Stickstoff- und Kohlenstoffverbindungen im interstellaren Staub verraten, wie Sterne entstehen. Diese Moleküle haben Weltraumforscher:innen mit hochauflösender Rotationsspektroskopie detektiert dazu die Verhältnisse All Labor nachgestellt. Wie organische Reaktionen nukleophile Substitution auf Molekülebene ablaufen, lässt sich Molekularstrahlmethoden herausfinden. Streumethoden dienen dazu, Obe...

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-positive spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Human infection occurs after the ingestion, inhalation, or cutaneous inoculation of B. anthracis spores. The subsequent progression of the disease is largely mediated by two native virulence plasmids, pXO1 and pXO2, and is characterized by septicemia, toxemia, and meningitis. In order to produc...

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for the rapid simultaneous detection of category A select bacterial agents (Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis) and parasitic pathogens (Leishmania species) in blood using the Cepheid Smart Cycler platform. B. anthracis (Sterne) and Yersinia. pseudotuberculosis were used in the assay for optimization for B. anthracis and Y. pestis, r...

Human vaccination with BioThrax requires six injections followed by annual boosters. This makes it difficult for the compliance of the immunization program and underscores the need for development of a new and optimized vaccination protocol. Current research aims to demonstrate the proof of concept to develop a needle-free mucosal immunization protocol using a murine anthrax model. A/J mice wer...

Three proteins, protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF; a calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase), compose the lethal (PA + LF) and edema (PA + EF) toxins secreted by Bacillus anthracis. Mutant strains, each deficient in the production of one toxin component, were constructed, and their virulence was then studied. A kanamycin resistance cassette was inserted in each c...