Implementation of a one-step real-time RT-PCR protocol for diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease.

An automated one-step real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) protocol was optimised and evaluated for the routine diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Parallel testing of RNA samples (n=257) indicated that this assay has a diagnostic sensitivity at least equivalent to the automated two-step rRT-PCR protocol previously used for the laboratory detection of FMD virus (FMDV). This more rapid and economical one-step protocol will play a key role in contingency planning for any future outbreaks of FMD in the United Kingdom (UK).

TRPV1 is involved in stretch-evoked contractile changes in the rat autonomous bladder model: a study with piperine, a new TRPV1 agonist.

Aim: Vanilloids like capsaicin and resiniferatoxin (RTX) have been used for more than a decade in the treatment of neurogenic detrusor overactivity. Recently, the vanilloid molecule piperine (PIP) has been shown to have similar pharmacological properties as these drugs. In this study, we looked at PIP-effects on autonomous bladder contractile activity, with particular interest for its selectivity for the transient receptor potential channel 1 (TRPV1) receptor.

Development of a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay for detection of marine caliciviruses (genus Vesivirus).

Marine caliciviruses form a distinct lineage within the genus Vesivirus (family Caliciviridae). This group includes vesicular exanthema of swine virus (VESV) and San Miguel sea lion virus (SMSV) and other related viruses which have been proposed to be marine in origin isolated from a variety of terrestrial and marine animals. Rapid and reliable detection of marine caliciviruses is important as these viruses appear to be widespread and can cause vesicular disease in a wide variety of susceptible hosts including pigs and experimentally infected cattle where clinical signs cannot be easily distinguished from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), swine vesicular disease (SVD) and vesicular stomatitis (VS).

Gold catalysis.

Catalysis by gold has rapidly become a hot topic in chemistry, with a new discovery being made almost every week. Gold is equally effective as a heterogeneous or a homogeneous catalyst and in this Review we attempt to marry these two facets to demonstrate this new found and general efficacy of gold. The latest discoveries are placed within a historical context, but the main thrust is to highlight the new catalytic possibilities that gold-catalyzed reactions currently offer the synthetic chemist, in particular in redox reactions and nucleophilic additions to pi systems.

Comparisons of original laboratory results and retrospective analysis by real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR of virological samples collected from confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK in 2001.

There were 2030 designated cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) during the course of the epidemic in the UK in 2001 (including four from Northern Ireland). Samples from 1720 of the infected premises (IPs) were received in the laboratory and examined for either the presence of FMD virus (virological samples from 1421 IPs) or both FMD virus and antibody (virological and serological samples from 255 IPs) or antibody alone (from 44 IPs). The time taken to issue final diagnostic results ranged from a few hours in cases in which positive results were obtained by ELISA on epithelia containing sufficient virus to be detected, to several days for samples containing small amounts of virus requiring amplification through cell culture, negative samples or samples tested for antibody.

Molecular epidemiology of the foot-and-mouth disease virus outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001.

The objective of this study was to quantify the extent to which the genetic diversity of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) arising over the course of infection of an individual animal becomes fixed, is transmitted to other animals, and thereby accumulates over the course of an outbreak. Complete consensus sequences of 23 genomes (each of 8,200 nucleotides) of FMDV were recovered directly from epithelium tissue acquired from 21 farms infected over a nearly 7-month period during the 2001 FMDV outbreak in the United Kingdom. An analysis of these consensus sequences revealed very few apparently ambiguous sites but clear evidence of 197 nucleotide substitutions at 191 different sites.

Efficacy of particle-based DNA delivery for vaccination of sheep against FMDV.

As an alternative strategy to classical inactivated viral vaccine against FMDV, naked DNA vaccine is attractive because of safety, flexibility and low cost. However DNA vaccination is usually poorly efficient in target species. Indeed we found that naked DNA plasmids encoding for P1-2A3C3D and GM-CSF proteins did not induce any detectable immunity against FMDV in sheep.

Chemically induced fast solid-state transitions of omega-VOPO4 in vanadium phosphate catalysts.

