Giardia and Cryptosporidium spp. in filtered drinking water supplies.

Giardia and Cryptosporidium levels were determined by using a combined immunofluorescence test for filtered drinking water samples collected from 66 surface water treatment plants in 14 states and 1 Canadian province. Giardia cysts were detected in 17% of the 83 filtered water effluents. Cryptosporidium oocysts, were observed in 27% of the drinking water samples. Overall, cysts or oocysts were found in 39% of the treated effluent samples. Despite the frequent detection of parasites in drinking water, microscopic observations of the cysts and oocysts suggested that most of the organisms were nonviable. Compliance with the filtration criteria outlined by the Surface Water Treatment Rule of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not ensure that treated water was free of cysts and oocysts. The average plant effluent turbidity for sites which were parasite positive was 0.19 nephelometric turbidity units. Of sites that were positive for Giardia or Cryptosporidium spp., 78% would have been able to meet the turbidity regulations of the Surface Water Temperature Rule. Evaluation of the data by using a risk assessment model developed for Giardia spp. showed that 24% of the utilities examined would not meet a 1/10,000 annual risk of Giardia infection. For cold water conditions (0.5 degree C), 46% of the plants would not achieve the 1/10,000 risk level.     

Optimization of environmental factors for the production and handling of recombinant retrovirus

Certain steps from the production to infection of the amphotrophic retroviral vector, MFG-LacZ, were optimized and the factors that affect retroviral titers were analyzed. Retroviral vector titers were highest when the culture supernatant was harvested 3 days after the producer cells had reached confluence. About a 2-fold increase in vector production was achieved at 32°C compared to that at 37°C. Low serum concentrations had no significant effect on the titers of virus produced by the CRIP cell line. Retroviral vectors were stable at 4°C but very unstable at 37°C and were quite sensitive to freezing and thawing. About 30%–50% of viral infectivity was lost during the thawing step and the loss was not recovered by the addition of commonly used cryoprotectants. Increase in viral exposure time for infection to target NIH3T3 cells was linearly proportional to the retroviral titer for up to 15 h. In addition, using DEAE-dextran in place of polybrene as a polycation during infection enhanced infection efficiency about 3-fold. The retrovirus was robust to simple ultrafiltration and its titer could be easily concentrated 16-fold. Taken together, our data suggest that at least a 100-fold increase in titer can be achieved with simple optimization.     

Segregation analysis of continuous phenotypes by using higher sample moments.

The present article discusses the use of computational methods based on generalized estimating equations (GEE), as a potential alternative to full maximum-likelihood methods, for performing segregation analysis of continuous phenotypes by using randomly selected family data. The method that we propose can estimate effect and degree of dominance of a major gene in the presence of additional nongenetic or polygenetic familial associations, by relating sample moments to their expectations calculated under the genetic model. It is known that all parameters in basic major-gene models cannot be identified, for estimation purposes, solely in terms of the first two sample moments of data from randomly selected families. Thus, we propose the use of higher (third order) sample moments to resolve this identifiability problem, in a pseudo-profile likelihood estimation scheme. In principle, our methods may be applied to fitting genetic models by using complex pedigrees and for estimation in the presence of missing phenotype data for family members. In order to assess its statistical efficiency we compare several variants of the method with each other and with maximum-likelihood estimates provided by the SAGE computer package in a simulation study.     

Covalent attachment of synthetic DNA to self-assembled monolayer films.

The covalent attachment of thiol-modified DNA oligomers; to self-assembled monolayer silane films on fused silica and oxidized silicon substrates is described. A heterobifunctional crosslinking molecule bearing both thiol- and amino-reactive moieties was used to tether a DNA oligomer (modified at its terminus with a thiol group) to an aminosilane film formed on silica surfaces. A variety of aminosilanes, crosslinkers and treatment conditions have been tested to identify optimal conditions for DNA immobilization using this approach. The DNA films which result have been characterized using UV spectroscopy, water contact angle measurement, radiolabeling and hybridization methods.     

Purification and characterization of a fibrinolytic enzyme produced from Bacillus sp. strain CK 11-4 screened from Chungkook-Jang.

Bacillus sp. strain CK 11-4, which produces a strongly fibrinolytic enzyme, was screened from Chungkook-Jang, a traditional Korean fermented-soybean sauce. The fibrinolytic enzyme (CK) was purified from supernatant of Bacillus sp. strain CK 11-4 culture broth and showed thermophilic, hydrophilic, and strong fibrinolytic activity. The optimum temperature and pH were 70 degrees C and 10.5, respectively, and the molecular weight was 28,200 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The first 14 amino acids of the N-terminal sequence of CK are Ala-Gin-Thr-Val-Pro-Tyr-Gly-Ile-Pro-Leu-Ile-Lys-Ala-Asp. This sequence is identical to that of subtilisin Carlsberg and different from that of nattokinase, but CK showed a level of fibrinolytic activity that was about eight times higher than that of subtilisin Carlsberg. The amidolytic activity of CK increased about twofold at the initial state of the reaction when CK enzyme was added to a mixture of plasminogen and substrate (H-D-Val-Leu-Lys-pNA). A similar result was also obtained from fibrin plate analysis.     

