34 results on '"Ciammaruconi A"'
Search Results
2. Reactive vaccination as control strategy for an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease caused by
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Cecilia, Fazio, Laura, Daprai, Arianna, Neri, Marcello, Tirani, Paola, Vacca, Milena, Arghittu, Luigina, Ambrosio, Danilo, Cereda, Maria, Gramegna, Annapina, Palmieri, Anna, Carannante, Maria Rosa, Bertoli, Lucia, Crottogini, Giorgio, Gennati, Eugenia, Quinz, Livia, Trezzi, Andrea, Ciammaruconi, Silvia, Fillo, Antonella, Fortunato, Giovanni, Rezza, Florigio, Lista, and Paola, Stefanelli
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Meningococcal Infections ,Italy ,Vaccination ,Humans ,Meningococcal Vaccines ,Neisseria meningitidis ,Serogroup ,Phylogeny ,Disease Outbreaks - Abstract
In Italy, serogroup C meningococci of the clonal complex cc11 (MenC/cc11) have caused several outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) during the past 20 years. Between December 2019 and January 2020, an outbreak of six cases of IMD infected with MenC/cc11 was identified in a limited area in the northern part of Italy. All cases presented a severe clinical picture, and two of them were fatal. This report is focused on the microbiological and molecular analysis of meningococcal isolates with the aim to reconstruct the chain of transmission. It further presents the vaccination strategy adopted to control the outbreak. The phylogenetic evaluation demonstrated the close genetic proximity between the strain involved in this outbreak and a strain responsible for a larger epidemic that had occurred in 2015 and 2016 in the Tuscany Region. The rapid identification and characterisation of IMD cases and an extensive vaccination campaign contributed to the successful control of this outbreak caused by a hyperinvasive meningococcal strain.
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- 2022
3. Reactive vaccination as control strategy for an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis C:P1.5-1,10-8:F3-6:ST-11(cc11), Bergamo province, Italy, December 2019 to January 2020
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Cecilia Fazio, Laura Daprai, Arianna Neri, Marcello Tirani, Paola Vacca, Milena Arghittu, Luigina Ambrosio, Danilo Cereda, Maria Gramegna, Annapina Palmieri, Anna Carannante, Maria Rosa Bertoli, Lucia Crottogini, Giorgio Gennati, Eugenia Quinz, Livia Trezzi, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Silvia Fillo, Antonella Fortunato, Giovanni Rezza, Florigio Lista, and Paola Stefanelli
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Epidemiology ,Virology ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health - Abstract
In Italy, serogroup C meningococci of the clonal complex cc11 (MenC/cc11) have caused several outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) during the past 20 years. Between December 2019 and January 2020, an outbreak of six cases of IMD infected with MenC/cc11 was identified in a limited area in the northern part of Italy. All cases presented a severe clinical picture, and two of them were fatal. This report is focused on the microbiological and molecular analysis of meningococcal isolates with the aim to reconstruct the chain of transmission. It further presents the vaccination strategy adopted to control the outbreak. The phylogenetic evaluation demonstrated the close genetic proximity between the strain involved in this outbreak and a strain responsible for a larger epidemic that had occurred in 2015 and 2016 in the Tuscany Region. The rapid identification and characterisation of IMD cases and an extensive vaccination campaign contributed to the successful control of this outbreak caused by a hyperinvasive meningococcal strain.
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- 2022
4. Genomic Characterization of Gonococci from Different Anatomic Sites, Italy, 2007–2014
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Antonella Fortunato, Paola Stefanelli, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Anna Carannante, Silvia Fillo, Paola Vacca, Anna Anselmo, Anna Maria Palozzi, and Florigio Lista
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single nucleotide ,Microbiology (medical) ,medicine.medical_specialty ,microbial sensitivity tests ,Immunology ,multilocus sequence typing ,macromolecular substances ,Drug resistance ,Biology ,phylogeny ,medicine.disease_cause ,Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ,molecular epidemiology ,Microbiology ,polymorphism ,molecular characterization ,03 medical and health sciences ,anti-bacterial agents ,male ,Molecular genetics ,Drug Resistance, Bacterial ,italy ,computer simulation ,genomics ,medicine ,bacterial ,Typing ,humans ,030304 developmental biology ,Pharmacology ,Genetics ,Whole genome sequencing ,whole genome sequencing ,0303 health sciences ,Antiinfective agent ,drug resistance ,gonorrhea ,Molecular epidemiology ,030306 microbiology ,adult ,typing ,Antimicrobial ,neisseria gonorrhoeae ,drug resistance, bacterial ,female ,polymorphism, single nucleotide ,Neisseria gonorrhoeae - Abstract
In recent decades, Neisseria gonorrhoeae has developed resistance to several antimicrobial classes. Molecular epidemiology approaches are useful for detecting emerging, often resistant, gonococcal ...
