A novel barcoded nanopore sequencing workflow of high-quality, full-length bacterial 16S amplicons for taxonomic annotation of bacterial isolates and complex microbial communities.

Due to recent improvements, Nanopore sequencing has become a promising method for experiments relying on amplicon sequencing. We describe a flexible workflow to generate and annotate high-quality, full-length 16S rDNA amplicons. We evaluated it for two applications, namely, (i) identification of bacterial isolates and (ii) species-level profiling of microbial communities.

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 total immunoglobulin and neutralising antibody responses in healthy blood donors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal observational study.

Introduction: Quantifying antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and neutralising antibodies may help to understand protection at the individual and population levels. Determination of neutralising antibodies using classical virus neutralisation tests (VNT) is considered the gold standard, but they are costly and time-intensive. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based surrogate VNTs (sVNT) or anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain immunoglobulins (anti-S-RBD Ig) may be suitable alternatives to VNTs.

Multicenter Technical Validation of 30 Rapid Antigen Tests for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 (VALIDATE).

During COVID19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs) were marketed with minimal or no performance data. We aimed at closing this gap by determining technical sensitivities and specificities of 30 RATs prior to market release. We developed a standardized technical validation protocol and assessed 30 RATs across four diagnostic laboratories.

Colistin resistance in Gram-negative bacteria analysed by five phenotypic assays and inference of the underlying genomic mechanisms.

Background: Colistin is used against multi-drug resistant pathogens, yet resistance emerges through dissemination of plasmid-mediated genes (mcr) or chromosomal mutation of genes involved in lipopolysaccharide synthesis (i.e. mgrB, phoPQ, pmrCAB).