Optimization of the preparation of a spiny spore high-concentrated Aspergillus brasiliensis suspension.

This work aimed to improve some steps of the existing guidelines of the European Standards to obtain an Aspergillus brasiliensis ATCC 16404 spore suspension with >75% spiny spores without mycelia and a concentration of at least 1.5×108 CFU ml-1. Several manufacturers' combinations "strain/medium" were assessed in terms of yield of spiny spores.

Enhancement of microbicidal efficacy of chemical disinfectants when combined with ultrasound technology.

Aims: This study investigated the antimicrobial efficacy of ultrasound technology (US) in combination with two different disinfectants (Disinfectant A and Disinfectant B), containing peracetic acid (PAA) and quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), respectively, against two sporigenic pathogens, Aspergillus brasiliensis and Bacillus subtilis.

Methods And Results: The microbicidal activity of the coupled treatment was compared with the use of the disinfectants alone, and the efficacy of the disinfection strategies was evaluated by the log reduction of the population of the microorganism inoculated onto stainless-steel surface. The combination treatment resulted in a log reduction of 5.

Hep3B human hepatoma cells support replication of the wild-type and a 5'-end deletion mutant GB virus B replicon.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and GB virus B (GBV-B) replicons have been reported to replicate only in Huh7 cells. Here we demonstrate that subpopulations of another human hepatoma cell line, Hep3B, are permissive for the GBV-B replicon, showing different levels of enhancement of replication from those of the unselected parental cell population. Adaptive mutations are not required for replication of the GBV-B replicon in these cells, as already demonstrated for Huh7 cells.

Replication and IRES-dependent translation are both affected by core coding sequences in subgenomic GB virus B replicons.

The yield of G418-resistant Huh7 cell clones bearing subgenomic dicistronic GB virus B (GBV-B) is significantly affected by the insertion of a portion of the viral core gene between the GBV-B 5' untranslated region and the exogenous neomycin phosphotransferase selector gene (A. De Tomassi, M. Pizzuti, R.

Cell clones selected from the Huh7 human hepatoma cell line support efficient replication of a subgenomic GB virus B replicon.

Tamarins (Saguinus species) infected by GB virus B (GBV-B) have recently been proposed as an acceptable surrogate model for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The availability of infectious genomic molecular clones of both viruses will permit chimeric constructs to be tested for viability in animals. Studies in cells with parental and chimeric constructs would also be very useful for both basic research and drug discovery.