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Casey Finnerty

Disappearing Seagrass Protects Against Pathogens, Even Climate Change, Scientists Find ... - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-pathogens-global-warming.html

climate change microbiology

shared by Casey Finnerty on 17 Feb 17 - No Cached
  • Seagrass meadows, among the most endangered ecosystems on Earth, play an outsize role in the health of the oceans.
  • The plants also fight disease, it turns out. A team of scientists reported on Thursday that seagrasses can purge pathogens from the ocean that threaten humans and coral reefs alike.
  • But the meadows are vanishing at a rate of a football field every 30 minutes.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • In one survey, they collected seawater and put it in petri dishes to see if colonies of disease-causing bacteria known as Enterococcus grew from the samples.
  • In a second search, the scientists grabbed fragments of DNA floating in seawater.
  • Water from the seagrass meadows had only half the level of this DNA, compared with water collected at other sites.
  • Reefs next to seagrass meadows, they found, were half as diseased as those without meadows.
  • Seagrass meadows can release so much oxygen that the surrounding water fizzes like champagne. That oxygen might be able to kill pathogens, Dr. Lamb realized. The plants also host fungi, which are known to producing bacteria-killing compounds.
  • Their research points to two main culprits. Eroded dirt washes into the Chesapeake, making the water cloudy. Seagrass get so little sunlight that the resulting dimming can be deadly.
  • Seagrass is also being pummeled by climate change. Warmer summer temperatures in Chesapeake Bay cause the plants to lose much of their oxygen through their leaves. With less oxygen to pump into their roots, they are poisoned by toxic sediments.
Abdirizak Abdi

New Method Developed To Kill Pathogenic Bacteria Without Antiobiotics Or Chemicals - 0 views

www.medicalnewstoday.com/...258549.php

shared by Abdirizak Abdi on 05 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Abdirizak Abdi on 05 Apr 13
     
    Researchers have developed a new method to eliminate deadly pathogenic bacteria in food products and packaging, without the need for antibiotics or chemicals. The method can kill various types of pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria, which is among most common cause of food-borne illness. The team of engineers managed to successfully attach cell lytic enzymes to silica nano particles, which are entirely safe to be used with food products, and created a coating that could selectively kill Listeria, when it gets contact with the bacteria, without affecting other chemicals or bacteria present. The process takes few mins and can tackle listeria even in high concentration.The lytic enzymes could be attached to starch nanoparticles that are typically used for food packaging.
Whitney Hopfauf

Electron-beam pasteurization of raw oysters may reduce viral food poisoning - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130430151648.htm

raw food poisoning

shared by Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • FDA already has approved the use of electron beam technology as a pathogen intervention strategy to control the naturally occurring Vibrio vulnificus bacterial pathogen in shellfish.
    • Whitney Hopfauf
      Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13
       
      Good that it has already been approved by the FDA... step in the right direction
  • Praveen said she and the other researchers also chose the viral pathogens as opposed to bacterial as they were more difficult to treat and also require a host species.
  • if a serving size of 12 raw oysters were contaminated with approximately 100 hepatitis A and human noroviruses, an e-beam dose of 5 kGy (kilograys) would achieve a 91 percent reduction of hepatitis A infection risks and a 26 percent reduction of norovirus infection risks.
  • ...6 more annotations...
    • Whitney Hopfauf
      Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13
       
      Pretty significant except it still doesn't make me want to eat raw shellfish
  • how electron-beam pasteurization of raw oysters may reduce the possibility of food poisoning through virus.
  • results of this study will be published in the June
  • using a human norovirus surrogate called murine norovirus
  • uses commercial electricity
  • green technology because no chemicals are involved."
Jeremiah Williamson

These Are The World's Deadliest Killers | Popular Science - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...e-are-worlds-deadliest-killers

shared by Jeremiah Williamson on 08 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Jeremiah Williamson on 08 Apr 13
     
    Using this new microscope resolution power, doctors may finally be able to deliver drugs to effectively defeat some of the deadliest pathogens.
Casey Finnerty

New Technologies in Clinical Microbiology - 0 views

jcm.asm.org/...S62.full

clinical microbiology

shared by Casey Finnerty on 11 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Unfortunately, when laboratory methods rely solely on cultivation of pathogens and traditional phenotypic methods of pathogen characterization, physicians are forced to deduce the presence of BSI based on clinical symptoms, which are often nonspecific. Subsequently, antibiotic therapy is initiated based on clinical and epidemiologic profiles (28) rather than on laboratory evidence. Typically, within 1 to 3 days a microscopic Gram stain category (Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, or fungi) provides physicians with a general direction for antibiotic therapy. Definitive results that eliminate the need for broad-spectrum therapy and enable de-escalation and the tailoring of treatment to the most effective antibiotic regimen often require more than 3 to 5 days. This gap has been implicated as one reason for high mortality and the emergence of drug-resistant microbes.
    • Casey Finnerty
      Casey Finnerty on 11 Apr 13
       
