A new immunochromatographic assay for on-site detection of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus based on monoclonal antibodies prepared by using cell surface fluorescence immunosorbent assay.

BACKGROUND: Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly effective pathogen that can cause death of new-born piglet, resulting in big economical loss in pig farming industry. For rapid detection of PEDV, a new immunochromatographic assay (ICA) based on monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was developed in this study. RESULTS: The mAbs were prepared by using PEDV positive hybridoma cells that were selected by using cell surface fluorescence immunosorbent assay (CSFIA). Fourteen mAbs against PEDV strain isolated from south of China were prepared. The optimal mAb 4A11 was coated on NC membrane as the capturing reagent and the mAb A11H7 was coupled to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as detection reagent for the new ICA. The new ICA was used to measure PEDV in phosphate buffer containing tween-20. Results indicated that the limit of detection (LOD) of the new ICA was 0.47 µg/mL (5.9 × 103 TCID50/mL) and the liner detection range of the ICA was 0.625-10 µg/mL (7.8 × 103-105 TCID50/mL). The specificity analysis results showed that this new ICA had no cross reaction in the presence of other porcine viruses. The ICA was also validated for the detection of PEDV in swine stool samples with little interference from swine stool. To compare its accuracy to other traditional detection methods, 27 swine stool samples from south of China were investigated with the new developed ICA, commercial strip and RT-PCR. Results showed that the new ICA was more comparable to RT-PCR than commercial test strip. CONCLUSIONS: A new ICA based on mAbs prepared by CSFIA was developed in this study. It was a sensitive, specific and rapid method that could be used for on-site detection of PEDV and therefore was useful for the diagnosis and prevention of PED.

Development of Serotype-Specific PCR Assays for Typing of Haemophilus parasuis Isolates Circulating in Southern China.

The bacterium Haemophilus parasuis is the specific pathogenic cause of Glässer's disease in swine. Fifteen serotypes of H. parasuis have been reported. A method to serotype H. parasuis isolates accurately would help to prevent and control Glässer's disease outbreaks through appropriate vaccination and to understand the epidemiology in specific geographic areas. However, according to traditional serotyping, the rate of nontypeable (NT) strains is 10 to 40%, which gives low accuracy. In the present study, we developed a set of PCR assays that are able to identify all the currently known H. parasuis serotypes, with a detection limit of 5 CFU. This PCR method is particularly useful to distinguish serotype 5 from serotype 12. We then surveyed the serotype prevalence of H. parasuis isolates from southern China using both the traditional indirect hemagglutination (IHA) and current PCR methods. Of the 298 isolates tested, 228 (76.51%) and 281 (94.30%) were serotyped by the IHA and PCR tests, respectively, with a concordance rate of 80.87% (241/298). The most prevalent serotypes obtained by PCR were 4, 5, 12, 13, NT, and 2, and the most prevalent obtained by IHA were NT, 5, 4, 12, 13, and 2. In conclusion, the PCR assays developed in this study provide a rapid and specific method for the molecular serotyping of H. parasuis.

Genetic evolution and phylogenetic analysis of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus strains circulating in and outside China with reference to a wild type virulent genotype CHYJ130330 reported from Guangdong Province, China.

During the last decade, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has detrimental consequences on swine industry, due to severe outbreaks especially in the suckling piglets. In March 2013, an outbreak was reported on a commercial swine farm in Guangdong Province, Southern China. A wild-type PEDV strain named as CHYJ130330 was identified, complete genome was sequenced and deposited in GenBank (accession no. KJ020932). The molecular epidemiological including evolutionary characteristics and pathogenicity assessment were explored during this study with particular interest and focus to develop this candidate strain for new vaccine. The isolates from China pre- and post-2013 shared 96.5-97.2% and 97-99% nt identity respectively with wild-type CHYJ130330 strain which during experimental studies has demonstrated high virulence and 100% mortality in 104 TCID50 group piglets within 5 days. The 22 reference strains selected from other parts of the world shared 98-99% identity with our sequence except Chinese (CV777) and S. Korean (vir.DR13, SM98 and atten.DR13) strains sharing 96.8, 97.6, 96.6 and 97.1% identity respectively. The phylogenetic tree revealed most strains reported after 2013 in GII genogroup while the prototype (CV777), S.korean and earlier Chinese (JS2008, 85-7mutant, Atten.vaccine, SD-M, LZC and CH/S) were GI Group. The amino acid sequence of CHYJ130330 E and M protein is highly conserved while ORF3 and N protein having 9 and 17 amino acid substitutions respectively in comparison to CV777 strain. The comparison of full length genome and the structural proteins revealed variations signifying that PEDV variant strains are still the main source of outbreaks in spite of continuous vaccination and also explain the variable trend of large scale outbreaks during this decade as compared to sporadic tendency of disease found before 2010. It is evident from this study that Chinese strains display significant level of mixing with the strains reported from other countries. The strain CHYJ130330 was also adapted successfully to Vero cell line and has shown high virulence in piglets. The information/findings will be helpful to develop a strategy for control of PEDV and have also shown that CHYJ130330 strain has strong virulence and is a more popular clinical strain in recent years, which has the potential to be developed into PEDV vaccine.

