Effects of an inactivated vaccine for bovine mycoplasmosis on calves naturally affected with Mycoplasma bovis

Three autogenous vaccine trials were carried out on farms where Mycoplasma bovis had been identified as a major pathogen. The first trial was carried on a veal farm in the Lombardia region of northern Italy. Vaccine, prepared by saponising an M bovis strain taken from the farm some months before, was given as single inoculation to 24 calves on arrival while 19 were left unvaccinated. Six months later calves were sent to the abattoir where lungs were examined for gross pathological lesions. The mean weight of the vaccinated group was higher though not significantly so and mean lesion scores were similar; however the percentage of vaccinated calves with severe lung lesions and pleuritis was lower than in the non vaccinates. A second trial was carried out in northern England on a farm where monthly batches of male calves from a nearby dairy herd were reared under a feedlot system. One group of 27 calves were vaccinated with a saponised strain of M bovis isolated from the lungs of a pneumonic calf on the farm prior to the start of the trial. A second batch of 25 calves was left unvaccinated. The groups of calves were monitored for nine months prior to slaughter and records kept of antibiotic usage and mortality. The mortality rates in the vaccinated calves were about 15% compared to 28% in unvaccinated calves; however there was no difference in the number of times calves were treated for respiratory disease. A third batch of calves, treated with oxytetracycline on arrival because a number were already showing respiratory signs, had a lower mortality rate and fewer subsequent treatments. A third trial was carried out on a milk veal unit in the Veneto region of Italy. A group of 19 calves were vaccinated on arrival with a saponised isolate taken earlier from the farm; a similar number of calves of the same batch were left unvaccinated. After 6 months animals were routinely processed at the abattoir and lungs inspected. Results showed that vaccinated calves had higher mean body weights and although similar mean lung scores there was a smaller percentage of vaccinated calves with severe lung lesions and pleuritis

Blue biotechnology: oil bioremediation using hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria immobilized on biodegradable membranes

A novel bioremediation system to clean up oil contaminated water was developed combining hydrocarbon (HC) degrading bacteria immobilized and polylactic acid (PLA) or polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes prepared by electrospinning. The bioremediation efficiency was tested on crude oil using highly performant HC degrading bacterial strains isolated from marine and soil environments. The membrane morphology, the microbial adhesion and proliferation were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM analysis highlighted that the fibers of the electrospun mats were in nanoscale with a similar diameter size distribution. The electrospun membranes exhibited high oil absorption capacity (q): approximately q = 40 g/g for PLA and q = 20 g/g for PCL. The bacterial strains were able to attach to the PLA and PCL membranes after 48h, reaching high proliferation and biofilm formation within the whole structure in 5 days. The biodegradation efficiency of the bacteria-membrane systems was tested by GC-FID analysis and compared with planktonic cells after 5 and 10 days incubation. The bacterial immobilization is a promoting factor for biodegradation and a new tool to be developed for bioremediation of aquatic systems

A natural histone H2A variant lacking the Bub1 phosphorylation site and regulated depletion of centromeric histone CENP-A foster evolvability in Candida albicans.

Eukaryotes have evolved elaborate mechanisms to ensure that chromosomes segregate with high fidelity during mitosis and meiosis, and yet specific aneuploidies can be adaptive during environmental stress. Here, we identify a chromatin-based system required for inducible aneuploidy in a human pathogen. Candida albicans utilizes chromosome missegregation to acquire tolerance to antifungal drugs and for nonmeiotic ploidy reduction after mating. We discovered that the ancestor of C. albicans and 2 related pathogens evolved a variant of histone 2A (H2A) that lacks the conserved phosphorylation site for kinetochore-associated Bub1 kinase, a key regulator of chromosome segregation. Using engineered strains, we show that the relative gene dosage of this variant versus canonical H2A controls the fidelity of chromosome segregation and the rate of acquisition of tolerance to antifungal drugs via aneuploidy. Furthermore, whole-genome chromatin precipitation analysis reveals that Centromere Protein A/ Centromeric Histone H3-like Protein (CENP-A/Cse4), a centromeric histone H3 variant that forms the platform of the eukaryotic kinetochore, is depleted from tetraploid-mating products relative to diploid parents and is virtually eliminated from cells exposed to aneuploidy-promoting cues. We conclude that genetically programmed and environmentally induced changes in chromatin can confer the capacity for enhanced evolvability via chromosome missegregation

Blue biotechnology: enhancement of bioremediation using bacterial biofilms on biodegradable scaffolds