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- 2019
5. Molecular characterisation and antibiotic susceptibility of meningococcal isolates from healthy men who have sex with men
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Paola Vacca, Silvia Fillo, Grazia Prignano, Massimo Giuliani, Cecilia Fazio, Arianna Neri, Annapina Palmieri, Antonella Fortunato, Anna Anselmo, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Luigina Ambrosio, Romano Lista, Paola Stefanelli, and Alessandra Latini
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Male ,Cefotaxime ,business.industry ,Neisseria meningitidis ,Dermatology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Men who have sex with men ,Microbiology ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Penicillin ,Meningococcal Infections ,Sexual and Gender Minorities ,Infectious Diseases ,Carriage ,Carrier State ,Neisseria gonorrhoeae ,medicine ,Multilocus sequence typing ,Humans ,Homosexuality, Male ,business ,Rifampicin ,medicine.drug - Abstract
ObjectivesTo evaluate and characterise meningococcal carriage among healthy men who have sex with men (MSM) within a screening programme for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection at the San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, Italy.MethodsA total of 441 MSM attending the STI/HIV Centre of the San Gallicano Institute, Rome, Italy, in 2016 were routinely screened for N. gonorrhoeae infection by pharyngeal and rectal swabs. N. meningitidis isolates were evaluated for antibiotic susceptibility and characterised by whole genome sequencing. Genetic relationships among the meningococcal carriage isolates were determined using core genome multilocus sequence typing analysis. The soluble domain of AniA (sAniA) protein expression by western blotting was also evaluated.ResultsA total of 62 (14.1%, 95% CI 11.1 to 17.6) carriage meningococci were found among 441 MSM. Forty-three viable N. meningitidis isolates were cultivated (42 from pharyngeal and 1 from rectal swabs). All the viable isolates were susceptible to cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin and rifampicin. Four isolates were penicillin G-resistant and 73% of those penicillin G-susceptible showed a minimum inhibitory concentration from 0.064 μg/mL to 0.25 μg/mL. Serogroup B was the most frequent (44.2%), followed by Z (16.3%), E (9.3%), and Y and W (2.3%), respectively. Multilocus sequence typing analysis identified 29 sequence types belonging to 12 clonal complexes. The sAniA protein was expressed in 8 out of 28 (29%) screened meningococcal carriage isolates.ConclusionsSerogroup B meningococcal carriage identified from oral and anal specimens among healthy MSM was the most frequent serogroup identified in this study. Molecular evaluation revealed a degree of similarity among strains belonging to the same clonal complex.
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- 2021
6. Genome analysis of
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Maria Luisa, Ricci, Silvia, Fillo, Andrea, Ciammaruconi, Florigio, Lista, Christophe, Ginevra, Sophie, Jarraud, Antonietta, Girolamo, Fabrizio, Barbanti, Maria Cristina, Rota, Diane, Lindsay, Jamie, Gorzynski, Søren A, Uldum, Sharmin, Baig, Marina, Foti, Giancarlo, Petralito, Stefania, Torri, Marino, Faccini, Maira, Bonini, Gabriella, Gentili, Sabrina, Senatore, Anna, Lamberti, Joao André, Carrico, and Maria, Scaturro
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Humans ,Legionnaires' Disease ,Serogroup ,Disease Outbreaks ,Legionella pneumophila ,Multilocus Sequence Typing - Published
- 2021
7. Whole genome and phylogenetic analysis of two SARS-CoV-2 strains isolated in Italy in January and February 2020: additional clues on multiple introductions and further circulation in Europe
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Andrea Ciammaruconi, Stefano Fiore, Alessandra Lo Presti, Florigio Lista, Eleonora Benedetti, Riccardo De Santis, Giovanni Rezza, Giovanni Faggioni, Anna Anselmo, Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Paola Stefanelli, Concetta Fabiani, Antonella Fortunato, Maria R. Castrucci, Maria Rita Gismondo, Alessandra Ciervo, Silvia Fillo, and Antonella Marchi