Offshore wind farm operation contributed to a slight improvement in seawater quality along the Jiangsu Coast, China.

The rapid growth of offshore wind farms (OWFs) is driven by concerns for energy security and climate change mitigation. However, their impact on marine environments remains poorly understood due to limited research. This study analyzes the effects of an OWF along China's Jiangsu Coast on seawater quality using data from different development phases. Results show the major pollutants were different across phases. Heavy metal pollution reached alert levels during construction compared to the safe levels observed in the pre-construction and operational phases, mainly due to increases in Pb, Cd, and Hg concentrations. Eutrophication was mild throughout all periods but exhibited a continuous decrease, primarily attributed to reductions in PH and COD concentrations. As a result, the comprehensive pollution level during construction was increased, but it was improved to a clean level during the operational phase. Besides, significant variations were observed in the spatial distribution patterns of major pollutant indices across different scenarios. These changes may stem from a combination effect of land-based pollution, aquaculture, OWF-induced disturbances to atmosphere and hydrodynamics, OWF-related drain and leakage contamination, and marine management policies. Understanding these effects informs OWF optimization, rational wind resource utilization, and marine ecology protection.

Protective Mechanisms of Various Active Substances on Cell DNA Damage and Apoptosis Induced by Deoxynivalenol.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a secondary metabolite of fungi that is harmful to humans and animals. This study examined the protective effects of natural substances, including resveratrol, quercetin, vitamin E, vitamin C, and microbe-derived antioxidants (MA), on both human gastric mucosal cells (GES-1) and pig small intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-1) when induced by DON. Cells were incubated with active substances for 3 h and then exposed to DON for 24 h. The oxidative stress index, cell cycle, and apoptosis were measured. As compared to cells treated only with DON, pretreatment with active substances improved the balance of the redox status in cells caused by DON. Specifically, quercetin, vitamin E, vitamin C, and MA showed the potential to alleviate the G2 phase cell cycle arrest effect that was induced by DON in both kinds of cells. It was observed that vitamin E and vitamin C can alleviate DON-induced apoptosis and the G2 phase cycle arrest effect mediated via the ATM-Chk 2-Cdc 25C and ATM-P53 signaling pathways in GES-1 cells. In IPEC-1 cells, vitamin C and MA can alleviate both DON-induced apoptosis and the G2 phase cycle arrest effect via the ATM-Chk 2-Cdc 25C signaling pathway. Different bioactive substances utilize different protective mechanisms against DON in interacting with different cells. The proper addition of vitamin E and vitamin C to food can neutralize the toxic effect of DON, while the addition of vitamin C and MA to animal feed can reduce the harm DON does to animals.

DON induced DNA damage triggers absence of p53-mediated G2 arrest and apoptosis in IPEC-1 cells.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) stands among the prevalent mycotoxins, and usually contaminates cereal foods and animal feed, leading to human and animal clinical poisoning symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. To date, the mechanism of toxicity of DON in different mammalian cells is not fully elucidated. In this study, we explored the detrimental impacts of DON on porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-1), serving as a representative model for porcine intestinal epithelial cells. After treating cells with DON for 24 h, DON can significantly inhibit the activity of cells, induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), significantly reduce the content of glutathione and the activity of catalase, and increase the activity of superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde, leading to an imbalance in intracellular redox status. In addition, DON can induce DNA double-strand breaks, and decrease mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, DON can promote the release of Cyt C through changes in mitochondrial permeability through inhibit the expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) proteins, leading to apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. On the other hand, we found that DON can cause IPEC-1 cells G2 phase cycle arrest. Different with our pervious study, DON induces cell cycle arrest in the G2 phase only by activating the ATM-Chk2-Cdc 25 C pathway, but cannot regulate the cell cycle arrest via the ATM-p53 pathway. These results indicate that DON can induce the same toxic phenotype in different cells, but its toxic mechanism is different. All these provide a rationale for revealing DON induced cytotoxicity and intestinal diseases.

