Validation and in-field testing of a new on-site qPCR system for quantification of Legionella pneumophila according to ISO/TS 12869:2012 in HVAC cooling towers.

Legionella pneumophila, found in engineered water systems such as HVAC cooling towers, poses a significant public health risk. Culture, though routinely used to quantify L. pneumophila, has several disadvantages including long turnaround time, low sensitivity, and inter-laboratory variability.

Induction of the unfolded protein response (UPR) during Marek's disease virus (MDV) infection.

Marek's disease (MD) is a pathology of chickens associated with paralysis, immune suppression, and the rapid formation of T-cell lymphomas. MD is caused by the herpesvirus, Marek's disease virus (MDV). We examined endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the activation of unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways during MDV infection of cells in culture and lymphocytes in vivo.

Evaluation and validation of reference gene stability during Marek's disease virus (MDV) infection.

Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) is widely used in the study of relative gene expression in general, and has been used in the field of Marek's disease (MD) research to measure transcriptional responses to infection and/or vaccination. Studies in the past have either employed cellular β-actin (BACT) or glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) as internal reference genes, although the stability of their expression in the context of Marek's disease virus (MDV) infection has never been investigated. In the present study, we compared the stability of five reference genes (BACT, 28S RNA, 18S RNA, GAPDH, Peptidyl-prolyl-isomerase B [PPIB], a.

Sexual dimorphism in the early embryogenesis of the chicken (Gallus Gallus domesticus).

Studies of dioecious animals suggest that sex-specific development occurs from the onset of embryogenesis. This must be accounted for when addressing issues involving sex-ratio regulation in domestic animals and conservation biology. We investigated the occurrence of growth-rate sexual dimorphism in 84 chicken embryos incubated for 30 hr and nucleic-acid abundance in 99 embryos incubated for 4 hr.

Effects of interferon-γ knockdown on vaccine-induced immunity against Marek's disease in chickens.

Interferon (IFN)-γ has been shown to be associated with immunity to Marek's disease virus (MDV). The overall objective of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between IFN-γ and vaccine-conferred immunity against MDV in chickens. To this end, 3 small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting chicken IFN-γ, which had previously been shown to reduce IFN-γ expression in vitro, and a control siRNA were selected to generate recombinant avian adeno-associated virus (rAAAV) expressing short-hairpin small interfering RNAs (shRNAs).