Development of a novel sequence based real-time PCR assay for specific and sensitive detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei in clinical and environmental matrices.

Background: Melioidosis, caused by the category B biothreat agent Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a disease with a high mortality rate and requires an immediate culture-independent diagnosis for effective disease management. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive qPCR assay for specific detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei and melioidosis disease diagnosis based on a novel target sequence.

Methods: An extensive in-silico analysis was done to identify a novel and highly conserved sequence for developing a qPCR assay.

Development of a Novel Internally Controlled HrpB1 Gene-Based Real-Time qPCR Assay for Detection of Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Background: Melioidosis, caused by category B bioterrorism agent Burkholderia pseudomallei, is a seasonal disease of tropical and subtropical regions with a high mortality rate. An early and culture-independent detection of B. pseudomallei is required for the appropriate disease management and prevention.

Immunoassay-based evaluation of rOmp28 protein as a candidate for the identification of species.

Brucellosis is an important bacterial zoonosis, re-emerging as a serious public health concern in developing countries. Two major species, and , cause recurrent facile infection in human. Therefore, rapid and accurate diagnosis for early disease control and prevention is needed in areas with low disease burden.

Emergence and expansion of highly infectious spike protein D614G mutant SARS-CoV-2 in central India.

COVID-19 has emerged as global pandemic with largest damage to the public health, economy and human psyche.The genome sequence data obtained during the ongoing pandemic are valuable to understand the virus evolutionary patterns and spread across the globe. Increased availability of genome information of circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains in India will enable the scientific community to understand the emergence of new variants and their impact on human health.

Development and validation of immunoassay for whole cell detection of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis.

Brucella is alpha-2 Proteobacteria mainly responsible for multi-factorial bacterial zoonotic disease brucellosis with low concentration (10-100 CFU) required to establish the infection. In this study, we developed sandwich ELISA with detection range of 10 to 10 cells mL and limit of detection at 10 cells mL by employing polyclonal rabbit IgG (capture antibody, 10 µg mL) and mice IgG (detection antibody, 50 µg mL) antibody for its detection. Surface Plasmon Resonance evaluated the interaction of detection antibody with whole cell spiked serum samples at LOD of 10 cells mL along with non co-operative interaction of protein albumin.

Development of a Rapid and Sensitive Colorimetric Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay: A Novel Technology for the Detection of From Minimally Processed Clinical Samples.

Q fever is an important zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium . The agent is considered as a potential agent for bioterrorism because of its low infectious dose, aerial route of transmission, resistance to drying, and many commonly used disinfectants. Humans are largely infected by the inhalation of aerosols that are contaminated with parturition products of infected animals as well as by the consumption of unpasteurized milk products.

Cloning, expression and purification of virB10 protein of Brucella melitensis and evaluation of its role as a serological marker for Brucella infection in experimental and natural host.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by various species of the genus Brucella. The control of this disease mainly depends on its accurate and early diagnosis. Culture methods employed for diagnosis are time consuming and require well equipped biosafety level 3 laboratories and hence serological tests are favored alternative for brucellosis diagnosis.

Evaluation of recombinant porin (rOmp2a) protein as a potential antigen candidate for serodiagnosis of Human Brucellosis.

Background: Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease caused by different Brucella species and human brucellosis is commonly prevalent in different states of India. Among various Brucella species, B. melitensis is most pathogenic to human and included as category B biothreat which can cause infection through aerosol, cut, wounds in skin and contact with infected animals.

DNA-probe-target interaction based detection of Brucella melitensis by using surface plasmon resonance.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) immunosensor using 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) modified gold (4-MBA/Au) SPR chip was developed first time for the detection of Brucella melitensis (B. melitensis) based on the screening of its complementary DNA target by using two different newly designed DNA probes of IS711 gene. Herein, interaction between DNA probes and target molecule are also investigated and result revealed that the interaction is spontaneous.

Isolation & characterization of Brucella melitensis isolated from patients suspected for human brucellosis in India.

Background & Objectives: Brucellosis is endemic in the southern part of India. A combination of biochemical, serological and molecular methods is required for identification and biotyping of Brucella. The present study describes the isolation and biochemical, molecular characterization of Brucella melitensis from patients suspected for human brucellosis.

Cloning, expression and purification of outer membrane protein (OmpA) of Burkholderia pseudomallei and evaluation of its potential for serodiagnosis of melioidosis.

Melioidosis is an emerging infectious disease in India and caused by gram-negative, soil saprophyte bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei. This disease is endemic in Southeast Asia and northern Australia, and sporadic cases of melioidosis are also reported from southern states of India. The present study reports the cloning, expression, and purification of recombinant protein outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of B.

Isolation, identification and characterization of Burkholderia pseudomallei from soil of coastal region of India.

Melioidosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by a free living soil dwelling Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. The disease is endemic to most parts of Southeast Asia and northern Australia and the organism has been isolated from moist soil and water. In India clinical cases are recently reported from the states of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Assam, West Bengal, Pondicherry and Tripura.

Development and comparative evaluation of a plate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on recombinant outer membrane antigens Omp28 and Omp31 for diagnosis of human brucellosis.