Vanadium phosphates are important catalysts for the oxidation of alkanes, and commercial catalysts comprise a complex range of V4+ and V5+ phosphates. We used three complementary in situ characterization methodologies-powder x-ray diffraction and laser Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies-to show that the metastable phase omega-VOPO4 is very sensitive to many of the reactants and products of butane oxidation. A rapid transformation from omega-VOPO4 to delta-VOPO4 occurs on exposure to butane at the reaction temperature, and hence the metastable omega-VOPO4 may play a role in the formation of commercial catalysts.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus: a first inter-laboratory comparison trial to evaluate virus isolation and RT-PCR detection methods.

Five European reference laboratories participated in an exercise to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of their routinely employed RT-PCR tests and cell cultures for the detection and isolation of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus. Five identical sets of 20 coded samples were prepared from 10 vesicular epithelia, which were derived from submissions from suspect cases of FMD or swine vesicular disease (SVD). Sixteen samples were derived from six FMD virus positive epithelia representing four different serotypes (two each of types O and A and one each of types Asia 1 and SAT 2), two from samples which had been found to be negative by antigen ELISA and virus isolation (VI) in cell culture and two from SVD virus positive epithelia.

Molecular epidemiology of African swine fever virus studied by analysis of four variable genome regions.

Variable regions of the African swine fever virus genome, which contain arrays of tandem repeats, were compared in the genomes of isolates obtained over a 40-year period. Comparison of the size of products generated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from four different genome regions, within the B602L and KP86R genes and intergenic regions J286L and BtSj, placed 43 closely related isolated from Europe, the Caribbean, West and Central Africa into 17 different virus sub-groups. Sequence analysis of the most variable fragment, within the B602L gene, from 81 different isolates distinguished 31 sub-groups of virus isolates which varied in sequence and number of a tandem repeat encoding 4 amino acids.

The effect of imatinib mesylate on the contractility of isolated rabbit myometrial strips.

Background: C-kit receptor expressing interstitial cells generate and coordinate the electrical signals that control peristalsis in the gut. However, the function of interstitial cells in the myometrium is not known.

Methods: (1) Sections of rabbit myometrium were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for the c-kit receptor.

Detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus: comparative diagnostic sensitivity of two independent real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assays.

Rapid and accurate diagnosis is central to the effective control of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). It is now recognized that reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays can play an important role in the routine detection of FMD virus (FMDV) in clinical samples. The aim of this study was to compare the ability of 2 independent real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) assays targeting the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) and RNA polymerase (3D) to detect FMDV in clinical samples.

Effect of emergency FMD vaccine antigen payload on protection, sub-clinical infection and persistence following direct contact challenge of cattle.

Previous work, in sheep vaccinated with emergency foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine, indicated the benefit of increasing the antigen payload in inhibiting local virus replication and consequently persistence following an indirect aerosol challenge with a virus homologous to the vaccine strain. The work presented here investigates this possibility further using cattle and a more severe semi-heterologous direct contact challenge. The quantitative dynamics of virus replication and excretion in both vaccinated and non-vaccinated cattle following challenge are examined.

Solvent-free oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes using Au-Pd/TiO2 catalysts.

The oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes with O2 in place of stoichiometric oxygen donors is a crucial process for the synthesis of fine chemicals. However, the catalysts that have been identified so far are relatively inactive with primary alkyl alcohols. We showed that Au/Pd-TiO2 catalysts give very high turnover frequencies (up to 270,000 turnovers per hour) for the oxidation of alcohols, including primary alkyl alcohols.

Utility of automated real-time RT-PCR for the detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus excreted in milk.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) can be excreted in milk and thereby spread infection to susceptible animals in other holdings. The feasibility of using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) as a diagnostic tool for detection of FMDV in milk was assessed by studying the excretion of virus from experimentally-infected cattle. Fore- and machine milk samples were collected over a 4-week period from two dairy cows infected with FMDV and from two in-contact cows held in the same pen.

Tunable gold catalysts for selective hydrocarbon oxidation under mild conditions.

Oxidation is an important method for the synthesis of chemical intermediates in the manufacture of high-tonnage commodities, high-value fine chemicals, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals: but oxidations are often inefficient. The introduction of catalytic systems using oxygen from air is preferred for 'green' processing. Gold catalysis is now showing potential in selective redox processes, particularly for alcohol oxidation and the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide.

Effect of structure of the redox molecular sieve TS-1 on the oxidation of phenol, crotyl alcohol and norbornylene.

