Described herein are engineered microbe-targeting molecules, microbe-targeting articles, kits comprising the same, and uses thereof. Such microbe-targeting molecules, microbe-targeting articles, or the kits comprising the same can bind or capture of a microbe or microbial matter thereof, and can thus be used in various applications, such as diagnosis or treatment of an infection caused by microbes in a subject or any environmental surface.

Disclosed are immunogenic proteins from Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as nucleic acids, vectors and transformed cells useful for expression of the proteins. Also disclosed are methods for prophylaxis of infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa using the proteins, nucleic acids, vectors or transformed cells.

The purpose of the present invention is to: provide an agent that effectively suppresses inhibition of antigen-antibody reaction in an immunoassay using a sample containing a body fluid, in particular, a component derived from a biological mucosal membrane, such as saliva; and to suppress false positive and false negative results in the immunoassay. The present invention provides an agent for suppressing inhibition of immune reaction, characterized in that the agent comprises a compound of the following (1) or (2): (1) Sulfonic acid compound of the formula R.sup.1—SO.sub.3H or a salt thereof. (In the formula, R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of: a straight-chain C.sub.5-C.sub.30 alkyl group; a straight-chain C.sub.1-C.sub.30 alkyl group substituted with an aryl group having at least one straight-chain C.sub.5-C.sub.30 alkyl group; and an aryl group having at least one straight-chain C.sub.5-C.sub.30 alkyl group. These groups may include a substituent group); and (2) Quaternary ammonium ion of the formula N.sup.+—R.sup.2R.sup.3R.sup.4R.sup.5 or a salt thereof. (In the formula, R.sup.2—R.sup.5 are each independently a straight-chain C.sub.1-C.sub.30 alkyl group, or an aryl group substituted with at least one straight-chain C.sub.5-C.sub.30 alkyl group. These groups may include a substituent group); wherein the agent is capable of suppressing immune reaction inhibitory action caused by a body fluid in an immunoassay sample.

The present invention relates to a method for detection, identification, and/or quantification of one or more microbes, microbial peptides, or compounds of microbial origin, comprising the steps of: (a). contacting an object, a substance, or a sample with a luminescent conjugated oligothiophene (LCO); (b). detecting at least one signal of the luminescent conjugated oligothiophene (LCO) of a); and (c). based on said at least one detected signal in b), determining the presence, identity, and/or quantity of the one or more microbes, microbial peptides, or compounds of microbial origin on said object or in said sample. The present invention further relates to diagnostics and a method of diagnosis of microbes, microbial peptides, or compounds of microbial origin.

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to the fields of microbiology, ecology and microfluidics. Particularly, the invention disclosed herein provides compositions and methods for isolating bacteria from complex microbial communities and measuring growth rates of the isolated bacteria in a given environmental condition.

A testing method is described for use in undertaking a test upon a sample (10) for the presence of a specific microbiological material, the method comprising the steps of combining the sample (10) with a viability-preserving medium, optionally with an enrichment medium (12) selected to promote growth and/or reproduction of the specific microbiological material within the sample (10) and incubating the sample (10) and enrichment material (12), undertaking a separation process to separate the live specific microbiological material from the sample (10), and testing the separated material for the presence of the specific microbiological material. An apparatus for use in the method is also described.

The present disclosure relates to biofragment compositions that comprise bioparticle fragments and at least one heterologous antigen-binding molecule. In some embodiments, the biofragment is typically derived from a larger, intact bioparticle that express the at least one heterologous antigen-binding molecule at the surface, and the biofragment has increased solubility to facilitate assays for antigen detection. The disclosure also relates the related methods of using and making the biofragment compositions, as well as systems and devices implementing the biofragment compositions. In some embodiments, the related methods, systems and devices do not require additional detection reagents, such as animal derived detection antibodies.

The present invention provides a diagnostic method which may be used to determine the likelihood that a subject with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) will respond to treatment with an IBS intervention diet. In particular, the method may be used to predict, or determine the likelihood of, a positive response of the subject with IBS to treatment with an IBS intervention diet, especially to determine the likelihood that the dietary intervention may have a positive (i.e. beneficial) effect on the subject's GI tract, specifically the GI tract microbiota, or other symptoms or complications of IBS (e.g. reducing severity thereof). The method of the present invention is based on analysing the abundance of certain bacteria in GI tract samples, e.g. by nucleic acid analysis.

The present invention relates to the fields of collagenase production and collagenase products, and particularly to improving the reproducibility, purity, and stability of collagenase I and collagenase II compositions, where the compositions are pure to at least 95% by area as measured by reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and essentially free of neutral protease.

Muramic acid measurements in acid hydrolysed digesta samples are used to measure the activity of peptidoglycan hydrolyzing enzyme, as illustrated by the use of a muramidase, as determined by the degree of peptidoglycan hydrolysis, in the gastrointestinal tract of animals fed supplements with the muramidase.