      Alison, I found this reference after our chat today at the end of the lab. I think you would find this paper very interesting.
  • Casey Finnerty on 11 Apr 13
     
    This paper is an excellent review on the need for improved protocols for microbial identification the technologies that are under development.
Alletia DeMartino

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Turns Protein Into a Virulence Factor in One Easy Step - 0 views

www.infectioncontroltoday.com/...e-factor-in-one-easy-step.aspx

shared by Alletia DeMartino on 09 May 13 - No Cached
  • To infect its host, the respiratory pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa takes an ordinary protein usually involved in making other proteins and adds three small molecules to turn it into a key for gaining access to human cells.
  • P. aeruginosa, one of the most common causes of hospital-acquired pneumonia.
  • P. aeruginosa mostly uses this protein called elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu) inside the cel
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • but she and her collaborators have learned that as a virulence factor, it could represent a vulnerability for the bacterium
  • EF-Tu is presumed to be an essential protein, and it's performing these moonlighting functions as well. If we figured out how it was doing that, we could devise strategies to inhibit it," says Goldberg.
  • acquired pneumonia and is the leading cause of death among critically ill patients whose airways have been damaged by ventilation, trauma, or other infections.
  • P. aeruginosa takes
  • the protein EF-Tu, which was generally thought to exist only inside the cell, and decorates the exterior of the cell with it, but in a modified form.
  • EF-Tu is modified somehow to mimic ChoP, allowing P. aeruginosa to enjoy the benefits of ChoP.
  • , ChoP carries out a crucial step for setting up an infection for a number of different types of respiratory pathogens.
  • Using a host of techniques, including mass spectrometry, site directed mutagenesis of key residues in the protein, and genetic loss of function/gain of function studies, they found that P. aeruginosa only makes small changes to EF-Tu to get it to mimic this powerful ligand. P. aeruginosa transfers three methyl groups to a lysine on EF-Tu, giving it a structure similar to ChoP and allowing it to fit in the PAFR receptor in the way ChoP does.
  • "It allows [P. aeruginosa] to adhere to the cells and invade,"
  • "Its interaction with humans is accidental. It's an opportunist. The fact that it has this novel modification on this protein that is inherent in the bacterium that enables it to attach and persist and cause disease is exciting,"
  • Alletia DeMartino on 09 May 13
     
    Interesting!! however, very scary. It just keeps modifying itself and being more virulent. what's next?!
Amy Jorgenson

Pathogen turns protein into a virulence factor in one easy step - 0 views

phys.org/...ein-virulence-factor-easy.html

shared by Amy Jorgenson on 08 May 13 - No Cached
  • Amy Jorgenson on 08 May 13
     
    This is more of a blurb (rather than an article) about P. aeruginosa making three small changes to the EF-Tu protein in order to gain entry into human cells. Understanding these changes appears to be a great link to understanding/studying hospital-acquired pneumonia. Not sure how I feel about the comment comparing proteins to a spork in a takeout meal....
Casey Finnerty

Fecal Treatment Gains Favor for Some Illnesses - NYTimes.com - 3 views

www.nytimes.com/...eatment-works-study-finds.html

microbiology

shared by Casey Finnerty on 17 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • A new study finds that such transplants cured 15 of 16 people who had recurring infections with Clostridium difficile bacteria, whereas antibiotics cured only 3 of 13 and 4 of 13 patients in two comparison groups.
  • anonymous on 17 Jan 13
     
    I didn't know this was even possible. I wonder how they convinced people to donate. "The donors were tested for an array of diseases to make sure they did not infect the patients." I wonder how extensive that panel was and what they tested for.
  • Casey Finnerty on 17 Jan 13
     
    Isn't this neat? I have met people who are hoping to get this treatment. Re: the screening, I think it is probably just for the absence of pathogens. As the article states, we really don't know what the "good" bacteria are that help these patients.
  • anonymous on 18 Jan 13
     
    RE: I would hope that they would check for things like HIV and other blood to blood transmitted diseases. If there was a bleed in the GI tract of both the donor and the patient, I could imagine it would be a problem.
Casey Finnerty

Frog Once Used in Pregnancy Tests Spread Deadly Fungus - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ests-spread-deadly-fungus.html

fungus microbiology

shared by Casey Finnerty on 16 May 13 - No Cached
  • The pathogen the frogs are spreading is a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd.
Whitney Hopfauf

Could new flu spark global flu pandemic? New bird flu strain seen adapting to mammals, ... - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130412192402.htm

pandemic humans virology influenza

shared by Whitney Hopfauf on 16 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • "The human isolates, but not the avian and environmental ones, have a protein mutation that allows for efficient growth in human cells and that also allows them to grow at a temperature that corresponds to the upper respiratory tract of humans, which is lower than you find in birds,
    • Whitney Hopfauf
      Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13
       
      These are the same researchers who did the infamous bird flu study that was temporarily banned
  • new virus has sickened at least 33 people, killing nine.
  • ...4 more annotations...
    • Whitney Hopfauf
      Whitney Hopfauf on 30 Apr 13
       
