The present disclosure provides a biosensor for detecting the presence of and/or the amount of at least one fungal plant pathogen in a sample, comprising: a support structure; at least two interdigitated electrodes coupled to the support structure, wherein at least one of the interdigitated electrodes is functionalized with a linker coupled to at least one biological component that recognizes the at least one fungal plant pathogen; and an impedance measurement circuit coupled to the at least two interdigitated electrodes. The present disclosure also provides methods of detecting the presence of and/or the amount of at least one fungal plant pathogen in a sample, methods of making the biosensor described herein, as well as methods and uses of using the herein described biosensor for detecting the presence of and/or amount of at least one fungal plant pathogen.

The present invention provides a hybridoma cell under the accession number CGMCC No. 13827. The hybridoma cell is capable of producing a monoclonal antibody against Aspergillus galactomannan antigen and a kit is prepared using the same. The kit provided by the present invention can specifically bind to the GM antigen, has both sensitivity and specificity of more than 95%, a detection limit of 0.85 ng/mL compared to 1 ng/mL of the existing product, and high compliance rate between the detection result and the reference reagent, and can provide more accurate and reliable detection results, so that IA can be detected early in the course of the disease and the patients can receive treatment in timely and effective manner, thereby improving the survival rate of patients. Moreover, the kit has simple and convenient operation, rapid and sensitive detection, which provides an effective tool for the quantitative detection of Aspergillus GM antigen.

The invention provides methods for rapid isolation of microorganisms from positive culture sterile body fluids, including blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), pleural fluid, ascitic fluid, pericardial effusion, joint cavity fluid, vitreous fluid, and amniotic fluid for mass spectrometry identification. Whenever the subject of blood culture is discussed, the intended sample used is always related to blood sample. However, it is also necessary to be aware that other than the blood sample, sterile fluids can also be inoculated as samples for blood culture testing. Among the sterile fluids that are commonly known are CSF, pleural fluid, ascitic fluid, pericardial effusion, joint cavity fluid, vitreous fluid, amniotic fluid etc. The methods involve combining micro-volume positive blood culture sample with detergent solution to lyse human blood cells, then isolating the microorganism by differential centrifugation process that first removes interfering substances such as charcoal (when present), resins and human blood cellular debris through a low speed centrifugation, then isolates the microorganisms in the sample supernatant through a fast centrifugation. The methods not only apply to regular blood culture media but also apply to antimicrobial removal containing media such as resin containing BD BACTEC Plus-Aerobic media and charcoal-containing Biomerieux BacT/Alert FA media. In addition, the methods can isolate a variety of Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and yeast in clinical settings. The isolated microorganism(s) from positive blood culture can be used for multiple downstream analyses, including identification of the microorganism(s) by mass spectrometry, phonotypical, or molecular identification methods.

A method for extracting a mycotoxin, when present, from a sample. Compositions and methods include the use of high ionic strength compositions including compositions that include many amine and/or carboxyl groups such as protein based, amino acid based and polyethylene glycol based composition.

The invention relates to a method of identifying a specific fungal species in patient tissue or body fluid. The method comprises the steps of extracting and recovering DNA of the fungal species from the patient tissue or body fluid, amplifying the DNA, hybridizing a probe to the DNA to specifically identify the fungal species, and specifically identifying the fungal species. The invention also relates to a method of identifying a mycotoxin in patient tissue or body fluid. The method comprises the steps of extracting and recovering the mycotoxin from the patient tissue or body fluid, contacting the mycotoxin with an antibody directed against the mycotoxin, and identifying the mycotoxin. Both of these methods can be used to determine if a patient is at risk for or has developed a disease state related to a fungal infection, and to develop an effective treatment regimen for the patient.

Methods and apparatus for rapid, culture and/or label free pathogen detection. The methods utilize optical spectroscopy techniques to identify and/or characterize pathogens in a sample via the detection of unique properties and/or analytes that are specific to particular pathogens.

Presented herein, in certain aspects, are compositions that comprise novel toxin proteins, the nucleic acids that encode them, and/or portions thereof, which toxins are expressed by fungi of the Mucorales order and are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of Mucormycosis. Also presented herein, in certain aspects, are methods of detecting the presence or absence of novel fungal toxins and/or the nucleic acids that encode them in a sample, which methods can be used to identify the presence of Mucorales in a subject. Methods and/or compositions presented herein can be used to prevent and/or treat a Mucorales infection.

The present invention relates to means and method for isolating naturally-occurring microorganisms (non-pathogenic bacteria, yeasts or fungi) capable of binding toxins from microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeasts, or protozoans and/or receptors for these toxins on the surface of mammalian cells, thereby making these receptors inaccessible for said toxins. The naturally-occurring microorganisms that are obtainable by the means and methods of the present invention can be used for adsorbing toxins from pathogenic microorganisms and/or blocking receptors for such toxins on the surface of mammalian cells. These toxin-receptor interactions are known to be critical for disease pathogenesis, making both the toxins and receptors a target for the naturally-occurring microorganisms of the present invention.

The method for particle analysis includes a first magnetic susceptibility measurement step S4 of measuring a volume magnetic susceptibility of each of first particles p1; an encapsulation treatment step S5 of performing an encapsulation treatment so that the first particles p1 encapsulate an encapsulation target component pt smaller than the first particles p1; a second magnetic susceptibility measurement step S8 of measuring a volume magnetic susceptibility of each of second particles p2 as an analysis target that are the first particles p1 after the encapsulation treatment; and a step S9 of analyzing whether or not the encapsulation target component pt is encapsulated in the second particles p2 based on a result of measurement in the first magnetic susceptibility measurement step S4 and a result of measurement in the second magnetic susceptibility measurement step S8.

A method to extract a mycotoxin, or a plurality of mycotoxins, from a sample carrier into a solvent solution. The mycotoxin may have been an initially airborne mycotoxin initially captured by a filter that functions as the sample carrier. The method may generally include the steps of at least partially immersing or wetting the sample carrier within a solvent solution carried by a vessel; agitating the sample carrier within the solvent solution to extract at least some of the mycotoxin from the sample carrier; and removing the sample carrier from the vessel.