Petroleum hydrocarbons are still the most threatening environmental pollutants. A promising non invasive and low-cost technology for the treatment of contaminated sites is based on bioremediation by biodegrading microorganism endowed with catabolic ability towards oil and derivatives. New methods are needed to enhance and optimize natural biodegradation, such as the immobilization of hydrocarbons degraders in many types of supports. We developed a scaffold-bacteria bioremediation system to clean up oil contamination based on degradable 3D scaffolds. The polycaprolactone component is biodegradable, produced in the melt, i.e. at low cost and without the use of toxic solvents. The biofilm is made of highly performing HC-degrading bacteria such as the marine hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCB) (1) or solid n-alkane degrading Actinobacteria (2, 3). The bacterial biofilm is observed within the whole structure of scaffold using scanning electron microscopy. The bioremediation efficiency of such systems was tested on crude oil by GC-FID analysis and compared whit planktonic cells. The biofilms formation was a promoting factor for biodegradation showing hydrocarbon removal up to 70% and 15% more in respect to the planktonic cells. Increasing availability of the contaminants and a better interaction between the hydrophobic substrate and the bacterial cells resulted in developing the degradation rate. Biofilm-mediated bioremediation is a new tool to be developed for bioremediation of acquatic system

Phospholipase A 2 Modulates Different Subtypes of Excitatory Amino Acid Receptors: Autoradiographic Evidence

Exogenous phospholipases have been used extensively as tools to study the role of membrane lipids in receptor mechanisms. We used in vitro quantitative autoradiography to evaluate the effect of phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ) on N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA glutamate receptors in rat brain. PLA 2 pretreatment induced a significant increase in Α-[ 3 H]amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate ([ 3 H]AMPA) binding in the stratum radiatum of the CA1 region of the hippocampus and in the stratum moleculare of the cerebellum. No modification of [ 3 H]AMPA binding was found in the stratum pyramidale of the hippocampus at different ligand concentrations. [ 3 H]-Glutamate binding to the metabotropic glutamate receptor and the non-NMDA-, non-kainate-, non-quisqualate-sensitive [ 3 H]glutamate binding site were also increased by PLA 2 pretreatment. [ 3 H]Kainate binding and NMDA-sensitive [ 3 H]glutamate binding were minimally affected by the enzyme pretreatment. The PLA 2 effect was reversed by EGTA, the PLA 2 inhibitor p -bromophenacyl bromide, and prolonged pretreatment with heat. Bovine serum albumin (1%) prevented the increase in metabotropic binding by PLA 2 . Arachidonic acid failed to mimic the PLA 2 effect on metabotropic binding. These results indicate that PLA 2 can selectively modulate certain subtypes of excitatory amino acid receptors. This effect is due to the enzymatic activity but is probably not correlated with the formation of arachidonic acid metabolites. Independent of their possible physiological implications, our results provide the first autoradiographic evidence that an enzymatic treatment can selectively affect the binding properties of excitatory amino acid receptors in different regions of the CNS.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66358/1/j.1471-4159.1993.tb05843.x.pd

Longstanding Endobronchial Foreign Body

There are many circumstances in which the diagnosis of endobronchial inhalation of a foreign body (FB) can be missed. Generally, in such cases, within weeks or at most months from the event, clinical bronchopulmonary symptoms develop which allow a correct diagnosis to be made and significant complications to be avoided. We report the case of a patient in whom an endobronchial FB remained undiagnosed, because of lack of symptoms, for almost three years, and then caused signifiicant complications before being identified and removed. Problems related to diagnosis and therapy are discussed

Toll-like receptor kinetics in septic shock patients: a preliminary study.

The aim of this study is to evaluate some inflammatory parameter changes in septic shock patients and their possible correlation with clinical outcome, in particular when continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) treatment is required. Considering the objective difficulty in enrolling this kind of patient, a preliminary study was initiated on seventeen septic shock patients admitted to a medical and surgical ICU. The mRNA expression of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-1, TLR-2, TLR-4, TLR-5, TLR-9, TNFalpha, IL-8 and IL-1beta was assessed, the plasmatic concentrations of IL-18, IL-2, IL-10 and TNFalpha were measured on the day of sepsis diagnosis and after 72 h. In those patients who developed acute renal failure unresponsive to medical treatment and who underwent CVVH treatment the same parameters were measured every 24 h during CVVH and after completion of the treatment. On sepsis diagnosis, gene expression of TLRs was up-regulated compared to the housekeeping gene in all the patients. After 72 h, in 35% of the patients a down-regulation of these genes was found compared to day 1, but it was not associated with a reduction of cytokine serum levels or improved clinical signs, better outcome or reduced mortality. After high volume hemofiltration treatment, cytokine serum levels and TLR expression were not significantly modified. In conclusion, considering the not numerous number of cases, from our preliminary study, we cannot certainly correlate TLR over-expression in septic shock patients with severity or outcome scores