RHA™ anti-Mercaptobenzothiazole monoclonal antibody, clone BTZ2

There is an urgent need to be able to identify carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales. In this study we aimed to compare the performance of the MALDI Biotyper Selective Testing of Antibiotic Resistance-beta Lactamase (MBT STAR-BL) test with the in-house Carba NP test in their ability to rapidly detect carbapenemase production in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. MBT STAR-BL and Carba NP testing were performed in parallel. One hundred sixty-nine isolates in total were tested. K. pneumoniae (n = 139) and E. coli (n = 14) strains with previously characterized carbapenemase types, and non-carbapenemase-producing strains of K. pneumoniae (n = 8) and E. coli (n = 8), were included in the study. When the results of the ertapenem and meropenem hydrolysis assays were evaluated together, MBT STAR-BL correctly identified 151 out of 153 (99%) carbapenemase producers as positive, while giving false-negative results for OXA-48 and OXA-48+NDM-1 producers in two K. pneumoniae isolates. The specificity and sensitivity of MBT STAR-BL were 100% and 98.69%, respectively. For the Carba NP test we confirmed 100% specificity, but sensitivity was 96.7%, although increasing to 100% when using prolonged incubation timing (4 hours). False-negative results were associated with enzymes with low carbapenemase activity, particularly OXA producers, which are common in Enterobacterales.

Bacterial branched and archaeal isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs and isoGDGTs, respectively) have become important tools for the paleoclimate reconstruction of lacustrine systems. However, it is still unclear how geochemical proxies based on GDGTs, particularly in lake surface sediments, respond to seasonal environmental changes in shallow water lakes, whose sediment cores are increasingly being used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. In this study, we collected samples from the top 0-2 cm of sediments and water column suspended particulate matter (SPM) at a monthly interval from June 2015 to May 2016 in Lake Donghu, a shallow lake in central China. An updated liquid chromatography method was used to separate the 5- and 6-methyl brGDGTs. A remarkable difference between the lake sediments, SPM, and catchment soils suggested that microorganisms inhabiting the surface sediments contributed a significant proportion of isoGDGTs and brGDGTs to the GDGT pool in the lake sediments. We found a clear seasonality in the concentration and distribution of core lipid (CL) isoGDGTs and brGDGTs in the lake surface sediments, in contrast to the absence of seasonality in brGDGTs in mid-latitude soils reported by previous studies. The intact polar lipid/CL ratios for both isoGDGTs and brGDGTs in the lake surface sediments were significantly higher than those in SPM and catchment soils and were higher in the warm seasons than in winter. This collectively suggested that the turnover of brGDGTs in the lake sediments was faster than that in soils. Furthermore, the GDGT-0/ Cren ratio for the lake sediments exhibited a negative correlation with dissolved oxygen in the water column. The cyclisation degree of C5-methylated brGDGTs (CBT5ME) was strongly related to water pH. Seasonal temperature variation clearly impacted the methylation degree of C6-methylated brGDGTs (MBT'(6ME)) but had no influence on C5-methylated brGDGTs (MBT'(5mE)), as opposed to the dependence of MBT'(5ME) on temperature in global soils, peatlands and African lakes. Due to the fast turnover rate and the sensitive response to seasonality, we suggest that the seasonal variation of fossil GDGTs in lake sediments should be considered when developing a calibration using fossil GDGTs in shallow-water lake surface sediments. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.