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0301 basic medicine ,China ,Epidemiology ,Pneumonia, Viral ,030106 microbiology ,Genome, Viral ,Biology ,Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ,Genome ,Betacoronavirus ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Phylogenetics ,Germany ,Virology ,Humans ,Point Mutation ,Whole genome sequence ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Pandemics ,Phylogeny ,Sequence (medicine) ,Whole genome sequencing ,Molecular Epidemiology ,Travel ,Whole Genome Sequencing ,Molecular epidemiology ,Phylogenetic tree ,SARS-CoV-2 ,phylogenetic analysis ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,COVID-19 ,biology.organism_classification ,Coronavirus ,Europe ,Italy ,Evolutionary biology ,Viral evolution ,RNA, Viral ,Coronavirus Infections ,Rapid Communication - Abstract
Whole genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 obtained from two patients, a Chinese tourist visiting Rome and an Italian, were compared with sequences from Europe and elsewhere. In a phylogenetic tree, the Italian patient’s sequence clustered with sequences from Germany while the tourist’s sequence clustered with other European sequences. Some additional European sequences in the tree segregated outside the two clusters containing the patients’ sequences. This suggests multiple SARS-CoV-2 introductions in Europe or virus evolution during circulation.
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- 2020
8. MOESM1 of Co-existence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance in new Klebsiella pneumoniae clones emerging in south of Italy
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Fasciana, Teresa, Gentile, Bernardina, Aquilina, Maria, Ciammaruconi, Andrea, Mascarella, Chiara, Anselmo, Anna, Fortunato, Antonella, Fillo, Silvia, Petralito, Giancarlo, Florigio Lista, and Giammanco, Anna
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respiratory tract diseases - Abstract
Additional file 1. K. pneumoniae CR antibiotic resistance profile. Results of antibiotic resistance assay of K. pneumoniae CR.
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- 2019
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9. MOESM4 of Co-existence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance in new Klebsiella pneumoniae clones emerging in south of Italy
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Fasciana, Teresa, Gentile, Bernardina, Aquilina, Maria, Ciammaruconi, Andrea, Mascarella, Chiara, Anselmo, Anna, Fortunato, Antonella, Fillo, Silvia, Petralito, Giancarlo, Florigio Lista, and Giammanco, Anna
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Additional file 4. SNP phylogenetic tree. Core Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms dendrogram.
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- 2019
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10. MOESM3 of Co-existence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance in new Klebsiella pneumoniae clones emerging in south of Italy
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Fasciana, Teresa, Gentile, Bernardina, Aquilina, Maria, Ciammaruconi, Andrea, Mascarella, Chiara, Anselmo, Anna, Fortunato, Antonella, Fillo, Silvia, Petralito, Giancarlo, Florigio Lista, and Giammanco, Anna
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Additional file 3. wzi analysis of CR-K and CS-K. Table of contig and allele of wzi gene in K. pneumoniae CR and CS.
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- 2019
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11. MOESM2 of Co-existence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance in new Klebsiella pneumoniae clones emerging in south of Italy
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Fasciana, Teresa, Gentile, Bernardina, Aquilina, Maria, Ciammaruconi, Andrea, Mascarella, Chiara, Anselmo, Anna, Fortunato, Antonella, Fillo, Silvia, Petralito, Giancarlo, Florigio Lista, and Giammanco, Anna
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Additional file 2. K. pneumoniae CR in silico analysis of resistome and virulome. Results of in silico analysis of sequences encoding for efflux pumps, heavy metal resistance system, and genes involved to aminoglycoside and fluoroquinolone resistance.
