaturation step at 94°C for 12 minutes, followed by 35 cycles consisting of a denaturation step at 94°C for 30 seconds, annealing at 57°C for 1 minute and extension at 72°C for 1·5 minutes, with a final extension step at 72°C for 10 minutes. The