Rapid detection of Panton-Valentine leukocidin in Staphylococcus aureus cultures by use of a lateral flow assay based on monoclonal antibodies.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus, which is associated with skin and soft-tissue infections and necrotizing pneumonia. To develop a rapid phenotypic assay, recombinant PVL F component was used to generate monoclonal antibodies by phage display. These antibodies were spotted on protein microarrays and screened using different lukF-PV preparations and detection antibodies.

Distribution of Clostridium difficile strains from a North American, European and Australian trial of treatment for C. difficile infections: 2005-2007.

Clostridium difficile is a widely distributed pathogen with multiple strain types as determined by restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) and by PCR ribotyping, two well-characterized typing systems. In this study, REA typing was performed on 894C. difficile isolates from patients enrolled from 16 countries on three continents in two large, recently conducted clinical treatment trials of C.

Comparative genomic hybridization detects secondary chromosomal deletions in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 mutants and highlights instability in the flhDC region.

The use of whole-genome microarrays for monitoring mutagenized or otherwise engineered genetic derivatives is a potentially powerful tool for checking genomic integrity. Using comparative genomic hybridization of a number of unrelated, directed deletion mutants in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655, we identified unintended secondary genomic deletions in the flhDC region in delta fnr, delta crp, and delta creB mutants. These deletions were confirmed by PCR and phenotypic tests.