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- 2019
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12. Carriage meningococcal isolates with capsule null locus dominate among high school students in a non-endemic period, Italy, 2012-2013
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Laura Daprai, Paola Vacca, Florigio Lista, Arianna Neri, Iolanda Santino, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Cecilia Fazio, Paola Stefanelli, Annamaria Barbui, Caterina Vocale, Anna Anselmo, Luigina Ambrosio, Lucia Rossi, and Marco Conte
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Microbiology (medical) ,DNA, Bacterial ,Male ,Adolescent ,Genotype ,Population ,Locus (genetics) ,Microbial Sensitivity Tests ,Neisseria meningitidis ,Meningococcal disease ,Serogroup ,Microbiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,Bacterial Proteins ,medicine ,Prevalence ,Humans ,Typing ,education ,Students ,Bacterial Capsules ,Phylogeny ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,education.field_of_study ,biology ,030306 microbiology ,Genetic Variation ,General Medicine ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Meningococcal Infections ,Infectious Diseases ,Carriage ,Italy ,Carrier State ,Multilocus sequence typing ,Pharynx ,Female ,Neisseria ,Rifampicin ,Genome, Bacterial ,medicine.drug ,Multilocus Sequence Typing - Abstract
Meningococcal disease incidence in Italy remains quite low in the overall population except for infants. Within a study on carriage isolates among high school students we aimed to define: i) the prevalence of carriage isolates, ii) the phenotypic and iii) the molecular features of meningococci by Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS). A total of 1697 pharyngeal samples from undergraduate students (age range 14–19 years) were collected from 2012 to 2013 from six larger cities in Italy. One hundred and twenty culture positive meningococci (7%) were analyzed. Carriage isolates were sent to the National Reference Laboratory for invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) for PCR-based serogroup identification, Multilocus Sequence Typing, PorA and FetA typing. Moreover, factor H binding protein (fHbp), Neisseria Heparin Binding Antigen (NHBA) and Neisserial adhesin A (NadA) were typed. Core genome MLST (cgMLST) was performed on a subsample of 75 carriage isolates. Capsule null locus (cnl) predominated (47%), followed by serogroup B (27%). The antimicrobial susceptibility profile revealed an high prevalence of reduced susceptibility to penicillin G (54%) and a full susceptibility to ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin and rifampicin. Carriage isolates presented a high genetic diversity: the clonal complexes (ccs) cc1136, cc198 and cc41/44, were the predominant. An high heterogeneity was also observed for PorA and FetA types. The fhbp and nhba genes were identified in all the carriage isolates; only 5% of the carriage isolates presented the nadA gene. The core genome MLST analysis revealed that the majority of the cnl isolates clustered in a distinct group. The evidence gathered during this study provides the estimate of carriage isolates in high school students in a non-epidemic period in Italy that was lower than expected. Moreover, the highest proportion of carriage isolates were cnl and, overall, they were molecular heterogeneous.
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- 2018
13. Molecular characterization of a collection of Neisseria meningitidis isolates from Croatia, June 2009 to January 2014
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Florigio Lista, Anna Anselmo, Cecilia Fazio, Paola Vacca, Anna Maria Palozzi, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Arianna Neri, Antonella Fortunato, Silvia Fillo, Paola Stefanelli, Suzana Bukovski, and Ivica Knezovic
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Adult ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Microbiology (medical) ,Penicillin binding proteins ,Adolescent ,Genotype ,Croatia ,030106 microbiology ,Meningococcal Vaccines ,Meningococcal vaccine ,Neisseria meningitidis ,Biology ,Serogroup ,medicine.disease_cause ,Microbiology ,DNA gyrase ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests ,medicine ,Humans ,Child ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,Antigens, Bacterial ,neisseria meningitidis ,molecular characterization ,Infant, Newborn ,Genetic Variation ,Infant ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,rpoB ,biology.organism_classification ,Virology ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Meningococcal Infections ,Molecular Typing ,Penicillin ,Phenotype ,Child, Preschool ,Multilocus sequence typing ,Female ,Neisseria ,Genome, Bacterial ,medicine.drug - Abstract
In the last decade, the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Croatia remained stable at approximately 1 case per 100 000 inhabitants, affecting mainly children aged ≤5 years. We report the molecular characterization of meningococci causing IMD occurring from June 2009 to January 2014 in Croatia. Genomic DNA from 50 clinical isolates was analysed for serogroup, multilocus sequence typing and allele type of the two outer membrane protein genes, porA and the iron-regulated fetA. Furthermore, 22 of them were characterized by using whole-genome sequencing to define the meningococcal vaccine four-component meningococcal serogroup B (4CMenB) antigen genes factor H-binding protein (fHbp), Neisseria heparin-binding antigen (nhba) and Neisseria adhesin A (nadA) and the antimicrobial target resistance genes for penicillin (penicillin binding protein 2, penA), ciprofloxacin (DNA gyrase subunit A, gyrA) and rifampicin (β-subunit of RNA polymerase, rpoB). The Etest was used to phenotypically determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of isolated meningococci. The main serogroup/clonal complex combinations were MenB cc41/44, MenC/cc11, MenW/cc174 and MenY/cc23. PorA P1.7-2, FetA F5-5 and F1-5 were the most represented through the serogroups. Meningococci with decreased susceptibility to penicillin (38.9 %) and one strain resistant to ciprofloxacin were identified. Forty-two percent of MenB showed the presence of at least one of the 4CMenB vaccine antigens (fHbp, NHBA, NadA and PorA). Our findings highlight the genetic variability of meningococci causing IMD in Croatia, especially for the serogroup B. Molecular-based characterization of meningococci is crucial to enhance IMD surveillance and to better plan national immunization programmes.
