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Lactococcus lactis is widely used in the food industry as a food-grade non-pathogenic bacterium. In this study, we constructed the thymidylate synthase gene ( thyA) deficient strain (NZ9000-3) derived from L. lactis NZ9000 using the Cre- loxP recombination system. Two loxP (lox66 and lox71) sites were integrated into the chromosome at target sites, and the thyA gene was replaced by a chloramphenicol resistance gene ( cat) cassette. The recombination between the two loxP sites was very efficient when the Cre recombinase was expressed by a constructed pNZTS-Cre plasmid, and the thyA-null strain was isolated after removal of the cre gene. Then the relationship between the thyA-null strain and a thymidine requirement was analyzed. Results showed that the thyA gene was successfully knocked out, and the thyA-null strain could not grow well in minimal medium. Afterwards, pMG36e- thyA plasmid was constructed and transformed into NZ9000-3. The good screening efficiency revealed that as the selection marker thyA gene was as efficient as the erythromycin resistance gene, this suggested the thyA gene could be used as a food-grade selection marker for L. lactis to be used in food and industry applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of bacterial infection that is more specific and earlier than fever, changes in white blood cell count, and blood cultures. Congestive heart failure is an important cause of endotoxin resorption from the intestine, which significantly increases PCT expression in noninfected patients with heart failure. The diagnostic performance and cut-off value of PCT in patients with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure needs to be confirmed.Methods: A total of 4,698 cases from different cities in China, including those with different classes of congestive heart failure, bacterial infection, bacterial infection complicated by heart failure and healthy individuals, were chosen for the diagnostic value analysis of PCT and screening candidate predictors of mortality in subjects with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure.Results: Patients with simple heart failure had significantly higher PCT levels than normal controls (P < 0.01), whereas patients with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure had significantly higher PCT levels than those with simple infection (P < 0.01). Although it was useful for the diagnosis of infection (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve >80%), the positive predictive value of PCT decreased significantly with increasing severity of heart failure (P < 0.05), and the cut-off value of PCT concentrations for infection complicated by classes II, III and IV heart failure were 0.086, 0.192 and 0.657 μg/L, respectively. Heart failure degree, PCT level, and age were the candidate predictors of mortality in patients with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure.Conclusions: These data suggest that complicated heart failure elevates the PCT level in patients with bacterial infection. Thus, the results of the PCT test must be analyzed correctly in consideration of the severity of heart failure. Close attention should be paid to cardiac function and PCT expression in aged patients with infection complicated by congestive heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Embryonic stem (ES) cells have attracted significant attention from researchers around the world because of their ability to undergo indefinite self-renewal and produce derivatives from the three cell lineages, which has enormous value in research and clinical applications. Until now, many ES cell lines of different mammals have been established and studied. In addition, recently, AS-ES1 cells derived from Apodemus sylvaticus were established and identified by our laboratory as a new mammalian ES cell line. Hence further research, in the application of AS-ES1 cells, is warranted., Results: Herein we report the generation of multiple mesodermal AS-ES1 lineages via embryoid body (EB) formation by the hanging drop method and the addition of particular reagents and factors for induction at the stage of EB attachment. The AS-ES1 cells generated separately in vitro included: adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes and cardiomyocytes. Histochemical staining, immunofluorescent staining and RT-PCR were carried out to confirm the formation of multiple mesodermal lineage cells., Conclusions: The appropriate reagents and culture milieu used in mesodermal differentiation of mouse ES cells also guide the differentiation of in vitro AS-ES1 cells into distinct mesoderm-derived cells. This study provides a better understanding of the characteristics of AS-ES1 cells, a new species ES cell line and promotes the use of Apodemus ES cells as a complement to mouse ES cells in future studies.