A filter pad design-based multiplexed lateral flow immunoassay for rapid simultaneous detection of PDCoV, TGEV, and PEDV in swine feces.

Swine Enteric Coronaviruses (SECoVs), with high lethality and infectiousness, are the main pathogens causing fatal and watery diarrhea in piglets and spreading globally. Moreover, these SECoVs can cause similar clinical manifestations and are often co-infected, requiring an accurate assay suitable for rapid, in situ, and differential detection. Here, we developed a multiplexed fluorescent-based lateral flow immunoassay (mFB-LFIA) for the detection of three SECoVs, including porcine delta coronaviruses (PDCoV), transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), in swine fecal samples. Thanks to the filter pad design and reasonable optimization, the mFB-LFIA was achieved within 15 min for three SECoVs detection simultaneously and improved the tolerance of the strips for feces samples. The limit of detection (LoD) of detecting PDCoV, TGEV, and PEDV were 2.1 × 104 TCID50 mL-1, 3.4 × 102 TCID50 mL-1, and 3.6 × 102 TCID50 mL-1, respectively. Additionally, the proposed assay was successfully applied to the detection of PDCoV, TGEV, and PEDV in swine feces with high accuracy. Compared with the gold standard nucleic acid testing, the total coincidence rate of the proposed assay was more than 90 %. Moreover, the mFB-LFIA performed excellent stability and repeatability. The proposed mFB-LFIA allows for rapid, in situ, more cost-effective and simultaneous detection of PDCoV, TGEV, and PEDV compared with nucleic acid testing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe a multiplexed point-of-care assay capable of detecting PDCoV, TGEV, and PEDV in swine fecal samples. We believe our approach has a great potential for application to pig farm.

Development of a Transcriptional Factor PuuR-Based Putrescine-Specific Biosensor in Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Corynebacterium glutamicum is regarded as an industrially important microbial cell factory and is widely used to produce various value-added chemicals. Because of the importance of C. glutamicum applications, current research is increasingly focusing on developing C. glutamicum synthetic biology platforms. Because of its ability to condense with adipic acid to synthesize the industrial plastic nylon-46, putrescine is an important platform compound of industrial interest. Developing a high-throughput putrescine biosensor can aid in accelerating the design-build-test cycle of cell factories (production strains) to achieve high putrescine-generating strain production in C. glutamicum. This study developed a putrescine-specific biosensor (pSenPuuR) in C. glutamicum using Escherichia coli-derived transcriptional factor PuuR. The response characteristics of the biosensor to putrescine were further improved by optimizing the genetic components of pSenPuuR, such as the response promoter, reporter protein, and promoter for controlling PuuR expression. According to the findings of the study, pSenPuuR has the potential to be used to assess putrescine production in C. glutamicum and is suitable for high-throughput genetic variant screening.

Development of an accurate lateral flow immunoassay for PEDV detection in swine fecal samples with a filter pad design.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), as the main causative pathogen of viral diarrhea in pigs, has been reported to result in high morbidity and mortality in neonatal piglets and cause significant economic losses to the swine industry. Rapid diagnosis methods are essential for preventing outbreaks and transmission of this disease. In this study, a paper-based lateral flow immunoassay for the rapid diagnosis of PEDV in swine fecal samples was developed using stable color-rich latex beads as the label. Under optimal conditions, the newly developed latex bead-based lateral flow immunoassay (LBs-LFIA) attained a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 103.60 TCID50/mL and no cross-reactivity with other related swine viruses. To solve swine feces impurity interference, by adding a filtration unit design of LFIA without an additional pretreatment procedure, the LBs-LFIA gave good agreement (92.59%) with RT-PCR results in the analysis of clinical swine fecal samples (n = 108), which was more accurate than previously reported colloidal gold LFIA (74.07%) and fluorescent LFIA (86.67%). Moreover, LBs-LFIA showed sufficient accuracy (coefficient of variance [CV] < 15%) and stable (room temperature storage life > 56 days) performance for PEDV detection, which is promising for on-site analysis and user-driven testing in pig production system. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44149-021-00029-1.