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- 2016
14. Genome-based study of a spatio-temporal cluster of invasive meningococcal disease due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C, clonal complex 11
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Florigio Lista, Paola Stefanelli, E. Balocchini, Francesco Nieddu, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Gian Maria Rossolini, Alessandra Anselmo, Silvia Fillo, Maria Moriondo, Chiara Azzari, Arianna Neri, Antonella Fortunato, Cecilia Fazio, G. Rezza, Paola Vacca, and Anna Maria Palozzi
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Adult ,Immunity, Herd ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Serotype ,Microbiology (medical) ,Adolescent ,030106 microbiology ,Meningococcal Vaccines ,cc11 ,Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup C ,Meningococcal vaccine ,Biology ,Neisseria meningitidis ,medicine.disease_cause ,Disease cluster ,Genome ,Disease Outbreaks ,Microbiology ,Herd immunity ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,Meningococci ,medicine ,Humans ,Serotyping ,Child ,Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,Whole genome sequencing ,Antigens, Bacterial ,Surveillance ,Incidence ,Outbreak ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,Middle Aged ,Virology ,Meningococcal Infections ,Infectious Diseases ,Italy ,Space-Time Clustering ,Epidemiological Monitoring ,Female ,Genome, Bacterial - Abstract
Summary Objectives To describe a spatio-temporal cluster of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) due to serogroup C meningococci, occurred in a restricted area of Tuscany between January and October 2015, and the results of whole genome sequencing (WGS). Methods Surveillance activities and public health measures were implemented in the Region. Bacterial isolates from IMD cases were characterized by the National Reference Laboratory of the Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS), and WGS was performed on available strains. The kSNP software was used to identify core genome SNPs. Results Overall, 28 IMD cases due to meningococcus C were identified up to 31st October, 2015. Of them, 26 were due to meningococcus C:P1.5-1,10-8: F3-6:ST-11 (cc11) and 2 to C:P1.5-1,10-8: F3-6:ST-2780 (cc11). WGS of 13 meningococci isolated during the outbreak occurred in Tuscany in 2015 showed higher similarity when compared with those of 47 C: P1.5-1,10-8: F3-6:ST-11 (cc11) invasive strains from sporadic cases previously detected in Italy. Conclusions A highly aggressive meningococcal C strain was involved in the cluster of severe IMD occurred in Tuscany, a Region with high vaccine coverage among children. Whether this was due to low herd immunity related to the short duration of vaccine protection needs further investigation.
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- 2016
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15. Molecular Strain Typing of Brucella abortus Isolates from Italy by Two VNTR Allele Sizing Technologies
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Fabrizio De Massis, Massimo Ancora, Silvia Fillo, Valentina Pittiglio, Katiuscia Zilli, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Florigio Lista, Elisabetta Di Giannatale, and Riccardo De Santis
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DNA, Bacterial ,Genotype ,Minisatellite Repeat ,Brucella abortus ,Bioengineering ,Minisatellite Repeats ,Brucella ,Multiple Loci VNTR Analysis ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,Biochemistry ,Brucellosis ,Tandem repeat ,Animals ,Humans ,Molecular Biology ,Genotyping Techniques ,Genotyping ,Alleles ,Genetics ,biology ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,biology.organism_classification ,Molecular Typing ,Italy ,Agarose gel electrophoresis ,Genome, Bacterial ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Brucellosis, one of the most important re-emerging zoonoses in many countries, is caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Brucella. Furthermore these bacteria represent potential biological warfare agents and the identification of species and biovars of field strains may be crucial for tracing back source of infection, allowing to discriminate naturally occurring outbreaks instead of bioterrorist events. In the last years, multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) has been proposed as complement of the classical biotyping methods and it has been applied for genotyping large collections of Brucella spp. At present, the MLVA band profiles may be resolved by automated or manual procedures. The Lab on a chip technology represents a valid alternative to standard genotyping techniques (as agarose gel electrophoresis) and it has been previously used for Brucella genotyping. Recently, a new high-throughput genotyping analysis system based on capillary gel electrophoresis, the QIAxcel, has been described. The aim of the study was to evaluate the ability of two DNA sizing equipments, the QIAxcel System and the Lab chip GX, to correctly call alleles at the sixteen loci including one frequently used MLVA assay for Brucella genotyping. The results confirmed that these technologies represent a meaningful advancement in high-throughput Brucella genotyping. Considering the accuracy required to confidently resolve loci discrimination, QIAxcel shows a better ability to measure VNTR allele sizes compared to LabChip GX.
