Rapid Identification of Scrapie-Infected Animals

Author Institution: Food Animal Health Research Program, The Ohio State Universit

Comparative Pathogenomics of Epidemiologically and Genetically Diverse Strains of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis

Author Institution: Food Animal Health Research Program, The Ohio State Universit

Oxidative Coupling of Phenols

Nature makes extensive use of oxidative reactions to generate bonds between carbons, particularly in the coupling of phenols, which is a striking feature in many biosynthetic pathways. The coupled phenols may exhibit the phenomenon called axial “chirality” or handedness. The Kozlowski group uses the atom economical oxidant O2 and metal-based catalysts which, developed in-house, mimic the active sites of the enzymes to bring about these transformations. Vanadium catalysts have been extensively applied to the coupling of phenols and carbazoles with great efficiency and results. Here, this method is applied to the synthesis of bismurrayaquinone-A, an antitumor compound that occurs naturally in the roots of the curryleaf tree, Murraya koenigii. In this report, the routes for synthesis of the coupled phenol and carbazoles are highlighted. In the scaleup synthesis, 515 mg of the coupled carbazole was synthesized with an overall of 68% yield and 91% ee. A key oxidative coupling intermediate in the synthesis of bismurrayaquinone-A was afforded in 51% ee

The Political Economy of Global Private Currencies

This dissertation examines regulatory responses to global private currencies (GPCs). Through detailed analyses of the history and evolution of private digital currencies, and through case studies of the United States, the European Union, and China, this dissertation identifies five factors that condition regulatory responses: (1) compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, (2) compliance with systems built for fiat currencies, (3) degree of transparency in operations, (4) culture of sovereignty within the nation, and (5) great power competition with other nations. Throughout the dissertation, various political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) characteristics of GPCs are highlighted. This dissertation also proposes a ‘game transformation framework’ (GTF) by combining these PESTLE factors with concepts from game theory. A 2x2 game structure is used to analyze strategic interactions between governments in the three case studies and GPCs on a spectrum between cooperation and conflict

Moraxella osloensis Gene Expression in the Slug Host Deroceras reticulatum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The bacterium <it>Moraxella osloensis </it>is a mutualistic symbiont of the slug-parasitic nematode <it>Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita</it>. In nature, <it>P. hermaphrodita </it>vectors <it>M. osloensis </it>into the shell cavity of the slug host <it>Deroceras reticulatum </it>in which the bacteria multiply and kill the slug. As <it>M. osloensis </it>is the main killing agent, genes expressed by <it>M. osloensis </it>in the slug are likely to play important roles in virulence. Studies on pathogenic interactions between bacteria and lower order hosts are few, but such studies have the potential to shed light on the evolution of bacterial virulence. Therefore, we investigated such an interaction by determining gene expression of <it>M. osloensis </it>in its slug host <it>D. reticulatum </it>by selectively capturing transcribed sequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirteen <it>M. osloensis </it>genes were identified to be up-regulated post infection in <it>D. reticulatum</it>. Compared to the <it>in vitro </it>expressed genes in the stationary phase, we found that genes of ubiquinone synthetase (<it>ubiS</it>) and acyl-coA synthetase (<it>acs</it>) were up-regulated in both <it>D. reticulatum </it>and stationary phase <it>in vitro </it>cultures, but the remaining 11 genes were exclusively expressed in <it>D. reticulatum </it>and are hence infection specific. Mutational analysis on genes of protein-disulfide isomerase (<it>dsbC</it>) and <it>ubiS </it>showed that the virulence of both mutants to slugs was markedly reduced and could be complemented. Further, compared to the growth rate of wild-type <it>M. osloensis</it>, the <it>dsbC </it>and <it>ubiS </it>mutants showed normal and reduced growth rate <it>in vitro</it>, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that 11 out of the 13 up-regulated <it>M. osloensis </it>genes are infection specific. Distribution of these identified genes in various bacterial pathogens indicates that the virulence genes are conserved among different pathogen-host interactions. Mutagenesis, growth rate and virulence bioassays further confirmed that <it>ubiS </it>and <it>dsbC </it>genes play important roles in <it>M. osloensis </it>survival and virulence, respectively in <it>D. reticulatum</it>.</p

