Specific detection of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli strains by using ELISA with bacteriophages as recognition agents

The use of bacteriophages, instead of antibodies, in the ELISA-based detection of bacterial strains was tested. This procedure appeared to be efficient, and specific strains of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli could be detected. The sensitivity of the assay was about 105 bacterial cells/well (106/ml), which is comparable with or outperforms other ELISA tests detecting intact bacterial cells without an enrichment step. The specificity of the assay depends on the kind of bacteriophage used. We conclude that the use of bacteriophages in the detection and identification of bacteria by an ELISA-based method can be an alternative to the use of specific antibodies. The advantages of the use of bacteriophages are their environmental abundance (and, thus, a possibility to isolate various phages with different specificities) and the availability of methods for obtaining large amounts of phage lysates, which are simple, rapid, cheap, and easy

New minC mutations suggest different interactions of the same region of division inhibitor MinC with proteins specific for minD and dicB coinhibition pathways.

Proper positioning of division sites in Escherichia coli requires balanced expression of minC, minD, and minE gene products. Previous genetic analysis has shown that either MinD or an apparently unrelated protein, DicB, cooperates with MinC to inhibit division. We have isolated and sequenced minC mutations that suppress division inhibition caused by overproduction of either DicB or MinD proteins. Most missense mutations were located in the amino acid 160 to 200 region of MinC (231 amino acids). Some mutations exhibited preferential resistance to one or the other coinhibitor, suggesting that two distinct proteins, possibly MinD and DicB themselves, interact in slightly different manners with the same region of MinC to promote division inhibition

Traitement combiné par lumière intense pulsée et thérapie par lumière de faible niveau dans le dysfonctionnement des glandes de Meibomius

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Immunomodulatory or/and immunosuppressive drugs should not avoid skin test for the assessment of drug allergy

International audienceThe use of immunomodulatory and/or immunosuppressive therapy (IT) is increasingly common in the management of chronic inflammatory disease. Skin reactions to any drug (IT or not) are not rare in these patients, justifying allergological investigations. The influence of IT on allergological tests for drugs is not clearly described. IT cannot be interrupted due to the underlying disease. The data assessing the benefit and the safety of allergological test for drug allergy in patients under IT are missing

Recycled products are not always skin-friendly: Occupational dermatitis due to recycled plastic

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