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- 2013
16. Genotyping of Brucella species by SNPs analysis
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Ancora, M., De Santis, R., Anselmo, A., Orsini, M., De Massis, F., Fillo, S., Zilli, K., Fortunato, A., Palozzi, A., Gentile, B., Ciammaruconi, A., Di Giannatale, E., Cammà, C., and Lista, F.
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- 2016
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17. Draft Genome Sequence of a Bordetella pertussis Strain with the Virulence-Associated Allelic Variant ptxP3 , Isolated in Italy
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Gabriele Buttinelli, Paola Stefanelli, Anna Maria Palozzi, Antonella Fortunato, Silvia Fillo, Anna Anselmo, Florigio Lista, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Ambra Nicolai, and Fabio Midulla
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Genetics ,Whole genome sequencing ,Bordetella pertussis ,biology ,Strain (biology) ,Virulence ,Immunization program ,Prokaryotes ,Allele ,Bioinformatics ,biology.organism_classification ,Molecular Biology - Abstract
Despite a universal immunization program, pertussis has persisted and resurged, and is of particular concern for infants in terms of morbidity and mortality. Here, we report the genome sequence of a Bordetella pertussis strain with the virulence-associated allelic variant ptxP3 , isolated from a 45-day-old infant.
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- 2015
18. Sabaudia e Casa Savoia. La memoria monarchica nella «cittŕ nuova» pontina
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Clemente Ciammaruconi
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History ,Rite ,Sociology and Political Science ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Royal family ,Art ,Democracy ,Politics ,Monarchy ,Referendum ,Fall of man ,Humanities ,Tourism ,media_common - Abstract
By means of a close analysis of the history of Sabaudia, the second town founded in the reclaimed Pontine Marshes and dedicated to the House of Savoy, this essay tries to investigate the role of the monarchy both in the propaganda and the political ritual of fascism in Italy. The inauguration of this town, which took place on 15 April 1934, was a significant example of «rite of the crown», and helps us understand, according to Catherine Brice, the great importance of the king and of the whole royal family in the public landscape of the fascist era. The mark left by the Savoy dynasty on the «new town» was deleted neither by the fall of the old regime, nor by the defeat of the monarchy through a referendum. The author wants to examine the way by which, in a town like Sabaudia, the aforementioned family was able to remain the pivot of the connection between memory and «public use of history», even when the setting turned into a democratic and republican one. He also aims at underlining how this process fostered an identity upheaval which has since been exploited by Christian Democrat and right-wing administrations in order to engender a nostalgic mood or else to promote tourism.
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- 2011
19. Memoria democratica e retorica pubblica della 'redenzione' pontina. Il caso di Latina, una volta Littoria
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Clemente Ciammaruconi
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General Medicine - Abstract
Fin dalla loro fondazione, le «cittÀ nuove» sorte nell'Agro Pontino bonificato dal regime fascista negli anni trenta costituirono lo scenario ideale di molteplici liturgie politiche attraverso cui celebrare il «culto del littorio». L'autore si propone d'indicare secondo quali processi, nel corso del secondo dopoguerra, a Latina (giÀ Littoria) si sia cercato di costruire una memoria condivisa ed un senso di appartenenza comunitaria capaci di ricomporre in chiave democratica l'ereditÀ di quella «impresa» indelebilmente connessa al fascismo, nonché alla figura stessa di Mussolini. In tale prospettiva cerimonie, monumenti, anniversari, hanno rappresentato i cardini dell'opera di rielaborazione di un passato ancora recente che amministrazioni, prima democristiane e poi di destra, hanno condotto spesso non senza ambiguitÀ: lo studio ne ricostruisce le diverse fasi, sia esaminando i nessi e le reciproche influenze tra memoria e retorica pubblica, sia indagando i criteri informatori che hanno orientato questa faticosa e tutt'altro che compiuta ricerca identitaria.