Effect of age and anatomic site on likelihood of detecting S. aureus in pigs

Intensive sampling of two swine farms in Minnesota was conducted to obtain basic information about the ecology and epidemiology of S. aureus in modern multiple site swine production. The farms were selected by convenience, and two cohorts of animals were sampled in each system

Cold Cas: reevaluating the occurrence of CRISPR/Cas systems in Mycobacteriaceae

Bacterial CRISPR/Cas systems target foreign genetic elements such as phages and regulate gene expression by some pathogens, even in the host. The system is a marker for evolutionary history and has been used for inferences in Mycobacterium tuberculosis for 30 years. However, knowledge about mycobacterial CRISPR/Cas systems remains limited. It is believed that Type III-A Cas systems are exclusive to Mycobacterium canettii and the M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) of organisms and that very few of the &gt;200 diverse species of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) possess any CRISPR/Cas system. This study sought unreported CRISPR/Cas loci across NTM to better understand mycobacterial evolution, particularly in species phylogenetically near the MTBC. An analysis of available mycobacterial genomes revealed that Cas systems are widespread across Mycobacteriaceae and that some species contain multiple types. The phylogeny of Cas loci shows scattered presence in many NTM, with variation even within species, suggesting gains/losses of these loci occur frequently. Cas Type III-A systems were identified in pathogenic Mycobacterium heckeshornense and the geological environmental isolate Mycobacterium SM1. In summary, mycobacterial CRISPR/Cas systems are numerous, Type III-A systems are unreliable as markers for MTBC evolution, and mycobacterial horizontal gene transfer appears to be a frequent source of genetic variation

Longitudinal study of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA colonization of US swine veterinarians

Patterns of detection of S. aureus are being evaluated in a longitudinal study of a cohort of 67 swine veterinarians in the USA. This report presents interim data from the initial period of the study. Overall, approximately 70% of sampling events yielded S. aureus in nasal swabs from veterinarians, and 8% yielded MRSA isolates

Cytokine responses of bovine macrophages to diverse clinical Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis strains

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), the causative agent of Johne's disease (JD) persistently infects and survives within the host macrophages. While it is established that substantial genotypic variation exists among MAP, evidence for the correlates that associate specific MAP genotypes with clinical or sub-clinical disease phenotypes is presently unknown. Thus we studied strain differences in intracellular MAP survival and host responses in a bovine monocyte derived macrophage (MDM) system. RESULTS: Intracellular survival studies showed that a bovine MAP isolate (B1018) and a human MAP isolate (Hu6) persisted in relatively higher numbers when compared with a sheep MAP isolate (S7565) at 24-hr, 48-hr and 96-hr post infection (PI). MDMs stimulated with B1018 up-regulated IL-10 at the transcript level and down-regulated TNFα at the protein and transcript levels compared with stimulations by the S7565 and Hu6. MDMs infected with Hu6 showed a down regulatory pattern of IL-10 and TNFα compared to stimulations by S7565. Cells stimulated with B1018 and Hu6 had low levels of matrix metalloprotease-3 (MMP3) and high levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease-1 (TIMP1) at 96-hr PI relative to MDMs stimulated by S7565. CONCLUSION: Taken together, results suggest that the bovine (B1018) and the human (Hu6) MAP isolates lead to anti-inflammatory and anti-invasive pathways in the macrophage environment whereas the sheep (S7565) MAP isolate induces a pro-inflammatory pathway. Thus the infecting strain genotype may play a role in polarizing the host immune responses and dictate the clinicopathological outcomes in this economically important disease