Antibody expressing pea seeds as fodder for prevention of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in chickens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Coccidiosis caused by protozoans of genus <it>Eimeria </it>is a chicken parasitic disease of great economical importance. Conventional disease control strategies depend on vaccination and prophylactic use of anticoccidial drugs. Alternative solution to prevent and treat coccidiosis could be provided by passive immunization using orally delivered neutralizing antibodies. We investigated the possibility to mitigate the parasitic infection by feeding poultry with antibody expressing transgenic crop seeds.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using the phage display antibody library, we generated a panel of anti-<it>Eimeria </it>scFv antibody fragments with high sporozoite-neutralizing activity. These antibodies were expressed either transiently in agrobacteria-infiltrated tobacco leaves or stably in seeds of transgenic pea plants. Comparison of the scFv antibodies purified either from tobacco leaves or from the pea seeds demonstrated no difference in their antigen-binding activity and molecular form compositions. Force-feeding experiments demonstrated that oral delivery of flour prepared from the transgenic pea seeds had higher parasite neutralizing activity <it>in vivo </it>than the purified antibody fragments isolated from tobacco. The pea seed content was found to protect antibodies against degradation by gastrointestinal proteases (>100-fold gain in stability). <it>Ad libitum </it>feeding of chickens demonstrated that the transgenic seeds were well consumed and not shunned. Furthermore, feeding poultry with shred prepared from the antibody expressing pea seeds led to significant mitigation of infection caused both by high and low challenge doses of <it>Eimeria </it>oocysts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest that our strategy offers a general approach to control parasitic infections in production animals using cost-effective antibody expression in crop seeds affordable for the animal health market.</p

The Interactions of Cyanobacterial Cytochromec6 and Cytochrome f, Characterized by NMR

During oxygenic photosynthesis, cytochromec6 shuttles electrons between the membrane-bound complexes cytochrome bf and photosystem I. Complex formation between Phormidium laminosum cytochromef and cytochrome c6 from bothAnabaena sp. PCC 7119 and Synechococcus elongatus has been investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Chemical-shift perturbation analysis reveals a binding site on Anabaena cytochrome c6, which consists of a predominantly hydrophobic patch surrounding the heme substituent, methyl 5. This region of the protein was implicated previously in the formation of the reactive complex with photosytem I. In contrast to the results obtained for Anabaena cytochromec6, there is no evidence for specific complex formation with the acidic cytochrome c6 fromSynechococcus. This remarkable variability between analogous cytochromes c6 supports the idea that different organisms utilize distinct mechanisms of photosynthetic intermolecular electron transfer.European Commission HPRN-CT-1999-00095Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology BMC2000-0444Andalusian Government CVI-019

Taming the beast : fluoromesityl groups induce a dramatic stability enhancement in boroles

The electron-deficient pentaarylborole 1-(2′,4′,6′-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylborole (1) has been synthesised with the long-term aim of developing borole-based optoelectronic materials. The bulky 2,4,6-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl (FMes) group on the boron atom of 1 significantly improves (>600 times) its air stability relative to its mesityl analogue. Moreover, 1 shows good thermal stability without undergoing the dimerisation or isomerisation reactions reported for some other boroles. A triarylborole analogue (2), belonging to a new class of borole with the 3- and 4-positions of the BC4 ring linked by a -(CH2)3- group, has also been synthesised to elucidate the influence of carbon-bonded substituents on the stability of boroles. Both boroles were prepared through the reaction of Li[FMesBF3] and divinyldilithium reagents, a new and general method for borole syntheses. Compound 2 was found to isomerise through a [1,3]-H shift and double-bond rearrangement to an s-trans-butadienylborane species under highly basic (NaOH) conditions. The increased steric crowding at the boron centre through incorporation of the FMes group does not preclude binding of Lewis bases to either 1 or 2, as demonstrated by their fully reversible binding of pyridine. Interestingly, 1 exhibits a blue-shifted absorption spectrum, as compared with its mesityl analogue, a result contrary to previous understanding of the influence of substituent electronics on the absorption spectra of boroles. Most importantly, these boroles exhibit much greater air-stability than previously reported analogues without sacrificing the strong electron-accepting ability that makes boroles so attractive; indeed, 1 and 2 have very low reduction potentials of -1.52 and -1.69 eV vs. Fc/Fc+, respectively

ARTEFACTS: How do we want to deal with the future of our one and only planet?