      This is so concerning... and yet it seems that the general population is oblivious to the implications of this virus
  • majority of the viruses in the study -- from both humans and birds -- display mutations in the surface protein hemagglutinin, which the pathogen uses to bind to host cells.
  • The same mutation, Kawaoka notes, lets the avian virus thrive in the cooler temperatures of the human upper respiratory system
  • the new strain could be treated with another clinically relevant antiviral drug, oseltamivir.
  • Jenna Veldhuizen on 16 Apr 13
     
    Genetic sequencing of the current H7N9 outbreak in China has revealed the ability of the virus to adapt to a human host
Whitney Hopfauf

Lyme disease vaccine? Tick saliva found to protect mice from Lyme disease - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...091119111410.htm

lyme vaccine microbiology

shared by Whitney Hopfauf on 11 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • antibodies against a protein in the saliva of a pathogen's transmitting agent
  • has been shown to confer immunity when administered protectively as a vaccine.
  • Lyme bacterium known as
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Borrelia burgdorferi
  • . When it moves through the tick, it is coated with a tick salivary protein known as Salp15
  • injected Salp15 into healthy mice and found that it significantly protected them from getting Lyme disease
  • combined with outer surface proteins of B. burgdorferi, the protection was even greater.
  • Lyme vaccine on the market that utilized just the outer surface proteins of the bacteria. It was taken off the market in 2002
  • targeting the saliva -- the "vector molecule" that a microbe requires to infect a host -- may be applicable not just to Lyme disease but to other insect-borne pathogens
  • Whitney Hopfauf on 11 Apr 13
     
    This is slightly out of date but very interesting
loryn_micro

Contact killing of Salmonella by human fecal bacteria - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130423110817.htm

shared by loryn_micro on 23 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • loryn_micro on 23 Apr 13
     
    Researchers have recently found a novel mode of interaction between Salmonella, a foodborne pathogen, and the bacteria that live in our guts. Fecal bacteria collected from healthy donors effectively inactivated Salmonella, when they were allowed close contact. Mathematical modelling of this interaction is now being used to find new ways of controlling Salmonella.
Katelyn Madigan

ScienceDirect.com - The Lancet - Viral encephalitis: familiar infections and emerging p... - 0 views

www.sciencedirect.com/...S014067360207681X

shared by Katelyn Madigan on 30 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • Katelyn Madigan on 30 Apr 13
     
    Supplemental paper for presentation.
Jenna Veldhuizen

Photodynamic therapy for Staphylococcus aureus infected burn wounds in mice - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC3071043

shared by Jenna Veldhuizen on 05 May 13 - No Cached
  • The growing resistance of pathogenic microorganisms against antimicrobial agents has generated a search for alternative treatments for localized infections.
  • In this study we have demonstrated that it is possible to rapidly photoinactivate S. aureus when present in a burn wound with PTMPP as PS
Abdirizak Abdi

Bacteria Adapt and Evade Nanosilver's Sting - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...130508093058.htm

shared by Abdirizak Abdi on 08 May 13 - No Cached
  • Abdirizak Abdi on 08 May 13
     
    Although nanosilver has effective antimicrobial properties against certain pathogens, it can cause other potentially harmful organisms to rapidly adapt and flourish, a new study reveal...Hmmm!!
Tiffany Arcand

Scientists Find Bacteria Where It Isn't Supposed to Be: The Brain - The Daily Beast - 0 views

www.thedailybeast.com/...-supposed-to-be-the-brain.html

shared by Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13 - No Cached
  • The researchers found these bacterial molecules in brain samples from people with HIV, as well as people with no known infectious disease but who had undergone brain surgery
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      So in immunocompromised individuals, as well as those whose brains have been exposed to the operating room - which as we learned in class, can still house bacteria despite all precautions taken.
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      Sneaky, sneaky viruses!
  • If living bacteria help to maintain brain health in some way, disruptions to them, for example from antibiotics, could contribute to disease
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      It will be interesting to see what they discover as they research this more. My guess it that the bacteria in the brain are both beneficial and harmful.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Dyes injected into the brain, meanwhile, tended not to appear in the body
    • Tiffany Arcand
      Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
       
      Wouldn't a shot into the brain kill you, or at least be very painful?
  • Last fall, for instance, researchers found male genetic material in the brains of women (who almost certainly were not born with it). Perhaps during pregnancy, the scientists suggested, cells from male fetuses had crossed the placenta and entered the women’s bodie
  • Scientists have discovered, for instance, that HIV hides inside white blood cells that enter the brain in order to look for pathogens; they call this the Trojan horse strategy
  • a mind-bending concept
  • Tiffany Arcand on 01 Apr 13
     
    Bacteria Can Bypass Blood-Brain Barrier? It's a surprise to researchers who believed the brain-blood barrier created an impenetrable fortress. How are molecules from dirt getting into white matter-and what are they doing up there? 
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