Microarray for serotyping of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bartonella</Emphasis> species

Background  

Bacteria of the genus Bartonella are responsible for a large variety of human and animal diseases. Serological typing of Bartonella is a method that can be used for differentiation and identification of Bartonella subspecies.     

Synthesis and characterization of core-shell Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>-gold-chitosan nanostructure

Background  

Fe₃O₄-gold-chitosan core-shell nanostructure can be used in biotechnological and biomedical applications such as magnetic bioseparation, water and wastewater treatment, biodetection and bioimaging, drug delivery, and cancer treatment.     

Global expression studies in baker's yeast reveal target genes for the improvement of industrially-relevant traits: the cases of <Emphasis Type="Italic">CAF16</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">ORC2</Emphasis>

Background  

Recent years have seen a huge growth in the market of industrial yeasts with the need for strains affording better performance or to be used in new applications. Stress tolerance of commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts is, without doubt, a trait that needs improving. Such trait is, however, complex, and therefore only in-depth knowledge of their biochemical, physiological and genetic principles can help us to define improvement strategies and to identify the key factors for strain selection.     

Automated measurement of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis> wings

Background  

Many studies in evolutionary biology and genetics are limited by the rate at which phenotypic information can be acquired. The wings of Drosophila species are a favorable target for automated analysis because of the many interesting questions in evolution and development that can be addressed with them, and because of their simple structure.     

Variability in SCC <Emphasis Type="Italic">mec</Emphasis><Subscript>N1</Subscript> spreading among injection drug users in Zurich,Switzerland

Background  

An extremely low level methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) belonging to ST45, circulates among intravenous drug users in the Zurich area. This clone can be misinterpreted as an MSSA by phenotypic oxacillin resistance tests, although it carries a staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) element encoding a functional mecA gene and it produces PBP2a.     

Genome-scale metabolic analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostridium thermocellum</Emphasis> for bioethanol production

Background  

Microorganisms possess diverse metabolic capabilities that can potentially be leveraged for efficient production of biofuels. Clostridium thermocellum (ATCC 27405) is a thermophilic anaerobe that is both cellulolytic and ethanologenic, meaning that it can directly use the plant sugar, cellulose, and biochemically convert it to ethanol. A major challenge in using microorganisms for chemical production is the need to modify the organism to increase production efficiency. The process of properly engineering an organism is typically arduous.     

Genome-scale metabolic reconstruction and <Emphasis Type="Italic">in silico</Emphasis> analysis of methylotrophic yeast <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia pastoris</Emphasis> for strain improvement

Background  

Pichia pastoris has been recognized as an effective host for recombinant protein production. A number of studies have been reported for improving this expression system. However, its physiology and cellular metabolism still remained largely uncharacterized. Thus, it is highly desirable to establish a systems biotechnological framework, in which a comprehensive in silico model of P. pastoris can be employed together with high throughput experimental data analysis, for better understanding of the methylotrophic yeast's metabolism.     

Effect of <Emphasis Type="Italic">HXT</Emphasis> 1 and <Emphasis Type="Italic">HXT</Emphasis> 7 hexose transporter overexpression on wild-type and lactic acid producing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> cells

Background  

Since about three decades, Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be engineered to efficiently produce proteins and metabolites. Even recognizing that in baker's yeast one determining step for the glucose consumption rate is the sugar uptake, this fact has never been conceived to improve the metabolite(s) productivity.     

A high-throughput <Emphasis Type="Italic">de novo</Emphasis> sequencing approach for shotgun proteomics using high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry

Background  

High-resolution tandem mass spectra can now be readily acquired with hybrid instruments, such as LTQ-Orbitrap and LTQ-FT, in high-throughput shotgun proteomics workflows. The improved spectral quality enables more accurate de novo sequencing for identification of post-translational modifications and amino acid polymorphisms.     

Targeted protein depletion in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> by activation of a bidirectional degron

Background  

Tools for in vivo manipulation of protein abundance or activity are highly beneficial for life science research. Protein stability can be efficiently controlled by conditional degrons, which induce target protein degradation at restrictive conditions.     