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- 2010
20. Draft Genome Sequence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Sequence Type 1407, a Multidrug-Resistant Clinical Isolate
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Silvia Fillo, Cecilia Fazio, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Anna Carannante, Paola Stefanelli, Arianna Neri, Anna Anselmo, Antonella Fortunato, Florigio Lista, Paola Vacca, and Anna Maria Palozzi
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Whole genome sequencing ,0303 health sciences ,030306 microbiology ,Strain (biology) ,Gonorrhea ,Drug resistance ,Biology ,urologic and male genital diseases ,medicine.disease ,Bioinformatics ,medicine.disease_cause ,Genome ,Virology ,3. Good health ,Multiple drug resistance ,03 medical and health sciences ,Genetics ,medicine ,Neisseria gonorrhoeae ,Prokaryotes ,Molecular Biology ,030304 developmental biology ,Sequence (medicine) - Abstract
Gonorrhea may become untreatable due to the spread of resistant or multidrug-resistant strains. Cefixime-resistant gonococci belonging to sequence type 1407 have been described worldwide. We report the genome sequence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain G2891, a multidrug-resistant isolate of sequence type 1407, collected in Italy in 2013.
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- 2015
21. Genomic characterization of Italian Clostridium botulinum group I strains
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Florigio Lista, Anna Maria Palozzi, Fabrizio Anniballi, Ferdinando Spagnolo, Antonella Fortunato, Valentina Pittiglio, Silvia Fillo, Domenico Azarnia Tehran, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Bruna Auricchio, Bernardina Gentile, Francesco Giordani, Anna Anselmo, and Dario De Medici
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Microbiology (medical) ,Population ,Genomics ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Serogroup ,Microbiology ,Genome ,DNA sequencing ,Phylogenetics ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,Genetics ,medicine ,Clostridium botulinum ,Humans ,Botulism ,education ,Molecular Biology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Phylogeny ,Recombination, Genetic ,education.field_of_study ,High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ,medicine.disease ,Infectious Diseases ,Italy ,Multilocus sequence typing ,Genome, Bacterial - Abstract
Clostridium botulinum is a gram-positive bacterium capable of producing the botulinum neurotoxin, a powerful poison that causes botulism, a severe neuroparalytic disease. Its genome has been sequenced entirely and its gene content has been analyzed. To date, 19 full genomes and 64 draft genomes are available. The geographical origin of these genomes is predominantly from the US. In the present study, 10 Italian genomes of C. botulinum group I were analyzed and compared with previously sequenced group I genomes, in order to genetically characterize the Italian population of C. botulinum group I and to investigate the phylogenetic relationships among different lineages. Using the suites of software ClonalFrame and ClonalOrigin to perform genomic analysis, we demonstrated that Italian C. botulinum group I population is phylogenetically heterogeneous encompassing different and distant lineages including overseas strains, too. Moreover, a high recombination rate was demonstrated in the evolution of C. botulinum group I species. Finally, genome sequencing of the strain 357 led us to identify a novel botulinum neurotoxin subtype, F8.
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- 2015
22. Whole-Genome Sequencing of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Italian Strain 57/13, the Causative Agent of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia
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I. Krasteva, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Maurilia Marcacci, Bernardina Gentile, Florigio Lista, A. Pini, F. Sacchini, Massimo Ancora, Massimo Scacchia, Massimiliano Orsini, and Cesare Cammà
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Whole genome sequencing ,biology ,Strain (biology) ,Mycoplasma species ,Outbreak ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Microbiology ,Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia ,Genetics ,medicine ,Prokaryotes ,Mycoplasma mycoides ,Molecular Biology - Abstract
Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides is generally considered one of most pathogenic Mycoplasma species, and it is the etiological agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP). Here, we present the annotated genome sequence of M. mycoides subsp. mycoides Italian strain 57/13, isolated in 1992 during CBPP outbreaks in Italy.