The European Commission’s Science and Knowledge Service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), decided to try working hand-in-hand with leading European science centres and museums. Behind this decision was the idea that the JRC could better support EU Institutions in engaging with the European public. The fact that European Union policies are firmly based on scientific evidence is a strong message which the JRC is uniquely able to illustrate. Such a collaboration would not only provide a platform to explain the benefits of EU policies to our daily lives but also provide an opportunity for European citizens to engage by taking a more active part in the EU policy making process for the future. A PILOT PROGRAMME To test the idea, the JRC launched an experimental programme to work with science museums: a perfect partner for three compelling reasons. Firstly, they attract a large and growing number of visitors. Leading science museums in Europe have typically 500 000 visitors per year. Furthermore, they are based in large European cities and attract local visitors as well as tourists from across Europe and beyond. The second reason for working with museums is that they have mastered the art of how to communicate key elements of sophisticated arguments across to the public and making complex topics of public interest readily accessible. That is a high-value added skill and a crucial part of the valorisation of public-funded research, never to be underestimated. Finally museums are, at present, undergoing something of a renaissance. Museums today are vibrant environments offering new techniques and technologies to both inform and entertain, and attract visitors of all demographics.JRC.H.2-Knowledge Management Methodologies, Communities and Disseminatio

{N,N-Bis[bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)phosphanyl]methylamine-&#954;2P,P&#8242;}bis(&#951;5-cyclopentadienyl)titanium(II)

The title compound, [Ti(C5H5)2(C9H11F12NO4P2)], is a four-membered titanacycle obtained from the reaction of Cp2Ti(&#951;2-Me3SiC2SiMe3) and CH3N[P(OCH2CF3)2]2 {N,N-bis[bis(trifluoroethoxy)phosphanyl]methylamine, tfepma}. The TiII atom is coordinated by two cyclopentadienyl (Cp) ligands and the chelating tfepma ligand in a strongly distorted tetrahedral geometry. The molecule is located on a mirror plane

C–H Activation of Fluoroarenes: Synthesis, Structure, and Luminescence Properties of Copper(I) and Gold(I) Complexes Bearing 2-Phenylpyridine Ligands

Although 2-phenylpyridine (ppy)-type complexes have been employed very successfully for the design of luminescent IrIII and PtII complexes, corresponding d10-coinage metal complexes are unknown. We report on the synthesis of the first, room-temperature-stable, CuI ppy-type complexes, by C–H activation of 2-(2,3,4,5-tetrafluorophenyl)pyridine (Htfppy, 1) using [Cu(OH)(IDipp)] (2) (IDipp = bis(2,6-di-isopropylphenyl)imidazole-2-ylidene) or by lithiation of 1 and subsequent reaction with CuBr·SMe2 in the presence of a POP ligand (POP = bis{2-(diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl} ether) in THF, giving [Cu(tfppy)(IDipp)] (3) or [Cu(tfppy)(POP)] (4). The complexes thus obtained adopt distorted trigonal and tetrahedral coordination geometries, respectively. Gold(I) tfppy complexes with IDipp (5) or PTol3 (6) ligands have also been prepared, showing a preference for linear coordination environments due to the noncoordinating pyridine moiety of the tfppy ligand. These structural differences have a profound effect on the photophysical properties of the coinage metal ppy compounds. The CuI tfppy complexes exhibit intense orange-red luminescence (λmax = 610 (3), 607 (4) nm) from a 3(intraligand)CT state in the solid state at room temperature, with phosphorescence lifetimes of τ = 8.6 (3) and 9.5 (4) μs. In contrast, the linear coordination leads to weak emission of the AuI complexes, with 5 displaying simultaneous fluorescence and phosphorescence. Surprisingly, reaction of 2 with Htfppy (1) in MeCN leads to solvent activation and to isolation of a copper acetamide complex, [Cu(N(H)C(O)Me)(IDipp)] (14)