Virulence determinants invA and spvC in salmonellae isolated from poultry products, wastewater, and human sources.

The presence of two virulence foci, invA and spvC, in Salmonella isolates obtained from poultry, wastewater, and human sources was determined. All isolates (n = 245) were positive for the invA gene sequence. Differences in degree of invasiveness were apparent with the Madin Darby canine kidney cell line, as only 79 of 159 randomly selected isolates (49.7%) tested were invasive at > 0.1% of the inoculum. 25% were invasive between 0.1 and 1.0% of the inoculum, and 24.5% were invasive at > 1.0% of the inoculum. There was a significant correlation between degree of invasion and source from which the isolate was recovered but no correlation between geographic origin of poultry isolates and degree of invasion. Only 37 of 245 isolates (15.1%) hybridized with the spvC DNA probe. All isolates that were recovered from a commercial egg production environment and chicken eggs and whose sequences exhibited homology with the spvC gene sequence were determined to be either Salmonella enteritidis PT 23 or PT 13. The sequences of few isolates from ceca and none from wastewater or humans demonstrated homology with the spvC gene.     

Regulation of Escherichia coli starvation sigma factor (sigma s) by ClpXP protease.

In Escherichia coli, starvation (stationary-phase)-mediated differentiation involves 50 or more genes and is triggered by an increase in cellular sigma s levels. Western immunoblot analysis showed that in mutants lacking the protease ClpP or its cognate ATPase-containing subunit ClpX, sigma s levels of exponential-phase cells increased to those of stationary-phase wild-type cells. Lack of other potential partners of ClpP, i.e., ClpA or ClpB, or of Lon protease had no effect. In ClpXP-proficient cells, the stability of sigma s increased markedly in stationary-phase compared with exponential-phase cells, but in ClpP-deficient cells, sigma s became virtually completely stable in both phases. There was no decrease in ClpXP levels in stationary-phase wild-type cells. Thus, sigma s probably becomes more resistant to this protease in stationary phase. The reported sigma s-stabilizing effect of the hns mutation also was not due to decreased protease levels. Studies with translational fusions containing different lengths of sigma s coding region suggest that amino acid residues 173 to 188 of this sigma factor may directly or indirectly serve as at least part of the target for ClpXP protease.     

Selection of Specific Endophytic Bacterial Genotypes by Plants in Response to Soil Contamination

Plant-bacterial combinations can increase contaminant degradation in the rhizosphere, but the role played by indigenous root-associated bacteria during plant growth in contaminated soils is unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine if plants had the ability to selectively enhance the prevalence of endophytes containing pollutant catabolic genes in unrelated environments contaminated with different pollutants. At petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites, two genes encoding hydrocarbon degradation, alkane monooxygenase (alkB) and naphthalene dioxygenase (ndoB), were two and four times more prevalent in bacteria extracted from the root interior (endophytic) than from the bulk soil and sediment, respectively. In field sites contaminated with nitroaromatics, two genes encoding nitrotoluene degradation, 2-nitrotoluene reductase (ntdAa) and nitrotoluene monooxygenase (ntnM), were 7 to 14 times more prevalent in endophytic bacteria. The addition of petroleum to sediment doubled the prevalence of ndoB-positive endophytes in Scirpus pungens, indicating that the numbers of endophytes containing catabolic genotypes were dependent on the presence and concentration of contaminants. Similarly, the numbers of alkB- or ndoB-positive endophytes in Festuca arundinacea were correlated with the concentration of creosote in the soil but not with the numbers of alkB- or ndoB-positive bacteria in the bulk soil. Our results indicate that the enrichment of catabolic genotypes in the root interior is both plant and contaminant dependent.     

大黄素升高豚鼠结肠带细胞[Ca~(2 )]_i的特征和GDP的抑制作用

利用Fluo -3荧光探针检测细胞内自由Ca2 浓度([Ca2 ]i),研究了大黄素升高豚鼠结肠带细胞[Ca2 ]i 的量—效关系和动态变化特征,及GDP和胞外Ca2 浓度对其的影响。较低浓度大黄素随药物浓度增加使[Ca2 ]i 显著升高 ,更高浓度大黄素有超最大抑制效应。GDP对大黄素升高细胞[Ca2 ]i 的抑制作用随其浓度增加而增强。GDP和胞外Ca2 浓度影响大黄素诱发的[Ca2 ]i 动态变化的结果表明 :GDP使[Ca2 ]i 峰消失 ,胞外无Ca2 导致[Ca2 ]i 随时间显著下降 ,大黄素升高[Ca2 ]i 作用趋向消失。