EuNPs-mAb fluorescent probe based immunochromatographic strip for rapid and sensitive detection of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), induced by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes acute diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration and high mortality in neonatal piglets, resulting in significant economic losses in the pig industries. In this study, an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) based on a EuNPs-mAb fluorescent probe was developed and optimized for rapid detection of PEDV. The limit of detection (LOD) of the ICA was 0.218 µg/mL (2.725 × 103 TCID50/mL) and its linear detection range was 0.03125-8 µg/mL (3.91 × 102-105 TCID50/mL). The ICA was also validated for the detection of PEDV in swine stool samples. 60 swine stool samples from southern China were analyzed by the ICA and RT-PCR, and the results showed that the coincidence rate of the ICA to RT-PCR was 86.67%, which was significantly higher than that of AuNPs based ICA. The ICA is sensitive and specific and can achieve on-site rapid detection of swine stool samples. Therefore, the ICA has a great potential for PED diagnosis and prevention.

[Characterization of Salmonella typhimurium multidrug resistance and the reversal of antimicrobial resistance].

Salmonella typhimurium 17Y, isolated from one diseased pig that was clinically diagnosed as pig salmonellosis, was a multiresistance strain with resistance to 14 antibiotics among tested 19 antibiotics. In this study, the resistance to 11 antimicrobials was reversed by high temperature and high concentration (0.5%) of SDS, resulting in the sensitive strain 17S1. PCR results showed that the resistant genes BlaTEM, blaOXA-1, cat 1, tet (B), aacC2 located on the plasmid. Furthermore, PCR detected the class I integron which carries dhfrX II for trimethoprim resistance, aadA18b for aminoglycoside resistance and sull for sulfamethoxazole resistance. The integron was identified to exist in the plasmid. Because the target genes gyrA and parC for quinolone category were detected by PCR from both resistant and sensitive strains, it was determined that the genes gyrA and parC were located in the bacterial genome. The gene sequencing of gyrA and parC revealed that a point mutation AAC --> GAC resulting in one amino acid replacement of N87D in gyrA occurred for the sensitive strain 17S1. It was demonstrated that the amino acid 87 was a hot point for mutation in quinolone resistance determining region (QRDR). The finding suggests that the amino acid replacement of N87D is responsible for the quinolone susceptibility. In addition, the 100 continuous passages of the sensitive strain showed that the drug sensitive status was stable. However, when the drug pressure maintained for a long time, the resistance was induced again. Meanwhile, 6 salmonella plasmid virulence genes (spvA-D, R and rck) were eliminated with the resistance reversal, indicating that the virulence plasmid was cured. Reasonably, the bacterial virulence decreased shown by 10- fold increase of LD50 for the sensitive strain, and the statistical significant decline of in vivo spread and growth (P < 0.05) in mice. Taken altogether, the multidrug resistance of Salmonella typhimurium was determined by its plasmid. The plasmid elimination with SDS reversed most of the resistance (11/14) and decreased the bacterial virulence. Therefore, strategy to eliminate the plasmids would be an effective way to deal with the multiresistance issue. However, drug control in routine clinical practice would not be neglected at any time.

Two Glycosyltransferase Genes of Haemophilus parasuis SC096 Implicated in Lipooligosaccharide Biosynthesis, Serum Resistance, Adherence, and Invasion.

Haemophilus parasuis is a common opportunistic pathogen known for its ability to colonize healthy piglets and causes Glässer's disease. The lipooligosaccharide (LOS) of H. parasuis is a potential virulence-associated factor. In this study, two putative glycosyltransferases that might be involved in LOS synthesis in H. parasuis SC096 were identified (lgtB and lex-1). Mutants were constructed to investigate the roles of the lgtB and lex-1 genes. The LOS from the ΔlgtB or Δlex-1 mutant showed truncated structure on silver-stained SDS-PAGE gel compared to the wild-type strain. The ΔlgtB and Δlex-1 mutants were significantly more sensitive to 50% porcine serum, displaying 15.0 and 54.46% survival rates, respectively. Complementation of the lex-1 mutant restored the serum-resistant phenotype. Additionally, the ΔlgtB and Δlex-1 strains showed impaired ability to adhere to and invade porcine kidney epithelial cells (PK-15). The above results suggested that the lgtB and lex-1 genes of the H. parasuis SC096 strain participated in LOS synthesis and were involved in serum resistance, adhesion and invasion.

