Master spectrum dendrogram cluster analysis (correlation distance measure and single linkage) for the <i>Trichinella</i> strains generated by MALDI-TOF MS.

<p>Master spectrum dendrogram cluster analysis (correlation distance measure and single linkage) for the <i>Trichinella</i> strains generated by MALDI-TOF MS.</p

Composite correlation index analysis.

<p>Changes in color from red to blue correspond to decreasing degrees of correlation.</p

Heat map of all 33 tested <i>Trichinella</i> and 3 non-<i>Trichinella</i> strains based on log score values.

<p>Heat map of all 33 tested <i>Trichinella</i> and 3 non-<i>Trichinella</i> strains based on log score values.</p

MALDI-TOF MS master spectra.

<p><i>T</i>. <i>spiralis</i> (a), <i>T</i>. <i>britovi</i> (b), <i>T</i>. <i>pseudospiralis</i> (c) and <i>T</i>. <i>nativa</i> (d), <i>Trichuris</i> sp. (e), <i>Hyostrongylus rubidus</i> (f) and <i>Metastrongylus</i> sp. (g) on a zoomed range of 2,000–10,000 m/z (mass to charge ratio). Highlighted peaks are mere examples of visual difference observed between the isolates, e.g. through presence/absence of a peak or variations in terms of peak intensities.</p

Human Neutrophils Efficiently Kill Vegetative <i>B. anthracis</i> Independently of Oxygen Radicals

<div><p>(A) Opsonization is not required for neutrophil anti-<i>B. anthracis</i> activity. PMA-activated neutrophils were infected with capsule (gray bar)- and toxin (black bar)-producing strains at an MOI of 1:1 in the presence or absence of serum for 30 min.</p><p>(B) Neutrophils kill both capsule (gray bar)- and toxin (black bar)-producing <i>B. anthracis</i> independently of NADPH oxidase activity. Activated neutrophils were incubated with DPI (10 μM) before infection. Bacterial counts were determined 30 min post-infection (MOI 1:1).</p><p>(C) hNGE kills <i>B. anthracis</i> at low concentrations. Wild-type, toxin-, and capsule-producing strains were incubated with 5%, 7%, and 10% hNGE. After 30 min, remaining CFUs were determined and referred to the number of bacteria in controls of bacteria incubated in buffer. Error bars show SD of three experiments.</p></div

Neutrophils Kill <i>B. anthracis</i> through α-Defensins

<div><p>(A) Purification of the anti-<i>B.anthracis</i> activity in hNGE; hNGE was resolved in a C4 RP- HPLC column (A) and the fractions were tested for their killing activity of <i>B. anthracis</i> (bars). The main chromatographic peak coincides with the <i>B. anthracis</i> killing activity (arrow).</p><p><b>(</b>B) The active component was identified by MALDI MS PMF as human neutrophil α-defensins. Combined MASCOT search of PMF and MS/MS data (five MS/MS spectra) resulted in a Score value of 313. Peak heights of molecules not belonging to the identified protein were below 3%. Purity of sample was confirmed by the analysis of the uncleaved peptide (inset). As the protein was analyzed in non-reducing conditions it is present in its oxidized form reducing the Mr from 3,446 to 3,440.</p><p>(C) The purified fraction and synthetic α-defensin have comparable specific activity. Vegetative toxin-producing bacteria were incubated for varying time points with 8 μg/ml synthetic (□) or purified (○) peptide and referred to the number of bacteria in buffer only. Error bars indicate SD of three experiments.</p></div

Human Neutrophils Kill <i>B. anthracis</i> Spores Independently of Reactive Oxygen Species

<div><p><b>(</b>A) Human neutrophils kill <i>B. anthracis</i> spores. Activated neutrophils were infected with spores generated either from the wild-type or toxin- or capsule-producing strains at an MOI (spore: neutrophil) of 5:1 (wild-type) or 1:1 (toxin- and capsule-producers). Colony forming units (CFUs) were counted at indicated time points.</p><p>(B) TEM of activated neutrophils infected with wild-type spores (arrow) after 30 min incubation. Bar indicates 2 μm.</p><p>(C) ROS are not required for killing of <i>B. anthracis</i> spores. Activated neutrophils were infected with spores (capsule producer) in presence (□) or absence (⋄) of NADPH oxidase inhibitor.</p><p>(D) hNGE does not kill <i>B. anthracis</i> spores. Spores from the toxin-producing strain were incubated in 50% hNGE or in buffer for the indicated time points. The CFU was determined by serial dilution. Survival of 100% refers to the number of bacteria present in the buffer control. Error bars indicate the SD from three experiments.</p></div

Occurrence of pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> spp. infection in small mammal species at the three climate zones in Sri Lanka.

Blue triangles indicate occurrence of L. borgpetersenii, yellow squares occurrence of L. interrogans and the red star the occurrence of L. kirschneri. The size of triangles and squares is proportional to the number of infected animals within storage facility. The large red circle indicates a cluster of increased risk of L. borgpetersenii infection. Land use and land cover base layer obtained from https://land.copernicus.eu/global/products/lc.</p

Individuals per species per climate zone.

In the dry zone, trapping effort was only half that of the trapping effort in the intermediate and wet zone.</p

Evolutionary analysis of concatenated MLST allele sequences The tree was inferred in MEGA X using the Maximum Likelihood method and Tamura 3-parameter model.

Bootstrap values above 70% are shown next to the branches. MLST sequences from Leptospira interrogans (L.i.), Leptospira borgpetersenii (L.b.) and Leptospira kirschneri (L.k.) obtained from specimen collected in this study are shown (○). For comparison, MLST sequences from human clinical isolates originating from Sri Lanka were included in the analysis (●). The tree was rooted using concatenated MLST sequences of Leptospira santarosai (L.s.) strain Alice.</p