Use of bacteriophage Felix01, HL18 and HL03 to reduce Salmonella enterica Typhimurium burden in mice

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium are of increasing concern in the food industry and on the farm. While these strains are becoming increasingly resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents, they remain sensitive to killing by their natural predators, bacteriophage. Bacteriophage are able kill MDR strains of Salmonella in vitro. We have recently tested the ability of a well-known salmonella bacteriophage, Felix 01 and two recently isolated phage (HL03 and HL18) to reduce the Salmonella Typhimurium burden in orally challenged, susceptible mice. When each of the phage was given at the same time as the oral Salmonella challenge, they significantly reduced the Salmonella burden in the treated mice. This lowering of Salmonella load occurred when the phage were given at a 1:10, 1:50 and 1:100 MOI when compared to the bacterial challenge dose. Interestingly, of the three phage tested (Felix, HL03 and HL18), only the last phage, HL18 was effective when given an hour before or an hour after Salmonella challenge. Felix01 and HL03 were both ineffective when given an hour before or an hour after challenge, but consistently lowered the bacterial burden in these mice when given at the same time as the challenge dose. These data indicate that bacteriophage-based therapy may be an alternative to antibiotic-based treatments to lower the Salmonella levels in swine and potentially limit the spread of Salmonella during transport and lairage of swine prior to slaughter

Implementing Pedagogical Change in Introductory Biology Courses Through the Use of Faculty Learning Communities

Recent national reports have indicated a need for significant changes in science higher education, with the inclusion of more studentcentered learning. However, substantial barriers to change exist. These include a lack of faculty awareness and understanding of appropriate pedagogical approaches, large class sizes, the time commitment needed to make these changes, and lack of resources and support. At Iowa State University, the implementation of student-centered learning in introductory biology classes is being facilitated by the use of faculty learning communities (FLCs). Progress toward this goal was assessed via surveys of faculty, including both FLC participants and nonparticipants, to determine their teaching practices and attitudes toward biology education. Two years after the formation of the FLCs, a majority of FLC participants indicated that they had experimented with teaching methods and had worked to clarify learning goals for their classes. To continue these changes and promote a true cultural shift within the program, our next steps are to independently assess faculty progress toward studentcentered learning and changes in student learning gains, as well as to develop a more transparent incentive and reward system for faculty teaching

Mitochondrial and nuclear genes suggest that stony corals are monophyletic but most families of stony corals are not (Order Scleractinia, Class Anthozoa, Phylum Cnidaria)

Modern hard corals (Class Hexacorallia; Order Scleractinia) are widely studied because of their fundamental role in reef building and their superb fossil record extending back to the Triassic. Nevertheless, interpretations of their evolutionary relationships have been in flux for over a decade. Recent analyses undermine the legitimacy of traditional suborders, families and genera, and suggest that a non-skeletal sister clade (Order Corallimorpharia) might be imbedded within the stony corals. However, these studies either sampled a relatively limited array of taxa or assembled trees from heterogeneous data sets. Here we provide a more comprehensive analysis of Scleractinia (127 species, 75 genera, 17 families) and various outgroups, based on two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome b), with analyses of nuclear genes (ßtubulin, ribosomal DNA) of a subset of taxa to test unexpected relationships. Eleven of 16 families were found to be polyphyletic. Strikingly, over one third of all families as conventionally defined contain representatives from the highly divergent "robust" and "complex" clades. However, the recent suggestion that corallimorpharians are true corals that have lost their skeletons was not upheld. Relationships were supported not only by mitochondrial and nuclear genes, but also often by morphological characters which had been ignored or never noted previously. The concordance of molecular characters and more carefully examined morphological characters suggests a future of greater taxonomic stability, as well as the potential to trace the evolutionary history of this ecologically important group using fossils

Review of: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus

<p><strong>Review of</strong>: <em>Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus</em>; Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy; (2012). Viking Press, New York, NY. 240 pages.</p