Brucellosis is an important zoonotic infectious disease of humans and livestock with worldwide distribution and is caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella. The diagnosis of brucellosis always requires laboratory confirmation by either isolation of pathogens or detection of specific antibodies. The conventional serological tests available for the diagnosis of brucellosis are less specific and show cross-reactivity with other closely related organisms.

Biological activity, design, synthesis and structure activity relationship of some novel derivatives of curcumin containing sulfonamides.

Five series of curcumin derivatives with sulfonamides 3a-3e, 4a-4e, 5a-5e, 6a-6e and 7a-7e have been synthesized and evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activity against selected medically important gram-(+) and gram-(-) bacterial species viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, and antifungal activity against few pathogenic fungal species viz. Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Trichoderma viride and Curvularia lunata.

Fed batch fermentation and purification strategy for high yield production of Brucella melitensis recombinant Omp 28 kDa protein and its application in disease diagnosis.

Brucellosis is a disease caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Brucella. It affects cattle, goat, sheep, dog and humans. The serodiagnosis of brucellosis involves detection of antibodies generated against the LPS or whole cell bacterial extracts, however these tests lack sensitivity and specificity.

Synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial activity of 4H-pyrimido[2,1-b]benzothiazole, pyrazole and benzylidene derivatives of curcumin.

A novel, one-pot, simple, efficient procedure for 4H-pyrimido[2,1-b]benzothiazole (4a-h), pyrazole (6a-d) and benzylidene (7a-d) derivatives of curcumin under solvent and solvent free conditions in microwave with good yield is have been synthesized. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and Providencia rettgeri and antifungal activity against fungi viz Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigates, Aspergillus flavus.

Optimization and efficient purification of recombinant Omp28 protein of Brucella melitensis using Triton X-100 and β-mercaptoethanol.

The high level expression of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli often leads to the formation of inclusion bodies that contain most of the expressed protein held together by non-covalent forces. The inclusion bodies are usually solubilized using strong denaturing agents like urea and guanidium hydrochloride. In this study recombinant Omp28 (rOmp28) protein of Brucella melitensis was expressed in two different vector systems and further efficient purification of the protein was done by modification in buffers to improve the yield and purity.

Design, synthesis, synergistic antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of 4-aryl substituted 3,4-dihydropyrimidinones of curcumin.

3,4-Dihydropyrimidinones of curcumin were synthesized in excellent yield by multi-component one-pot condensation of curcumin, substituted aromatic aldehydes and urea/thiourea under solvent free conditions using SnCl(2)·2H(2)O catalyst. All the synthesized compounds have been characterized by IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, Mass spectra as well as elemental analyses. The synthesized compounds 4a-n were evaluated for their synergistic antimicrobial (antibacterial and antifungal) activity against bacteria and fungi.

Biological warfare agents.

The recent bioterrorist attacks using anthrax spores have emphasized the need to detect and decontaminate critical facilities in the shortest possible time. There has been a remarkable progress in the detection, protection and decontamination of biological warfare agents as many instrumentation platforms and detection methodologies are developed and commissioned. Even then the threat of biological warfare agents and their use in bioterrorist attacks still remain a leading cause of global concern.

Cloning and expression of the immunoreactive Brucella melitensis 28 kDa outer-membrane protein (Omp28) encoding gene and evaluation of the potential of Omp28 for clinical diagnosis of brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a disease caused by Gram-negative, facultative, intracellular bacteria belonging to the genus Brucella. It is an emerging zoonosis, and an economically important infection of humans and livestock with a worldwide distribution. Human infection is known to occur through consumption of infected raw milk, milk products and undercooked or raw meat.

Synthesis and antimalarial evaluation of cyclic beta-amino acid-containing dipeptides.

This paper describes an efficient synthesis and the antiparasitic evaluation of cyclic beta-amino acid-containing dipeptides 3.1-3.6 and 4.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel bicyclic beta-lactams as potential antimalarials.

A series of bicyclic N-substituted and unsubstituted beta-lactams were synthesized and evaluated as targeted potential antimalarials. The compounds MNR4 and MNR5 were found to have highest potency against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro.

Clinical trials of a new immunochromatographic test for diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Goa.

Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein-2 (PfHRP-2) based immunochromatographic test kit (ICT Malaria Pf) for the rapid diagnosis of P. falciparum malaria was evaluated at the clinic of Malaria Research Centre (Field Station), Goa. Of the 98 febrile patients screened, 22 were ICT positive for P.

Control of Culex quinquefasciatus with Bacillus sphaericus in Vasco City, Goa.

In a locality (Sada) of Vasco City, Goa, India, that was highly infested with mosquitoes, weekly spraying of Bacillus sphaericus (strain 101, serotype H 5a 5b) at the rate of 1 g/m2 in polluted water habitats, viz, surface drains, cess pits, cess pools, and septic tanks, resulted in a sharp decline in the immature and adult populations of Culex quinquefasciatus. The per man-hour adult densities, percent habitat positivity, and immature densities were significantly lower (P < 0.001) in the treated area compared to the control area through out the study period.