Development and evaluation of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification combined with au-nanoprobe assay for rapid detection of .

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has been proposed as an inexpensive and easy to perform assay for molecular diagnostics. We present a novel strategy for the detection of LAMP amplicons derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis by the use of Au-nanoprobes. When applied to a total of 93 clinical specimens, the LAMP assay demonstrated sensitivity and specificity higher than that of polymerase chain reaction and culture.

Characterization of two distinct phospholipase C enzymes from Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a serious bacterial pathogen that can cause a lethal infection in humans known as melioidosis. In this study two of its phospholipase C (PLC) enzymes (Plc-1 and Plc-2) were characterized. Starting with a virulent strain, two single mutants were constructed, each with one plc gene inactivated, and one double mutant with both plc genes inactivated.