Two-way antigenic cross-reactivity between porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and porcine deltacoronavirus.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PdCV) cause indistinguishable clinical signs and pathological changes in swine. Here we investigated the antigenic relationship between PEDV and PdCV. We provide the first evidence that conserved epitope(s) on the respective viral nucleocapsid proteins cross-react with each other although virus neutralization cross-reactivity was not observed. As a practical matter, prevention of these two very similar diseases of swine will require the development of separate virus-specific vaccine products.

Protective effect of carvacrol on acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in mice.

Carvacrol, the major component of Plectranthus amboinicus, has been known to exhibit anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of carvacrol on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia and acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. Mice were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with LPS and the mortality of mice for 7 days were observed twice a day. Meanwhile, the protective effect of carvacrol (20, 40 or 80 mg/kg) on LPS-induced endotoxemia were detected. Using an experimental model of LPS-induced ALI, we examined the effect of carvacrol in resolving lung injury. The results showed that carvacrol could improve survival during lethal endotoxemia and attenuate LPS-induced ALI in mice. The anti-inflammatory mechanisms of carvacrol may be due to its ability to inhibit NF-κB and MAPKs signaling pathways, thereby inhibiting inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1ß production.

Complete Genome Sequence of CHYJ130330, a Highly Virulent Strain of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus in South China.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) strain CHYJ130330 was isolated from southern China and shown to be highly virulent when inoculated into neonatal pigs. This report describes the complete genome sequence of CHYJ130330. These data will provide important insights into the variation of PEDV in China.

FimH alleles direct preferential binding of Salmonella to distinct mammalian cells or to avian cells.

This study aimed to determine whether allelic variants of the FimH adhesin from Salmonella enterica confer differential bacterial binding to different types of mammalian cells [murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) and HEp-2 cells] and chicken leukocytes. Although the type 1 fimbriated S. enterica serovar Typhimurium strains AJB3 (SR-11 derivative) and SL1344 both aggregated yeast cells, only the former bound efficiently to DCs and HEp-2 cells. Type 1 fimbriae-mediated binding to DCs having previously been shown to require the FimH adhesin and to be inhibited by mannose, FimH sequences from strains SL1344 and AJB3 were compared and found to differ by only one residue, asparagine 158 in SL1344 being replaced by a tyrosine in AJB3. The importance of residue 158 for FimH-mediated binding was further confirmed in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing S. enterica type 1 fimbriae with a variety of substitutions engineered at this position. Additional studies with the 'non-adhesive' FimH of a type 2 fimbriated S. enterica serovar Gallinarum showed that this FimH did not mediate bacterial binding to murine DCs or HEp-2 cells. However, the type 2 FimH significantly improved bacterial adhesion to chicken leukocytes, in comparison to the type 1 FimH of strain AJB3, attributing for the first time a function to the type 2 fimbriae of S. enterica. Consequently, our data show that allelic variation of the S. enterica FimH adhesin directs not only host-cell-specific recognition, but also distinctive binding to mammalian or avian receptors. It is most relevant that this allele-specific binding profile parallels the host specificity of the respective FimH-expressing pathogen.

[Construction and characterization of delta crp delta asd mutant host-vector balanced lethal system of Salmonella choleraesuis C500 strain].

Salmonella choleraesuis C500 strain was an attenuated vaccine strain to prevent piglet paratyphoid, attenuated by chemical method. Although the vaccine has good immunogenicity, it remains some residual virulence. In order to develop a safer vaccine strain and exploit C500 as a live vaccine vector for mucosal immunization, delta crp delta asd double deletion mutant was constructed. Firstly, the recombination suicide vector with 320 bp-deleted crp (cAMP receptor protein) gene and sacB (sucrose-sensitive gene) gene was constructed and conjugated with C500. The unmarked crp deleted strain without resistance was selected by two-step method and crp deletion on the genome was determined by PCR. Then the asd (beta-aspartic semialdehyde dehydrogenase) gene was further deleted in the delta crp strain by the same method. Foreign DAP (diaminopimelic acid) must be supplied for delta crp delta asd mutant to grow. The phenotype, growth properties and virulence in mice of delta crp mutant were further characterized. In conclusion, the delta crp delta asd double-deletion mutant was successfully constructed. The delta crp delta asd mutant can be used as a live vector to express foreign genes and to develop potential oral multivalent vaccines.