Genome-Wide SNP-genotyping array to study the evolution of the human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus Biotype 3

Vibrio vulnificus is an aquatic bacterium and an important human pathogen. Strains Of V. vulnificus are classified into three different biotypes. The newly emerged biotype 3 has been found to be clonal and restricted to Israel. In the family Vibrionaceae , horizontal gene transfer is the main mechanism responsible for the emergence of new pathogen groups. To better understand the evolution of the bacterium, and in particular to trace the evolution of biotype 3, we performed genome-wide SNP genotyping of 254 clinical and environmental V. vulnificus isolates with worldwide distribution recovered over a 30-year period, representing all phylogeny groups. A custom single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array implemented on the Illumina GoldenGate platform was developed based on 570 SNPs randomly distributed throughout the genome. In general, the genotyping results divided the V. vulnificus species into three main phylogenetic lineages and an additional subgroup, clade B, consisting of environmental and clinical isolates from Israel. Data analysis suggested that 69% of biotype 3 SNPs are similar to SNPs from clade B, indicating that biotype 3 and clade B have a common ancestor. The rest of the biotype 3 SNPs were scattered along the biotype 3 genome, probably representing multiple chromosomal segments that may have been horizontally inserted into the clade B recipient core genome from other phylogroups or bacterial species sharing the same ecological niche. Results emphasize the continuous evolution of V. vulnificus and support the emergence of new pathogenic groups within this species as a recurrent phenomenon. Our findings contribute to a broader understanding of the evolution of this human pathogen

Development of a new marker system for identifying the complex members of the low-molecular-weight glutenin subunit gene family in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GSs) play an important role in determining the bread-making quality of bread wheat. However, LMW-GSs display high polymorphic protein complexes encoded by multiple genes, and elucidating the complex LMW-GS gene family in bread wheat remains challenging. In the present study, using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with conserved primers and high-resolution capillary electrophoresis, we developed a new molecular marker system for identifying LMW-GS gene family members. Based on sequence alignment of 13 LMW-GS genes previously identified in the Chinese bread wheat variety Xiaoyan 54 and other genes available in GenBank, PCR primers were developed and assigned to conserved sequences spanning the length polymorphism regions of LMW-GS genes. After PCR amplification, 17 DNA fragments in Xiaoyan 54 were detected using capillary electrophoresis. In total, 13 fragments were identical to previously identified LMW-GS genes, and the other 4 were derived from unique LMW-GS genes by sequencing. This marker system was also used to identify LMW-GS genes in Chinese Spring and its group 1 nulli–tetrasomic lines. Among the 17 detected DNA fragments, 4 were located on chromosome 1A, 5 on 1B, and 8 on 1D. The results suggest that this marker system is useful for large-scale identification of LMW-GS genes in bread wheat varieties, and for the selection of desirable LMW-GS genes to improve the bread-making quality in wheat molecular breeding programmes

Breath volatolomics for diagnosing chronic rhinosinusitis

Yoav Y Broza,1,* Itzhak Braverman,2,* Hossam Haick1 1The Department of Chemical Engineering and Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; 2The Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Unit, The Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, The Technion Faculty of Medicine, Hadera, Israel *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is one of the most common chronic diseases treated by primary care physicians. It is increasingly recognized that CRS and nasal polyposis (NP) comprise several disease processes with diverse causes. Hence, subgroups of sinusitis need to be differentiated so that patients can be screened appropriately and personalized medical treatment provided. Patients and methods: To address this need, we use a cross-reactive nanoarray based on either molecularly modified gold nanoparticles or molecularly modified single-walled carbon nanotubes, combined with pattern recognition for analyzing breath samples. Breath samples were collected from three groups of volunteers (total 71) at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center: CRS, NP, and control. Results: Nanoarray results discriminated between patients with sinusitis and the control group with 87% sensitivity, 83% specificity, and 85% accuracy. The system also discriminated well between the subpopulations: 1) CRS vs control (76% sensitivity, 90% specificity); 2) CRS vs NP (82% sensitivity, 71% specificity); and 3) NP vs control (71% sensitivity, 90% specificity). Conclusion: This preliminary study shows that a nanoarray-based breath test for screening population for sinusitis-related conditions is feasible. Keywords: volatile organic compound, breath analysis, sensor, chronic sinusitis, nasal polyposi

A Novel Medical E-Nose Signal Analysis System

It has been proven that certain biomarkers in people’s breath have a relationship with diseases and blood glucose levels (BGLs). As a result, it is possible to detect diseases and predict BGLs by analysis of breath samples captured by e-noses. In this paper, a novel optimized medical e-nose system specified for disease diagnosis and BGL prediction is proposed. A large-scale breath dataset has been collected using the proposed system. Experiments have been organized on the collected dataset and the experimental results have shown that the proposed system can well solve the problems of existing systems. The methods have effectively improved the classification accuracy