bioORMOCER-Compostable Functional Barrier Coatings for Food Packaging.

Biodegradable packaging materials are already in use. However, there are severe restrictions preventing the broad application in food packaging, especially due to insufficient barrier properties. Our idea was to improve these properties with a biodegradable coating.

Fusarium oxysporum degradation and detoxification of a new textile-glycoconjugate azo dye (GAD).

Degradation and detoxification of textile dyes are of interest due to the huge environmental impact of such chemicals. An isolate of Fusarium oxysporum was used to degrade and to detoxify a new chemical class of textile dyes called Glycoconjugate Azo Dye (GAD). After 6 d of growth in a liquid batch culture, the fungus degraded the dye and the culture medium at the end of incubation period showed a ˜100% detoxification compared to the initial dye solution.

PCR ELISA for the quantitative detection of Epstein-Barr virus genome.

A highly sensitive and nonradioactive microplate hybridization assay for the detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product was developed. The PCR product is labelled by adding digoxigenin-dUTP directly to the reaction mixture and, after denaturation, is captured by a microtitre plate coated with an extravidin-linked biotinylated probe. Captured products are reacted with a peroxidase-conjugated anti-digoxigenin antibody and detected using tetramethylbenzidine.

Potential role of the Epstein-Barr virus in systemic lupus erythematosus autoimmunity.

Objective: To investigate the possibility that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the agent of infectious mononucleosis (IM), may play a role in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: EBV was searched for by PCR and by culture isolation in oropharyngeal lavage fluids of 15 SLE patients and, as controls, in 13 IM patients and in 28 healthy individuals with past EBV infection. Computer analysis was performed to select an antigenic domain of the virus-encoded nuclear antigen EBNA-2, in order to set up a synthetic peptide-based immunoassay.

Epitope mapping of the V3 domain of feline immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein by monoclonal antibodies.

A panel of six IgG monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) was produced by immunizing mice with a 22 amino acid synthetic peptide, designated V3.3, of the third variable region of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) envelope glycoprotein. This peptide is known to induce neutralizing antibodies in cats.