A range of crystalline TS-1 samples with different morphologies as well as the corresponding TS-1 precursor structures have been synthesised using hydrothermal crystallisation. The materials have been characterised using powder X-ray diffraction, IR and Raman spectroscopy and electron microscopy. The materials were used as catalysts for the oxidation of crotyl alcohol, phenol and norbornylene and, in particular, the reactivity of the precursor structures was contrasted with crystalline TS-1.

Sequence analysis of the 5' untranslated region of swine vesicular disease virus reveals block deletions between the end of the internal ribosomal entry site and the initiation codon.

Swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV) is a picornavirus closely related to the human pathogen coxsackievirus B5. In common with other picornaviruses, the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of SVDV contains an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) that plays an important role in cap-independent translation. The aim of this study was to use RT-PCR and sequencing to characterize a fragment of the 5' UTR encompassing the entire IRES.

Indirect sandwich ELISA for antigen detection of African swine fever virus: comparison of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies.

Two indirect, sandwich ELISAs are described for use in African swine fever (ASF) diagnosis. One assay uses polyclonal serum raised in rabbits and guinea pigs against the cytoplasmic soluble ASF virus protein and the second, a combination of monoclonal antibody raised against the VP73 protein and rabbit polyclonal serum. Both assays have been shown to detect antigen of representative field strains of phylogenetically distinct groupings of ASF virus but the ELISA, which utilises polyclonal antisera was slightly more sensitive than that using the monoclonal antibody.

Selective oxidation of CO in the presence of H2, H2O and CO2 via gold for use in fuel cells.

An Au/Fe2O3 catalyst prepared using a two-stage calcination procedure achieves target conversion and selectivity for the competitive oxidation of dilute CO in the presence of moist excess H2 and CO2.

Commentary on industrial processes.

A brief commentary on the three papers presented in the session on 'industrial processes' is presented. In particular, emphasis is placed on the factors considered to be crucial for an industrial process, namely: catalyst activity, the selectivity of the overall catalysed reaction and the lifetime over which the performance is observed. Control of selectivity is viewed as being most important, and examples of how this is achieved through the use of membrane reactors and catalyst design are described.

Unexpected promotion of Au/TiO2 by nitrate for CO oxidation.

The catalytic activity for Au/TiO2 for CO oxidation can be significantly enhanced by the addition of nitrates and this may relate to the variable catalyst performance observed in many studies.

Enhanced laboratory diagnosis of foot and mouth disease by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The performance of an automated real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was compared to virus isolation (VI) in cell culture and antigen detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the laboratory diagnosis of foot and mouth disease (FMD). The World Reference Laboratory for FMD in Woking, the United Kingdom, examined a collection of 334 epithelia received from eighteen countries between August 2002 and January 2004. The results showed that all VI positive (n = 195) and VI and ELISA positive samples combined (n = 204) were also positive by RT-PCR.

Asymmetric hydrogenation using chiral Rh complexes immobilised with a new ion-exchange strategy.

Rh diphosphine complexes using DuPhos and JosiPhos as chiral ligands have been immobilised by ion exchange into the mesoporous material MCM-41. When used as catalysts for the enantioselective hydrogenation of dimethyl itaconate and methyl-2-acetamidoacrylate, these heterogeneous catalysts give catalytic performance in terms of yield and enantioselection that are comparable to the corresponding homogeneous catalysts. Furthermore, the heterogeneous catalysts can be readily recovered and reused without loss of catalyst performance.

Catalytic asymmetric heterogeneous aziridination of styrene derivatives using bis(oxazoline)-modified Cu2+-exchanged zeolite Y.

The copper-catalysed aziridination of styrene derivatives using either Cu(OTf)2 as a homogeneous catalyst or copper-exchanged zeolite Y modified as a heterogeneous catalyst with bis(oxazoline) using [N-(p-nitrophenylsulfonyl)imino]phenyliodinane (PhI=NNs) as nitrene donor is described and discussed. For the homogeneously catalysed reaction virtually all the substituted derivatives gave lower yields of the aziridine with lower ee when compared with styrene, although 4-chlorostyrene did give enhanced ee. For the heterogeneous catalysed reaction the styrene derivatives often gave enhanced yield, particularly when the substituent was in the 4-position.