Immunoinformatics study on highly expressed Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes during infection.

The most important targets for vaccine development are the proteins that are highly expressed by the microorganisms during infection in-vivo. A number of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) proteins are also reported to be expressed in-vivo at different phases of infection. In the present study, we analyzed multiple published databases of gene expression profiles of Mtb in-vivo at different phases of infection in animals and humans and selected 38 proteins that are highly expressed in the active, latent and reactivation phases.

Expression of a cryptic secondary sigma factor gene unveils natural competence for DNA transformation in Staphylococcus aureus.

It has long been a question whether Staphylococcus aureus, a major human pathogen, is able to develop natural competence for transformation by DNA. We previously showed that a novel staphylococcal secondary sigma factor, SigH, was a likely key component for competence development, but the corresponding gene appeared to be cryptic as its expression could not be detected during growth under standard laboratory conditions. Here, we have uncovered two distinct mechanisms allowing activation of SigH production in a minor fraction of the bacterial cell population.

Discovery of Paragonimus proliferus in Northern Vietnam and their molecular phylogenetic status among genus Paragonimus.

During an epidemiological survey for Paragonimus and paragonimosis in northern Vietnam, we found extremely large excysted metacercariae (2.50 +/- 0.14 mm in length and 0.

Description of a new lung fluke species, Paragonimus vietnamensis sp. nov. (Trematoda, Paragonimidae), found in northern Vietnam.

Based on morphology of metacercariae and adult worms together with molecular data from our previous study, we describe herein a new lung fluke species named Paragonimus vietnamensis sp. nov. Metacercariae of this new species is round and extremely large in size (nearly 800 mum in diameter) having a fragile outer cyst of variable thickness and a thin fragile inner cyst.

Morphological and molecular identification of two Paragonimus spp., of which metacercariae concurrently found in a land crab, Potamiscus tannanti, collected in Yenbai Province, Vietnam.

Paragonimosis is an important food-borne zoonosis especially in Asian countries. Among Paragonimus species, Paragonimus westermani followed by P. skrjabini complex are the major pathogens for human paragonimosis in Asia.

Growth of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei on tofu whey.

The liquid by-product of the soybean product tofu, tofu whey (TW), was used as a growth medium for the production of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei LG3 cultures. The TW used in this study contained stachyose, raffinose, sucrose, fructose and glucose, but the strain used could only utilize the three latter.