Described herein are variants of alpha-hemolysin having at least one mutation, such as a mutation to a positive charge. In certain examples, the mutation is selected from V149K, E287R, H35G, T109K, P151K, K147N, E111N, M113A, or combinations thereof in the mature, wild-type alpha-hemolysin amino acid sequence. The -hemolysin variants may also include a substitution at H144A and/or a series of glycine residues spanning residues 127 to 131 of the mature, wild-type alpha hemolysin. Also provided are nanopore assemblies including the alpha-hemolysin variants, the assembly having a decreased time-to-thread. The decreased time-to-thread, for example, increases DNA sequencing efficiency and accuracy.

A method for preparing serotype O foot-and-mouth disease virus-like particles, the method including: construction of small ubiquitin-like modifier fusion expression vector, construction of recombinant expression vectors, construction of recombinant co-expression vector, expression and purification of proteins, and in-vitro assembly of serotype O foot-and-mouth disease virus-like particles. The disclosure also provides a test strip for detecting serotype O foot-and-mouth disease including a bottom board, and a detection layer disposed on the top of the bottom board. A detection line and a control line are disposed on the detection layer. An absorbent layer is disposed at one end of the detection layer close to the control line, and an immuno-gold pad is disposed at the other side of the detection layer close to the detection line. A sample pad is disposed on the top of the immuno-gold pad.

The invention discloses an immunoglobulin-binding magnetic bead, comprising a porous matrix and one or more magnetic particles embedded in said matrix, wherein said matrix comprises a porous polymer and at least 10 mg/ml Fc-binding proteinaceous ligands covalently coupled to said porous polymer.

The present invention relates to proteins and nucleic acids derived from Staphylococcus aureus as well as therapeutic and diagnostic uses of the proteins and nucleic acids.

Disclosed herein are isolated and purified Staphylococcus aureus bi-component leukocidin, referred to herein as LukAB, and its components LukA and LukB, antibodies specific to LukA, antibodies specific to LukB, therapeutic compositions containing LukA and/or LukB, or anti-LukA and/or anti-LukB antibodies, uses of the compositions to treat acute inflammatory conditions or S. aureus infection, methods for identifying inhibitors of LukAB-mediated cytotoxicity of human phagocytes, and methods for using LukAB as a marker to predict severity of S. aureus infection.

The present disclosure comprises a device and accompanying method for determining the presence or absence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a sample. The disclosure includes the following elements: (1) a lateral flow strip for microfluidic manipulation of a sample; (2) a cassette device for containing the lateral flow strip and enabling interface with a detection device; (3) a cassette handler; (4) a luminous reagent delivery device; and (5) an electromagnetic radiation detection device capable of converting chemiluminescent radiation from the lateral flow strip into an output for a user.

There is provided a biosensor for detecting pathogens in a sample. The detection is based on colorimetry. The biosensor comprises one or more particle supports and a magnetic material attached to a planar support. The biosensor embodies magnetic particles that are functionalized using a chemical substrate specific to the pathogens to be detected. The sensor may allow for a simultaneous detection of a plurality of pathogens in the sample. Also, the sensor may be disposable. Moreover, the sensor may be integrated in a portable detection device.

The invention concerns the determination and evaluation of the crystal structure of autolysin E (AtlE) of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), or a crystallizable fragment of AtlE, a method for producing a crystal of AtlE and the respective crystallization kit, and its use in a method for screening an inhibitor of the N-acetylglucosaminidase activity of AtlE, for obtaining atomic spatial relationship data, and for identifying a binding compound of AtlE, e.g. by in silico screening.

The present invention relates to a method for determining the presence of a target microorganism in a biological sample comprising the steps of: providing a strip made of porous material, said strip having at least one fixation zone on which at least one phage exposing a peptide selective for said microorganism is fixed, and a deposition zone, separated from said fixation zone and intended to receive a portion of said biological sample, said phage being bound to a marker in deactivated form; contacting said biological sample with said strip on said deposition zone and eluting said microorganism through said strip so that said microorganism reaches said fixation zone to form a phage-target microorganism complex and release said marker in activated form; detecting said marker in activated form.

The present invention concerns rhodamine based fluorescent probes which have use in detecting coagulase-producing bacterial strains. In particular, wherein the bacterial strain is MRSA or MSSA.