We read with great interest the article by Mendez et al. (2) published in a recent issue evaluating different PCR primers for cytomegalovirus (CMV) detection. As CMV PCR becomes a frequently used assay in the management of immunocompromised patients, such as transplant recipients and human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals, an increasing number of laboratories are establishing in-hous...

The identification of a new murine pathogen, Helicobacter hepaticus, and its association with chronic active hepatitis and liver tumors prompted an evaluation of the prevalence of H. hepaticus in commercially available mice. Of the 28 different strains or stocks, totaling 160 mice from four major commercial vendors, cultured for H. hepaticus, 100% of mice from two outbred strains from one vendo...

This article reviews the development of immobilized-metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) and describes its most important applications. We provide an overview on the use of IMAC in protein fractionation and proteomics, in protein immobilization and detection, and on some special applications such as purification of immunoglobulins and the Chelex method. The most relevant application-purificatio...

A general comprehensive picture of kinetic methodologies in soil heavy metal mobilization research area ispresented in this paper. The author‟s experiences and the existing literature have been analysed and discussedbriefly in terms of merits and disadvantages of each kinetic approach in mobilty and bioavailability prediction.The contribution of three kinetic methodologies including...

Growth rate of individually tagged dogwhelks Nucella lapillus (L.) was measured in free-living individuals at 3 sites of differing heavy metal contamination in the Firth of Clyde, west Scotland. Condition index (CI), concentrations of metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn), metallothionein (MT), RNA (the RNA/protein ratio) and glycogen were also measured. In general, the marine environments of Gourock and ...

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a widely used method to explore in vivo interactions between proteins and DNA. The ChIP assay takes several days to complete, involves several tube transfers and uses either phenol-chlorophorm or spin columns to purify DNA. The traditional ChIP method becomes a challenge when handling multiple samples. We have developed an efficient and rapid Chelex resin...

A bead-injection system is proposed for total mercury determination in river-water samples. The procedure is based on the introduction of a defined quantity of a resin suspension in the flow system. The selected beads are packed inside of a flow cell and the formed resin mini-column constitutes the optical path. The sample volume is then selected, and its passage by the mini-column allows reten...

AIM To report on the successful analysis of amplicons obtained with PowerPlex® Fusion 6C System, a highly robust 27-plex genotyping kit developed for human identification laboratories, on the Applied Biosystems® 3500 Genetic Analyzer. METHOD We performed characterization and evaluation studies following the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) validation guidelines, exami...

When cultured anaerobically in a chemically defined medium that was treated with Chelex-100 to lower its trace metal content, Streptococcus mutans OMZ176 had no apparent requirement for manganese or iron. Manganese or iron was necessary for aerobic cultivation in deep static cultures. During continuous aerobic cultivation in a stirred chemostat, iron did not support the growth rate achieved wit...