| 1. |
- Anrup, Roland, et al.
(author)
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Centrala universitetsvärden hotas av bolagiseringsidén
- 2013
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In: Dagens nyheter. - 1101-2447.
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Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Högskolestiftelser. Förslaget att driva svenska universitet i stiftelseform öppnar för bolagisering. Men det är ingen riktig utredning, utan en politisk pamflett utan eftertanke. Privatisering av universitet hotar både oberoendet, forskningskvaliteten och samhällsnyttan, skriver 36 forskare vid svenska högskolor och universitet.
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| 2. |
- Aprodu, Iuliana, et al.
(author)
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Advanced sample preparation for the molecular quantification of Staphylococcus aureus in artificially and naturally contaminated milk.
- 2011
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In: International Journal of Food Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1605. ; 145, s. 61-65
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sample treatment is an essential element when using real-time PCR for quantification of pathogens directly on food samples. This study comparatively evaluated three different principles of sample treatment, i.e. immunomagnetic separation based on phage-derived cell wall binding molecules, matrix solubilization and flotation, in order to establish their suitability for quantifying low numbers of Staphylococcus aureus in milk. All three procedures succeeded to remove S. aureus from the milk matrix, either raw or pasteurized, and, as a result of the concentration of the target cells, minimized the effect of milk associated PCR inhibitors. Sample preparation based on immunomagnetic separation albeit of being user friendly, specific and rapid, failed to allow quantification of low and medium numbers (<10(4)CFU) of S. aureus. In a mastitic milk model cell wall binding domain (CBD)-based target cell extraction revealed results most closely matching those derived from culture-based quantification. Both matrix lysis and flotation allowed quantification of S. aureus at a level of 1-10 cells per ml. Both methods resulted in higher numbers of bacterial cell equivalents (bce) than plating could reveal. Since both methods harvest cells that have been subjected to either mechanical and chemical stresses before quantification, we concluded that the higher bce numbers resulted from a disaggregation of S. aureus clusters initially present in the inoculum. Conclusively, since likely each S. aureus cell of a toxigenic strain contributes to enterotoxin production, molecular quantification could provide an even more realistic impact assessment in outbreak investigations than plating does.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Artin, Ingrid, et al.
(author)
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Effects of Carbon Dioxide on Growth of Proteolytic Clostridium botulinum, Its Ability To Produce Neurotoxin, and Its Transcriptome
- 2010
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In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - 0099-2240. ; 76:4, s. 1168-1172
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The antimicrobial gas carbon dioxide is frequently used in modified atmosphere packaging. In the present study, the effects of CO2 (10 to 70%, vol/vol) on gene expression (measured using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and a whole-genome DNA microarray) and neurotoxin formation (measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) by proteolytic Clostridium botulinum type A1 strain ATCC 3502 were studied during the growth cycle. Interestingly, in marked contrast to the situation with nonproteolytic C. botulinum types B and E, CO2 had little effect on any of these parameters. At all CO2 concentrations, relative expression of neurotoxin cluster genes peaked in the transition between exponential and stationary phases, with evidence of a second rise in expression in late stationary phase. Microarray analysis enabled identification of coding sequences whose expression profiles matched those of the neurotoxin cluster. Further research is needed to determine whether these are connected to neurotoxin formation or are merely growth phase associated.
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| 5. |
- Cao, Rong, et al.
(author)
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Elevated Enterotoxin A Expression and Formation in Staphylococcus aureus and its Association with Prophage Induction.
- 2012
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In: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - 0099-2240. ; 78:14, s. 4942-4948
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Staphylococcus aureus strains producing the bacteriophage-encoded staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) were divided into two groups, high- and low-SEA-producing strains, based on the amount of SEA produced. After growth under favorable conditions in batch cultures, ten of the 21 strains tested produced more than 1,000 ng/ml SEA and nine strains produced less than 10 ng/ml SEA; two enterotoxigenic strains, MRSA252 and Newman, produced intermediate levels of SEA (around 450 ng/ml). The differences in the production of SEA were found to be associated with the expression level of sea and whether they hosted the versions sea(1) or sea(2). Furthermore, differences in the nucleotide sequence in the Siphoviridae phage region showed two clonal lineages of the high-SEA-producing strains. One of these lines was correlated with the capacity for a massive increase in SEA levels by prophage induction as demonstrated using mitomycin C (MC). This was also confirmed by the occurrence of additional sea expression presumed to be initiated by a latent phage promoter located upstream of the endogenous sea promoter. Remarkably, the SEA level was increased by up to ten fold in some strains due to prophage induction. The low-SEA-producing group and the high-SEA-producing subgroup lacking phage activated sea transcription showed no increase in SEA formation after the addition of MC. This study demonstrates that sea expression in enterotoxigenic strains is correlated with the clonal lineage of sea-encoded phages. The high-SEA-producing group, and in particular the prophage inducible sea(1) group, may be more relevant in staphylococcal food poisoning than the low-SEA-producing group, mainly harboring sea(2).
