Moderate temperatures affect Escherichia coli inactivation by high-pressure homogenization only through fluid viscosity

The inactivation of suspensions of Escherichia coli MG1655 by high-pressure homogenization was studied over a wide range of pressures (100-300 MPa) and initial temperatures of the samples (5-50 degrees C). Bacterial inactivation was positively correlated with the applied pressure and with the initial temperature. When samples were adjusted to different concentrations of poly(ethylene glycol) to have the same viscosity at different temperatures below 45 degrees C and then homogenized at these temperatures, no difference in inactivation was observed. These observations strongly suggest, for the first time, that the influence of temperature on bacterial inactivation by high-pressure homogenization is only through its effect on fluid viscosity. At initial temperatures > or =45 degrees C, corresponding to an outlet sample temperature >65 degrees C, the level of inactivation was higher than what would be predicted on the basis of the reduced viscosity at these temperatures, suggesting that under these conditions heat starts to contribute to cellular inactivation in addition to the mechanical effects that are predominant at lower temperatures. Second-order polynomial models were proposed to describe the impact of a high-pressure homogenization treatment of E. coli MG1655 as a function of pressure and temperature or as a function of pressure and viscosity. The pressure-viscosity inactivation model provided a better quality of fit of the experimental data and furthermore is more comprehensive and versatile than the pressure-temperature model because in addition to viscosity it implicitly incorporates temperature as a variable.     

The vertebrates of the Øvre Heimdalen valley

The small mammals of the Øvre Heimdalen valley were assessed by snap-trapping. Birds were surveyed in the shore zone of the lake. Numbers of domestic animals were collected from existing sources. These data are used in a discussion of the influence of the terrestrial fauna on the lake ecosystem. Aquatic production of food for terrestrial vertebrates, and the fertilizing effect of the terrestrial fauna are the main influences on the lake.     

Epithelial Cadherin Determines Resistance to Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus in Atlantic Salmon

Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) is the cause of one of the most prevalent diseases in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). A quantitative trait locus (QTL) has been found to be responsible for most of the genetic variation in resistance to the virus. Here we describe how a linkage disequilibrium-based test for deducing the QTL allele was developed, and how it was used to produce IPN-resistant salmon, leading to a 75% decrease in the number of IPN outbreaks in the salmon farming industry. Furthermore, we describe how whole-genome sequencing of individuals with deduced QTL genotypes was used to map the QTL down to a region containing an epithelial cadherin (cdh1) gene. In a coimmunoprecipitation assay, the Cdh1 protein was found to bind to IPNV virions, strongly indicating that the protein is part of the machinery used by the virus for internalization. Immunofluorescence revealed that the virus colocalizes with IPNV in the endosomes of homozygous susceptible individuals but not in the endosomes of homozygous resistant individuals. A putative causal single nucleotide polymorphism was found within the full-length cdh1 gene, in phase with the QTL in all observed haplotypes except one; the absence of a single, all-explaining DNA polymorphism indicates that an additional causative polymorphism may contribute to the observed QTL genotype patterns. Cdh1 has earlier been shown to be necessary for the internalization of certain bacteria and fungi, but this is the first time the protein is implicated in internalization of a virus.     

Energy consumption of ducks on øvre Heimdalsvatn

The energy consumption of the ducks is based on estimates of bird density and discovery chance together with juvenile production, metabolic rate and assimilation efficiency given in the literature. The approximate values for food energy consumed were 230000, 143000 and 165000 kcal in 1970, 1971 and 1972 respectively, or in terms of lake surface between 0.2 and 0.3 kcal m⁻² yr⁻¹.     

mRNA stability and antibody production in CHO cells: Improvement through gene optimization

The productivity of stably transfected cell lines is of critical importance for the manufacturing of therapeutic proteins. Various methods have been successfully implemented to increase the production output of mammalian cell cultures. Increasing evidence suggests that optimization of the gene coding sequences of an expression vector can improve specific cell line yield of the recombinant protein. Here we demonstrate that gene optimization substantially enhances antibody production in Chinese hamster ovary cells. When gene optimization was applied to the heavy and light chain genes of a therapeutic antibody, we observed increased antibody production in transient transfection. Elevated heavy chain mRNA level was associated with the increase of antibody production. Further analysis suggested that the increased antibody expression is attributable to enhanced mRNA stability resulting from gene optimization. Gene optimization also led to increased antibody production in stable clones.