Comparative assessment of passive surveillance in disease-free and endemic situation: Example of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brucella melitensis</Emphasis> surveillance in Switzerland and in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Background

Globalization and subsequent growth in international trade in animals and animal products has increased the importance of international disease reporting. Efficient and reliable surveillance systems are needed in order to document the disease status of a population at a given time. In this context, passive surveillance plays an important role in early warning systems. However, it is not yet routinely integrated in the assessment of disease surveillance systems because different factors like the disease awareness (DA) of people reporting suspect cases influence the detection performance of passive surveillance. In this paper, we used scenario tree methodology in order to evaluate and compare the quality and benefit of abortion testing (ABT) for Brucella melitensis (Bm) between the disease free situation in Switzerland (CH) and a hypothetical disease free situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), taking into account DA levels assumed for the current endemic situation in BH.

Results

The structure and input parameters of the scenario tree were identical for CH and BH with the exception of population data in small ruminants and the DA in farmers and veterinarians. The sensitivity analysis of the stochastic scenario tree model showed that the small ruminant population structure and the DA of farmers were important influential parameters with regard to the unit sensitivity of ABT in both CH and BH. The DA of both farmers and veterinarians was assumed to be higher in BH than in CH due to the current endemic situation in BH. Although the same DA cannot necessarily be assumed for the modelled hypothetical disease free situation as for the actual endemic situation, it shows the importance of the higher vigilance of people reporting suspect cases on the probability that an average unit processed in the ABT-component would test positive.

Conclusion

The actual sensitivity of passive surveillance approaches heavily depends on the context in which they are applied. Scenario tree modelling allows for the evaluation of such passive surveillance system components under assumed disease free situation. Despite data gaps, this is a real opportunity to compare different situations and to explore consequences of changes that could be made.

     

Characterization of yeast homoserine dehydrogenase, an antifungal target: the invariant histidine 309 is important for enzyme integrity

Fungal homoserine dehydrogenase (HSD) is required for the biosynthesis of threonine, isoleucine and methionine from aspartic acid, and is a target for antifungal agents. HSD from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was overproduced in Escherichia coli and 25 mg of soluble dimeric enzyme was purified per liter of cell culture in two steps. HSD efficiently reduces aspartate semialdehyde to homoserine (Hse) using either NADH or NADPH with kcat/Km in the order of 10(6-7) M(-1) x s(-1) at pH 7.5. The rate constant of the reverse direction (Hse oxidation) was also significant at pH 9.0 (kcat/Km approximately 10(4-5) M(-1) x s(-1)) but was minimal at pH 7.5. Chemical modification of HSD with diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC) resulted in a loss of activity that could be obviated by the presence of substrates. UV difference spectra revealed an increase in absorbance at 240 nm for DEPC-modified HSD consistent with the modification of two histidines (His) per subunit. Amino acid sequence alignment of HSD illustrated the conservation of two His residues among HSDs. These residues, His79 and His309, were substituted to alanine (Ala) using site directed mutagenesis. HSD H79A had similar steady state kinetics to wild type, while kcat/Km for HSD H309A decreased by almost two orders of magnitude. The recent determination of the X-ray structure of HSD revealed that His309 is located at the dimer interface [B. DeLaBarre, P.R. Thompson, G.D. Wright, A.M. Berghuis, Nat. Struct. Biol. 7 (2000) 238-244]. The His309Ala mutant enzyme was found in very high molecular weight complexes rather than the expected dimer by analytical gel filtration chromatography analysis. Thus the invariant His309 plays a structural rather than catalytic role in these enzymes.     

Functionally important amino acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae aspartate kinase

Saccharomyces cerevisiae aspartate kinase (AK(Sc)) phosphorylates L-Asp as the first step in the aspartate pathway responsible for the biosynthesis of L-Thr, L-Met, and L-Ile in microorganisms and plants. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we have evaluated the importance of residues in AK(Sc) that are strongly conserved among aspartate kinases or in other small molecule kinases. Steady state kinetic analysis of the purified AK(Sc) variants reveals that several of the targeted amino acids, particularly K18 and H292, have important roles in the enzymatic reaction. These results provide the first identification of amino acid residues crucial to the action of this important metabolic enzyme.     