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| 6. |
- Cao, Rong, et al.
(author)
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Inhibition kinetics of catabolic dehydrogenases by elevated moieties of ATP and ADP - implication for a new regulation mechanism in Lactococcus lactis
- 2010
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In: The FEBS Journal. - : Wiley. - 1742-464X. ; 277:8, s. 1843-1852
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ATP and ADP inhibit, in varying degrees, several dehydrogenases of the central carbon metabolism of Lactococcus lactis ATCC 19435 in vitro, i.e. glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Here we demonstrate mixed inhibition for GAPDH and competitive inhibition for LDH and ADH by adenine nucleotides in single inhibition studies. The nonlinear negative co-operativity was best modelled with Hill-type kinetics, showing greater flexibility than the usual parabolic inhibition equation. Because these natural inhibitors are present simultaneously in the cytoplasm, multiple inhibition kinetics was determined for each dehydrogenase. For ADH and LDH, the inhibitor combinations ATP plus NAD and ADP plus NAD are indifferent to each other. Model discrimination suggested that the weak allosteric inhibition of GAPDH had no relevance when multiple inhibitors are present. Interestingly, with ADH and GAPDH the combination of ATP and ADP exhibits lower dissociation constants than with either inhibitor alone. Moreover, the concerted inhibition of ADH and GAPDH, but not of LDH, shows synergy between the two nucleotides. Similar kinetics, but without synergies, were found for horse liver and yeast ADHs, indicating that dehydrogenases can be modulated by these nucleotides in a nonlinear manner in many organisms. The action of an elevated pool of ATP and ADP may effectively inactivate lactococcal ADH, but not GAPDH and LDH, providing leverage for the observed metabolic shift to homolactic acid formation in lactococcal resting cells on maltose. Therefore, we interpret these results as a regulation mechanism contributing to readjusting the flux of ATP production in L. lactis.
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| 7. |
- Gronlund, Hugo, et al.
(author)
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Direct Detection Of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms In Bacterial DNA By SNPtrap
- 2011
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In: Preparative Biochemistry & Biotechnology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1532-2297 .- 1082-6068. ; 41:2, s. 166-174
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A major challenge with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) fingerprinting of bacteria and higher organisms is the combination of genome-wide screenings with the potential of multiplexing and accurate SNP detection. Single-nucleotide extension by the minisequencing principle represents a technology that both is highly accurate and enables multiplexing. A current bottleneck for direct genome analyses by minisequencing, however, is the sensitivity, since minisequencing relies on linear signal amplification. Here, we present SNPtrap, which is a novel approach that combines the specificity and possibility of multiplexing by minisequencing with the sensitivity obtained by logarithmic signal amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We show a SNPtrap proof of principle in a model system for two polymorphic SNP sites in the Salmonella tetrathionate reductase gene (ttrC).
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| 8. |
- Grønlund, H., et al.
