Publications by authors named "Swee Seong Tang"

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) causes highly destructive infection in crustacean aquaculture, often resulting in 100% mortality within a week. However, there is lack of studies addressing the safety issues of WSSV vaccines in shrimps. In this study, WSSV VP28 mRNA vaccines were developed using codon deoptimization approach.

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The rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in recent times has prompted the search for new and more potent antibiotics. Bacteriophages (commonly known as phages) are viruses that target and infect their bacterial hosts. As such, they are also a potential alternative to antibiotics.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria has led to increased interest in bacteriophages, which are viruses that can specifically kill bacteria and may serve as an alternative to antibiotics.
  • - Research indicates that phage therapy is generally safe for both animals and humans, but there is a lack of consistent and comprehensive data on phage safety monitoring.
  • - This review aims to address the knowledge gap in phage safety for treating MDR infections by discussing phage applications, preparation, administration, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.
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Unlabelled: Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery and a severe form of shigellosis. This dysentery is usually restricted to infection, but and enteroinvasive strains are also known as this infection's causative agents. The emergence of drug-resistant, bacillary dysentery-causing pathogens is a global burden, especially for developing countries with poor hygienic environments.

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Vaccinia virus (VACV) was the vaccine used to eradicate smallpox and is being repurposed as a vaccine vector. CD8 T cells are key anti-viral mediators, but require priming to become effector or memory cells. Priming requires an interaction with dendritic cells that are either infected (direct priming), or that have acquired virus proteins but remain uninfected (cross priming).

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Bacteria are the most common aetiological agents of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and use a variety of mechanisms to evade the host immune system. With the emerging antibiotic resistance, CAP-causing bacteria have now become resistant to most antibiotics. Consequently, significant morbimortality is attributed to CAP despite their varying rates depending on the clinical setting in which the patients being treated.

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Article Synopsis
  • Water pollution from the textile industry is a significant global issue, with Malachite Green dye being a major contaminant found in textile wastewater.
  • The study focused on isolating and characterizing bacteria capable of degrading Malachite Green dye from textile effluents and optimizing growth conditions for effective dye degradation.
  • Two bacterial strains were identified (spp. CV-S1 and spp. CM-S1) that can completely decolorize Malachite Green dye at concentrations up to 15 mg/L, demonstrating their potential for use in textile wastewater treatment.
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-infected bacillary dysentery or commonly known as Shigellosis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The gradual emergence of multidrug resistant spp. has triggered the search for alternatives to conventional antibiotics.

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Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), the self-defence products of organisms, are extensively distributed in plants. They can be classified into several groups, including thionins, defensins, snakins, lipid transfer proteins, glycine-rich proteins, cyclotides and hevein-type proteins. AMPs can be extracted and isolated from different plants and plant organs such as stems, roots, seeds, flowers and leaves.

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Industrial effluent containing textile dyes is regarded as a major environmental concern in the present world. Crystal Violet is one of the vital textile dyes of the triphenylmethane group; it is widely used in textile industry and known for its mutagenic and mitotic poisoning nature. Bioremediation, especially through bacteria, is becoming an emerging and important sector in effluent treatment.

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Background: Shigella spp. are the primary causative agents of bacillary dysentery. Since its emergence in the late 1980s, the S.

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Glucosyltransferases (Gtrs) and O-acetyltransferase (Oac) are integral membrane proteins embedded within the cytoplasmic membrane of Shigella flexneri. Gtrs and Oac are responsible for unidirectional host serotype conversion by altering the epitopic properties of the bacterial surface lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen. In this study, we present the membrane topology of a recently recognized Gtr, GtrIc, which is known to mediate S.

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The O antigen of serotype 1c differs from the unmodified O antigen of serotype Y by the addition of a disaccharide (two glucosyl groups) to the tetrasaccharide repeating unit. It was shown here that addition of the first glucosyl group is mediated by the previously characterized gtrI cluster, which is found within a cryptic prophage at the proA locus in the bacterial chromosome. Transposon mutagenesis was performed to disrupt the gene responsible for addition of the second glucosyl group, causing reversion to serotype 1a.

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Polyclonal sera from typhoid patients and a monoclonal antibody, mAb ATVi, which recognizes the capsular polysaccharide Vi antigen (ViCPS), were used to select for peptides that mimic the ViCPS by using a phage-displayed random 12-mer peptide library. Two major common mimotopes selected from the library carried the amino acid sequences TSHHDSHGLHRV and ENHSPVNIAHKL. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) showed that these peptides carry mimotopes to ViCPS.

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The capsular polysaccharide Vi antigen (ViCPS) is an essential virulence factor and also a protective antigen of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. A random 12-mer phage-displayed peptide library was used to identify mimotopes (epitope analogues) of this antigen by panning against a ViCPS-specific monoclonal antibody (MAb) ATVi. Approximately 75% of the phage clones selected in the fourth round carried the peptide sequence TSHHDSHGLHRV, and the rest of the clones harbored ENHSPVNIAHKL and other related sequences.

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