Differential impact of simultaneous migration on coevolving hosts and parasites

Background  

The dynamics of antagonistic host-parasite coevolution are believed to be crucially dependent on the rate of migration between populations. We addressed how the rate of simultaneous migration of host and parasite affected resistance and infectivity evolution of coevolving meta-populations of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and a viral parasite (bacteriophage). The increase in genetic variation resulting from small amounts of migration is expected to increase rates of adaptation of both host and parasite. However, previous studies suggest phages should benefit more from migration than bacteria; because in the absence of migration, phages are more genetically limited and have a lower evolutionary potential compared to the bacteria.     

A versatile approach to multiple gene RNA interference using microRNA-based short hairpin RNAs

Background  

Effective and stable knockdown of multiple gene targets by RNA interference is often necessary to overcome isoform redundancy, but it remains a technical challenge when working with intractable cell systems.     

Comparison of different delivery systems of DNA vaccination for the induction of protection against tuberculosis in mice and guinea pigs

The great challenges for researchers working in the field of vaccinology are optimizing DNA vaccines for use in humans or large animals and creating effective single-dose vaccines using appropriated controlled delivery systems. Plasmid DNA encoding the heat-shock protein 65 (hsp65) (DNAhsp65) has been shown to induce protective and therapeutic immune responses in a murine model of tuberculosis (TB). Despite the success of naked DNAhsp65-based vaccine to protect mice against TB, it requires multiple doses of high amounts of DNA for effective immunization. In order to optimize this DNA vaccine and simplify the vaccination schedule, we coencapsulated DNAhsp65 and the adjuvant trehalose dimycolate (TDM) into biodegradable poly (DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres for a single dose administration. Moreover, a single-shot prime-boost vaccine formulation based on a mixture of two different PLGA microspheres, presenting faster and slower release of, respectively, DNAhsp65 and the recombinant hsp65 protein was also developed. These formulations were tested in mice as well as in guinea pigs by comparison with the efficacy and toxicity induced by the naked DNA preparation or BCG. The single-shot prime-boost formulation clearly presented good efficacy and diminished lung pathology in both mice and guinea pigs.     

Comparative nuclear and mitochondrial genome diversity in humans and chimpanzees

Restriction mapping and sequencing have shown that humans have substantially lower levels of mitochondrial genome diversity (d) than chimpanzees. In contrast, humans have substantially higher levels of heterozygosity (H) at protein-coding loci, suggesting a higher level of diversity in the nuclear genome. To investigate the discrepancy further, we sequenced a segment of the mitochondrial genome control region (CR) from 49 chimpanzees. The majority of these were from the Pan troglodytes versus subspecies, which was underrepresented in previous studies. We also estimated the average heterozygosity at 60 short tandem repeat (STR) loci in both species. For a total sample of 115 chimpanzees, d = 0.075 +/0 0.037, compared to 0.020 +/- 0.011 for a sample of 1,554 humans. The heterozygosity of human STR loci is significantly higher than that of chimpanzees. Thus, the higher level of nuclear genome diversity relative to mitochondrial genome diversity in humans is not restricted to protein-coding loci. It seems that humans, not chimpanzees, have an unusual d/H ratio, since the ratio in chimpanzees is similar to that in other catarrhines. This discrepancy in the relative levels of nuclear and mitochondrial genome diversity in the two species cannot be explained by differences in mutation rate. However, it may result from a combination of factors such as a difference in the extent of sex ratio disparity, the greater effect of population subdivision on mitochondrial than on nuclear genome diversity, a difference in the relative levels of male and female migration among subpopulations, diversifying selection acting to increase variation in the nuclear genome, and/or directional selection acting to reduce variation in the mitochondrial genome.