241 documents found, page 1 of 25
Bacteriocin production by Escherichia coli during biofilm development
Fokt, Hanna; Cleto, Sara Luz Areosa; Oliveira, Hugo Alexandre Mendes; Araújo, Daniela; Castro, Joana Isabel Reis; Cerca, Nuno; Vieira, M. J.Escherichia coli is a highly versatile bacterium ranging from commensal to intestinal pathogen, and is an important foodborne pathogen. E. coli species are able to prosper in multispecies biofilms and secrete bacteriocins that are only toxic to species/strains closely related to the producer strain. In this study, 20 distinct E. coli strains were characterized for several properties that confer competitive adva...
Rheology and soft tribology of thickened dispersions aiming the development of ...
Vieira, M. J.; Oliveira Jr, F. D.; Salvaro, D. B.; Maffezzolli, G. P.; Mello, J. D. B. de; Vicente, A. A.; Cunha, R. L.Dysphagia is a swallowing disorder that mainly affects elderly but can be minimized by thickening of liquid foods. Flaxseed gum (FG) was studied as a potential alternative thickener for dysphagia patients in comparison to commercial thickeners based on xanthan gum (XG) and modified starch (MS). Rheological and tribological responses of biopolymer-based thickening solutions (0.75 â 3 % w/w) incorporated in diffe...
Establishment of a new PNA-FISH method for Aspergillus fumigatus identification...
Cerqueira, Laura; Moura, Sara; Almeida, Carina; Vieira, M. J.; Azevedo, Nuno FilipeAspergillus fumigatus is the main causative agent of Invasive Aspergillosis. This mold produces conidia that when inhaled by immunocompromized hosts can be deposited in the lungs and germinate, triggering disease. In this paper, the development of a method using peptide nucleic acid-fluorescence in situ hybridization (PNA-FISH) is described. The PNA-FISH probe was tested in several strains and a specificity and...
Women vs. men in takotsubo cardiomyopathy
Margarida Oliveira, M.; Bento, Dina; Santos, R.; Vieira, M. J.; Antunes, H.; Reis, L.; Ruivo, C.; Faria, R.; Marreiros, Ana; Almeida, A. R.Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is a cardiac syndrome characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction in the absence of coronary artery disease. It usually affects postmenopausal women but it can also affect men. Differences between genders regarding TCM are still not clearly defned.
Water-induced modulation of Helicobacter pylori virulence properties
Guimarães, N.; Azevedo, N. F.; Vieira, M. J.; Figueiredo, C.While the influence of water in Helicobacter pylori culturability and membrane integrity has been extensively studied, there are little data concerning the effect of this environment on virulence properties. Therefore, we studied the culturability of water-exposed H. pylori and determined whether there was any relation with the bacterium’s ability to adhere, produce functional components of pathogenicity and in...
A new colorimetric peptide nucleic acid-based assay for the specific detection ...
Almeida, Carina; Constante, Diogo; Ferreira, André; Cerqueira, L.; Vieira, M. J.; Azevedo, N. F.Aim: Developments on synthetic molecules, such as peptide nucleic acid (PNA), make FISH procedures more robust for microbial identification. Fluorochromes use might hinder a broader implementation of PNA-FISH, but colorimetric applications are inexistent so far. Methods: A biotin-labeled eubacteria probe was used to develop a colorimetric PNA-in situ hybridization (ISH) assay. An enzymatic-conjugate, targeting ...
Peptide nucleic acid probe, kit and method for detection and/or quantification ...
Almeida, Carina; Sousa, J.; Rocha, Rui; Cerqueira, Laura; Vieira, M. J.; Azevedo, N.PNA is a synthetic molecule analogue to DNA that, due to its physicochemical properties, allows a faster analysis with higher sensitivity and specificity than the DNA probes. These probes are combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), a molecular biology technique that allows the direct visualization of the microorganisms in the sample. The combination of these two technologies rendered the FISH p...
Genome sequence of Serratia plymuthica V4
Cleto, S.; Van der Auwera, G.; Almeida, Carina; Vieira, M. J.; Vlamakis, H.; Kolter, R.Serratia spp. are gammaproteobacteria and members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Here, we announce the genome sequence of Serratia plymuthica strain V4, which produces the siderophore serratiochelin and antimicrobial compounds.
Enterobactin : like siderophore gene cluster induction in Cronobacter sakazakii...
Carvalho, Joana; Fokt, Hanna; Cleto, S.; Almeida, Carina; Vieira, M. J.Species belonging to the recently described Cronobacter genus, include several opportunistic foodborne pathogens. These pathogens are capable of causing severe infections in neonates, such as meningitis, septicaemia and necrotizing enterocolitis. Bacterial virulence has been previously correlated with ferric iron acquisition systems. It is known that all plasmid-harbouring Cronobacter species produce an active ...
Rapid detection of urinary tract infections caused by Proteus spp. using PNA-FISH
Almeida, Carina; Azevedo, N. F.; Bento, Joana C.; Cerca, Nuno; Ramos, H.; Vieira, M. J.; Keevil, C. W.We developed a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method for the rapid detection of Proteus spp. in urine, using a novel peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probe. Testing on 137 urine samples from patients with urinary tract infections has shown specificity and sensitivity values of 98 % (95 % CI, 93.2–99.7) and 100 % (95 % CI, 80,8–100), respectively, when compared with CHROMagar Orientation medium. Results ind...