Rapid Identification of OXA-48 and OXA-163 Subfamilies in Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli with a Novel Immunochromatographic Lateral Flow Assay.

We assessed a novel immunochromatographic lateral flow assay for direct identification of OXA-48-like carbapenemases and accurate differentiation of allele variants with distinct substrate profiles (OXA-48 or OXA-163 subfamilies). The assay allowed rapid (less than 4 min) and reliable direct confirmation of OXA-163- and/or OXA-48-like enzymes (with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity) from cultured colonies that were recovered from both solid medium and spiked blood culture bottles.

Evaluation of two new commercial immunochromatographic assays for the rapid detection of OXA-48 and KPC carbapenemases from cultured bacteria.

Background: Rapid detection and confirmation of carbapenemases remains very challenging for diagnostic laboratories.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the performance of two new immunochromatographic (IC) commercial assays for the rapid detection of OXA-48-producing and KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae in pure bacterial isolates.

Methods: A panel of 92 bacterial isolates predominantly including carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae with previously defined carbapenem resistance mechanisms was tested.

Varicella-zoster virus induces the formation of dynamic nuclear capsid aggregates.

The first step of herpesviruses virion assembly occurs in the nucleus. However, the exact site where nucleocapsids are assembled, where the genome and the inner tegument are acquired, remains controversial. We created a recombinant VZV expressing ORF23 (homologous to HSV-1 VP26) fused to the eGFP and dually fluorescent viruses with a tegument protein additionally fused to a red tag (ORF9, ORF21 and ORF22 corresponding to HSV-1 UL49, UL37 and UL36).

Associations between properties linked with persistence in a collection of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine mastitis.

Staphylococcus aureus is recognized worldwide as a pathogen causing many serious diseases in humans and animals, and is one of the most important etiological agents of clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis. The aim of the present study was to investigate and correlate properties, that may be associated with persistent mastitis, of S. aureus strains isolated from milk of cows suffering from mastitis: (i) expression of capsular antigens (CP5 or CP8) by specific ELISA; (ii) intracellular survival by invasion of MAC-T cells; and (iii) biofilm production by spectrophotometry analysis after growth in TSBglc.

Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from milk of bovine mastitis.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among a (S. aureus) collection (n = 430) isolated from milk of cows suffering from mastitis in Belgium and to compare their genotypic as well as phenotypic characteristics. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and PCR-based typing techniques (MLST, spa, SCCmec, and agr typing) have been applied and supplemented by capsule serotyping, biofilm production quantification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.