GDR (<Emphasis Type="Underline">G</Emphasis> enome <Emphasis Type="Underline">D</Emphasis> atabase for <Emphasis Type="Underline">R</Emphasis> osaceae): integrated web resources for Rosaceae genomics and genetics research

Background  

Peach is being developed as a model organism for Rosaceae, an economically important family that includes fruits and ornamental plants such as apple, pear, strawberry, cherry, almond and rose. The genomics and genetics data of peach can play a significant role in the gene discovery and the genetic understanding of related species. The effective utilization of these peach resources, however, requires the development of an integrated and centralized database with associated analysis tools.     

Subtype specific genetic associations for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: <Emphasis Type="Italic">ERAP1</Emphasis> with the enthesitis related arthritis subtype and <Emphasis Type="Italic">IL23R</Emphasis>with juvenile psoriatic arthritis

Introduction  

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is an umbrella term for all chronic childhood arthropathies and can be divided into seven subtypes. It includes the enthesitis related arthritis (ERA) subtype which displays symptoms similar to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and juvenile-onset psoriatic arthritis which has similarities to psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and psoriasis (Ps). We, therefore, hypothesized that two well-established susceptibility loci for AS and Ps, ERAP1 and IL23R, could also confer susceptibility to these JIA subtypes.     

Sequencing and expression of two arsenic resistance operons with different functions in the highly arsenic-resistant strain <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ochrobactrum tritici</Emphasis> SCII24<Superscript>T</Superscript>

Background  

Arsenic (As) is a natural metalloid, widely used in anthropogenic activities, that can exist in different oxidation states. Throughout the world, there are several environments contaminated with high amounts of arsenic where many organisms can survive. The most stable arsenical species are arsenate and arsenite that can be subject to chemically and microbiologically oxidation, reduction and methylation reactions. Organisms surviving in arsenic contaminated environments can have a diversity of mechanisms to resist to the harmful effects of arsenical compounds.     

Regulation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caenorhabditis elegans</Emphasis> body size and male tail development by the novel gene <Emphasis Type="Italic">lon-8</Emphasis>

Background  

In C. elegans and other nematode species, body size is determined by the composition of the extracellular cuticle as well as by the nuclear DNA content of the underlying hypodermis. Mutants that are defective in these processes can exhibit either a short or a long body size phenotype. Several mutations that give a long body size (Lon) phenotype have been characterized and found to be regulated by the DBL-1/TGF-β pathway, that controls post-embryonic growth and male tail development.     

Intragenic tandem repeat variation between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Legionella pneumophila</Emphasis> strains

Background  

Bacterial genomes harbour a large number of tandem repeats, yet the possible phenotypic effects of those found within the coding region of genes are only beginning to be examined. Evidence exists from other organisms that these repeats can be involved in the evolution of new genes, gene regulation, adaptation, resistance to environmental stresses, and avoidance of the immune system.     

Regions important for the adhesin activity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Moraxella catarrhalis</Emphasis> Hag

Background  

The Moraxella catarrhalis Hag protein, an Oca autotransporter adhesin, has previously been shown to be important for adherence of this respiratory tract pathogen to human middle ear and A549 lung cells.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> gene regulatory networks predict <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vivo</Emphasis> function of liver

Background  

Evolution of toxicity testing is predicated upon using in vitro cell based systems to rapidly screen and predict how a chemical might cause toxicity to an organ in vivo. However, the degree to which we can extend in vitro results to in vivo activity and possible mechanisms of action remains to be fully addressed.     

An improved method for rapid generation of unmarked <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> deletion mutants

Background  

Traditional gene replacement procedures are still time-consuming. They usually necessitate cloning of the gene to be mutated, insertional inactivation of the gene with an antibiotic resistance cassette and exchange of the plasmid-borne mutant allele with the bacterial chromosome. PCR and recombinational technologies can be exploited to substantially accelerate virtually all steps involved in the gene replacement process.