Publications by authors named "Brian Couger"

Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on the pathogen causing tularaemia, highlighting its significance as a global zoonotic threat and the need for consistent genome characterization to identify important genetic features.
  • The analysis of genomes from two felines and one human revealed that 97.7% of genes were part of a core genome, with all isolates being classified as sequence type A based on genetic variations.
  • Findings indicated that while most virulence genes were core components, an antibiotic resistance gene was present in all isolates, and phylogenetic comparisons showed similarities with other isolates from the Central and South-Central USA, emphasizing the importance of extensive genome analysis for understanding pathogen behavior and distribution.
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The genome of a multidrug-resistant strain of Bibersteinia trehalosi isolated from a calf with chronic pneumonia is presented. The draft genome sequences have been deposited at DDBJ/ENA/GenBank.

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Biotechnologists are interested in thermo tolerant fungi to manufacture enzymes active and stable at high temperatures, because they provide improved catalytic efficiency, strengthen enzyme substrate interactions, accelerate substrate enzyme conversion rates, enhance mass transfer, lower substrate viscosity, lessen contamination risk and offer the potential for enzyme recycling. Members of the genus live a wide variety of lifestyles, some embrace GRAS status routinely employed in food processing while others such as are human pathogens. produces melanins, pyomelanin protects the fungus against reactive oxygen species and DHN melanin produced by the gene cluster confers the gray-greenish color.

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Mannheimia haemolytica is a major bacterial contributor to bovine respiratory disease complex that costs the livestock industry a billion dollars a year in USA. Commercial vaccines are only partially efficacious under field conditions. Earlier studies found that outer membrane protein preparations and culture supernatants can induce immune responses that enhance resistance to challenge by M.

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Biomass is abundant, renewable and useful for biofuel production as well as chemical priming for plastics and composites. Deconstruction of biomass by enzymes is perceived as recalcitrant while an inclusive breakdown mechanism remains to be discovered. Fungi such as Myceliophthora thermophila M77 appear to decompose natural biomass sources quite well.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lameness in broiler chickens poses serious animal welfare and financial problems, particularly exacerbated by the use of wire flooring during rearing.
  • Researchers have identified the bacterium Staphylococcus agnetis as a key player in causing lameness through bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis in chickens.
  • The study involved sequencing the genome of S. agnetis, revealing unique traits and virulence factors that set it apart from other staphylococcal pathogens, suggesting a need for further research into its evolution and impact on domestic animals.
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A variety of extremely challenging biological sequence analyses were conducted on the XSEDE large shared memory resource Blacklight, using current bioinformatics tools and encompassing a wide range of scientific applications. These include genomic sequence assembly, very large metagenomic sequence assembly, transcriptome assembly, and sequencing error correction. The data sets used in these analyses included uncategorized fungal species, reference microbial data, very large soil and human gut microbiome sequence data, and primate transcriptomes, composed of both short-read and long-read sequence data.

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