(author)
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Microarray-based genotyping of Salmonella : Inter-laboratory evaluation of reproducibility and standardization potential
- 2011
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In: International Journal of Food Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1605 .- 1879-3460. ; 145:SUPPL. 1, s. S79-S85
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bacterial food-borne infections in humans caused by Salmonella spp. are considered a crucial food safety issue. Therefore, it is important for the risk assessments of Salmonella to consider the genomic variation among different isolates in order to control pathogen-induced infections. Microarray technology is a promising diagnostic tool that provides genomic information on many genes simultaneously. However, standardization of DNA microarray analysis is needed before it can be used as a routine method for characterizing Salmonella isolates across borders and laboratories. A comparative study was designed in which the agreement of data from a DNA microarray assay used for typing Salmonella spp. between two different labs was assessed. The study was expected to reveal the possibility of obtaining the same results in different labs using different equipment in order to evaluate the reproducibility of the microarray technique as a first step towards standardization. The low-density array contains 281 57-60-mer oligonucleotide probes for detecting a wide range of specific genomic marker genes associated with antibiotic resistance, cell envelope structures, mobile genetic elements and pathogenicity. Several critical methodology parameters that differed between the two labs were identified. These related to printing facilities, choice of hybridization buffer, wash buffers used following the hybridization and choice of procedure for purifying genomic DNA. Critical parameters were randomized in a four-factorial experiment and statistical measures of inter-lab consistency and agreement were performed based on the kappa coefficient. A high level of agreement (kappa = 0.7-1.0) in microarray results was obtained even when employing different printing and hybridization facilities, different procedures for purifying genomic DNA and different wash buffers. However, less agreement (Kappa = 0.2-0.6) between microarray results were observed when using different hybridization buffers, indicating this parameter as being highly critical when transferring a standard microarray assay between laboratories. In conclusion, this study indicates that DNA microarray assays can be reproduced in at least two different facilities, which is a pre-requisite for the development of standard guidelines. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
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| 9. |
- Hedman, Johannes, et al.
(author)
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Pre-PCR processing in bioterrorism preparedness : improved diagnostic capabilities for laboratory response networks
- 2013
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In: Biosecurity and bioterrorism. - : Mary Ann Liebert. - 1538-7135 .- 1557-850X. ; 11:S1, s. S87-S101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Diagnostic DNA analysis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become a valuable tool for rapid detection of biothreat agents. However, analysis is often challenging because of the limited size, quality, and purity of the biological target. Pre-PCR processing is an integrated concept in which the issues of analytical limit of detection and simplicity for automation are addressed in all steps leading up to PCR amplification—that is, sampling, sample treatment, and the chemical composition of PCR. The sampling method should maximize target uptake and minimize uptake of extraneous substances that could impair the analysis—so-called PCR inhibitors. In sample treatment, there is a trade-off between yield and purity, as extensive purification leads to DNA loss. A cornerstone of pre-PCR processing is to apply DNA polymerase-buffer systems that are tolerant to specific sample impurities, thereby lowering the need for expensive purification steps and maximizing DNA recovery. Improved awareness among Laboratory Response Networks (LRNs) regarding pre-PCR processing is important, as ineffective sample processing leads to increased cost and possibly false-negative or ambiguous results, hindering the decision-making process in a bioterrorism crisis. This article covers the nature and mechanisms of PCR-inhibitory substances relevant for agroterrorism and bioterrorism preparedness, methods for quality control of PCR reactions, and applications of pre-PCR processing to optimize and simplify the analysis of various biothreat agents. Knowledge about pre-PCR processing will improve diagnostic capabilities of LRNs involved in the response to bioterrorism incidents.
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| 10. |
- Hedman, Johannes, et al.
(author)
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Synergy between DNA polymerases increases polymerase chain reaction inhibitor tolerance in forensic DNA analysis
- 2010
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In: Analytical Biochemistry. - - : Elsevier Inc.. - 0003-2697 .- 1096-0309. ; 405, s. 192-200
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The success rate of diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis is lowered by inhibitory substancespresent in the samples. Recently, we showed that tolerance to PCR inhibitors in crime scene salivastains can be improved by replacing the standard DNA polymerase AmpliTaq Gold with alternative DNApolymerase–buffer systems (Hedman et al., BioTechniques 47 (2009) 951–958). Here we show thatblending inhibitor-resistant DNA polymerase–buffer systems further increases the success rate of PCRfor various types of real crime scene samples showing inhibition. For 34 of 42 ‘‘inhibited” crime scenestains, the DNA profile quality was significantly improved using a DNA polymerase blend of ExTaq HotStart and PicoMaxx High Fidelity compared with AmpliTaq Gold. The significance of the results was confirmedby analysis of variance. The blend performed as well as, or better than, the alternative DNA polymerasesused separately for all tested sample types. When used separately, the performance of the DNApolymerases varied depending on the nature of the sample. The superiority of the blend is discussed interms of complementary effects and synergy between the DNA polymerase–buffer systems.
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