Review of: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus

Review of: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus; Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy; (2012). Viking Press, New York, NY. 240 pages. The fear of rabies lurks deep in the world’s collective consciousness. In their book, Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus, Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy describe the cultural impact of this rare but viscerally terrifying viral infection. This book spans both millennia and the globe with descriptions of Greek myths with rabid overtones and the rabies outbreak in New York’s Central Park in 2009. Throughout the book, the authors emphasize both notable rabies cases throughout history and the impact of the disease on shaping our language, religion, literature, cinema, and the science of microbiology.This is a book review from Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education 14 (2013): 139, doi:10.1128/jmbe.v14i1.584. Posted with permission.</p

Cloning, expression and bioactivity of porcine soluble TNF receptor 1 and the comparison of PK(15) and WEHI 164(13)-based TNF bioassays

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that activates both leukocytes and endothelium and facilitates the movement of inflammatory cells from circulation to sites of infection or injury. This activation may be beneficial and aid in host defense, or may be detrimental and mediate part of the pathophysiology of disease. Several porcine diseases, such as salmonellosis and mycoplasmal pneumonia, cause an increase in TNF production, which may be either beneficial or harmful to swine health. Two related studies were completed to develop assays and reagents to further study the role of TNF in porcine disease;In the first study, we compared the sensitivity of PK(15) and WEHI 164(13) cells to human, murine and porcine TNF-mediated lysis. Our data indicated that the PK(15) cells are 50 times less sensitive to murine TNF and 15-fold less sensitive to human TNF than are WEHI 164(13) cells. The PK(15) cells are, however, 4 times more sensitive to recombinant porcine TNF and 15 times more sensitive to porcine serum containing TNF. Because the PK(15)-based bioassay was more sensitive for detecting porcine TNF in serum, this bioassay may be particularly useful in the study of infectious disease processes of swine;In mice and humans, sepsis and endotoxemia are also accompanied by a rise in circulating soluble receptors for TNF. Since there is little known about these receptors during porcine sepsis, the objectives of the second study were to clone, express and determine the bioactivity of porcine soluble TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1). Using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based library enrichment technique, a 927 base pair fragment of porcine TNFR1 was isolated from a lung cDNA library. The mature extracellular domain consisting of 464 amino acids of porcine TNFR1 was expressed as a FLAG fusion protein in Escherichia coli. An anti-FLAG affinity column was used to purify the fusion protein. The purified protein at a concentration of 5 [mu]g/ml neutralized 70% of TNF-mediated cytotoxicity in a bioassay. Recombinant porcine soluble TNFR1 protein and the PK(15) based bioassay may be useful in studying the roles of both TNF and TNFR1 in the pathogenesis of infectious disease of swine.</p

Use of bacteriophage Felix01, HL18 and HL03 to reduce Salmonella enterica Typhimurium burden in mice

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium are of increasing concern in the food industry and on the farm. While these strains are becoming increasingly resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents, they remain sensitive to killing by their natural predators, bacteriophage. Bacteriophage are able kill MDR strains of Salmonella in vitro. We have recently tested the ability of a well-known salmonella bacteriophage, Felix 01 and two recently isolated phage (HL03 and HL18) to reduce the Salmonella Typhimurium burden in orally challenged, susceptible mice. When each of the phage was given at the same time as the oral Salmonella challenge, they significantly reduced the Salmonella burden in the treated mice. This lowering of Salmonella load occurred when the phage were given at a 1:10, 1:50 and 1:100 MOI when compared to the bacterial challenge dose. Interestingly, of the three phage tested (Felix, HL03 and HL18), only the last phage, HL18 was effective when given an hour before or an hour after Salmonella challenge. Felix01 and HL03 were both ineffective when given an hour before or an hour after challenge, but consistently lowered the bacterial burden in these mice when given at the same time as the challenge dose. These data indicate that bacteriophage-based therapy may be an alternative to antibiotic-based treatments to lower the Salmonella levels in swine and potentially limit the spread of Salmonella during transport and lairage of swine prior to slaughter.</p