Development of a novel sequence based real-time PCR assay for specific and sensitive detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei in clinical and environmental matrices.

Background: Melioidosis, caused by the category B biothreat agent Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a disease with a high mortality rate and requires an immediate culture-independent diagnosis for effective disease management. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive qPCR assay for specific detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei and melioidosis disease diagnosis based on a novel target sequence.

Methods: An extensive in-silico analysis was done to identify a novel and highly conserved sequence for developing a qPCR assay.

Development of a Novel Internally Controlled HrpB1 Gene-Based Real-Time qPCR Assay for Detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Background: Melioidosis, caused by category B bioterrorism agent Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a seasonal disease of tropical and subtropical regions with a high mortality rate. An early and culture-independent detection of B. pseudomallei is required for the appropriate disease management and prevention.

Immunoassay-based evaluation of rOmp28 protein as a candidate for the identification of species.

Brucellosis is an important bacterial zoonosis, re-emerging as a serious public health concern in developing countries. Two major species, and , cause recurrent facile infection in human. Therefore, rapid and accurate diagnosis for early disease control and prevention is needed in areas with low disease burden.

Emergence and expansion of highly infectious spike protein D614G mutant SARS-CoV-2 in central India.

COVID-19 has emerged as global pandemic with largest damage to the public health, economy and human psyche.The genome sequence data obtained during the ongoing pandemic are valuable to understand the virus evolutionary patterns and spread across the globe. Increased availability of genome information of circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains in India will enable the scientific community to understand the emergence of new variants and their impact on human health.

Development and validation of immunoassay for whole cell detection of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis.

Brucella is alpha-2 Proteobacteria mainly responsible for multi-factorial bacterial zoonotic disease brucellosis with low concentration (10-100 CFU) required to establish the infection. In this study, we developed sandwich ELISA with detection range of 10 to 10 cells mL and limit of detection at 10 cells mL by employing polyclonal rabbit IgG (capture antibody, 10 µg mL) and mice IgG (detection antibody, 50 µg mL) antibody for its detection. Surface Plasmon Resonance evaluated the interaction of detection antibody with whole cell spiked serum samples at LOD of 10 cells mL along with non co-operative interaction of protein albumin.