The term toxin was introduced by Roux and Yersin and describes macromolecular substances that, when produced during infection or when introduced parenterally or orally, cause an impairment of physiological functions that lead to disease or to the death of the infected organism. Long after the discovery of toxins, early genetic studies on bacterial virulence demonstrated that removing a certain ...

Bacteria are one of the major factors shaping the evolutionary landscape of all eukaryotic organisms including humans. Bacterial epidemics, which have taken hundreds of millions of human lives in the observable history, are arguably some of the most vivid and cruel manifestations of natural selection. The history of co-evolution of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms is ingrained in their orga...

The lesions produced by the Shwartzman and Arthus phenomena, as well as those produced by bacterial toxin and foreign sera in the normal rabbit, are spread by testicle extract over a larger area than would normally take place. With this spreading of the lesions there is a definite reduction in their intensity. Lesions produced by invasive strains of staphylococcus at high dilutions or non-invas...

The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is a popular heterologous expression host for the recombinant production of a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins. The rapid emergence of P. pastoris as a robust heterologous expression host was facilitated by the ease with which it can be manipulated and propagated, which is comparable to that of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae....

Bacteria active against dipteran larvae (mosquitoes and black flies) include a wide variety of Bacillus thuringiensis and B. sphaericus strains, as well as isolates of Brevibacillus laterosporus and Clostridium bifermentans. All display different spectra and levels of activity correlated with the nature of the toxins, mainly produced during the sporulation process. This paper describes the stru...

The majority of industrial enzymes available at present is used in food industry. Safety regulations of food enzymes differ among countries, including fundamental aspects, whether a pre-market approval is needed and on the level of details, e.g. what particular information manufacturers have to provide in the course of safety evaluation. Occupational safety concerns focus on allergenic properti...

Although the clinical syndrome of sepsis is a major problem in equine neonates, the pathophysiology of this condition remains incomplete. Because the term sepsis describes a broad range of disorders with different underlying causes and often different prognoses, the understanding of this process is further complicated. Continued progress is being made, however, in defining the syndromes associa...