- Published
- 2015
23. Draft Genome Sequence of C:P1.5-1,10-8:F3-6:ST-11 Meningococcal Clinical Isolate Associated with a Cluster on a Cruise Ship
- Author
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Paola Stefanelli, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Arianna Neri, Antonella Fortunato, Florigio Lista, Paola Vacca, Anna Maria Palozzi, Anna Anselmo, Cecilia Fazio, and Silvia Fillo
- Subjects
Whole genome sequencing ,0303 health sciences ,Neisseria meningitidis ,Strain (biology) ,Biology ,Disease cluster ,medicine.disease_cause ,Virology ,3. Good health ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Invasive meningococcal disease ,Genetics ,medicine ,Serogroup c ,Prokaryotes ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Molecular Biology ,030304 developmental biology - Abstract
Meningococcal serogroup C strains, in particular those belonging to the ST-11 clonal complex, are known to cause invasive diseases worldwide. We report the genome sequence of a Neisseria meningitidis strain linked to a cluster of cases of invasive meningococcal disease on a cruise ship that was described in 2012.
- Published
- 2014
24. In Vitro Processing of the 16S rRNA of the Thermophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus
- Author
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Andrea Ciammaruconi and Paola Londei
- Subjects
Sulfolobus acidocaldarius ,Molecular Sequence Data ,ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species ,Genetics and Molecular Biology ,RNA, Archaeal ,Microbiology ,Sulfolobus ,Evolution, Molecular ,Species Specificity ,Crenarchaeota ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ,RNA Precursors ,RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional ,RRNA processing ,Molecular Biology ,Genetics ,Base Sequence ,biology ,ved/biology ,Sulfolobus solfataricus ,RNA ,Ribosomal RNA ,biology.organism_classification ,External transcribed spacer ,Ribonucleoproteins ,Biochemistry ,Nucleic Acid Conformation - Abstract
In both bacteria and eukaryotes, rRNAs are synthesized as large precursors which are processed to mature rRNA species. However, the maturation pathways, and the enzymatic machinery involved, differ in the two cell domains (for reviews, see references 7 and 9). The principal maturation enzyme in bacteria is RNase III, which cleaves within the long double-stranded stems formed by the inverted repeats flanking both large rRNA genes, releasing precursor 16S and 23S rRNAs, which are subsequently trimmed at both ends to yield the mature molecules. However, RNase III is not strictly essential, and mutants lacking this enzymatic activity are viable (although slow growing) because there exist alternative processing pathways for producing mature rRNAs, especially the 16S rRNA (9). In eukaryotes, the rRNA genes are not flanked by inverted repeats and there are no processing stems: rRNA maturation is performed by ribonucleoprotein enzymes that cut at specific sites within the transcribed spacers. The compositions and mechanisms of action of these enzymes are still largely unknown, although it is well established that they require the presence of several small nucleolar RNAs such as U3, U8, U14, and others (7, 25). However, eukaryotes also possess an RNase III homolog that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been shown to be involved in rRNA processing both in vitro and in vivo (1). In contrast with the wealth of data available for the other two primary domains, our knowledge of rRNA processing in archaea is still very fragmentary. As in bacteria, the archaeal large rRNA genes are flanked by imperfect inverted repeats that pair, forming long double-helical stems. These stems are truncated by an enzyme which probably recognizes a specific structure, a bulge-helix-bulge (BHB) motif (4, 8, 13, 15). A peculiar situation seems to exist in the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, where 16S rRNA maturation was reported to be independent of the formation of the processing stem (6), thus resembling the early steps of eukaryotic 18S RNA maturation. In this paper we discuss the in vitro processing of 16S rRNA in the extremely thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus, using pre-rRNA substrates transcribed in vitro and various protein preparations. We show that the 5′ external transcribed spacer (5′ETS) of the S. solfataricus pre-rRNA transcript contains a target site for a specific endonuclease, which recognizes a conserved sequence also present in the early A0 and 0 processing sites of yeast and vertebrates. This site is probably specific to the Crenarchaeota, as it is recognized and cleaved by heterologous cell extracts from this archaeal branch only. Furthermore, S. solfataricus pre-16S RNA is processed within the double-helical stem formed by the inverted repeats flanking the 16S sequence, in correspondence with the BHB motif. The endonuclease responsible for this cleavage is present in cell extracts from both Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. The processing sites were the same regardless of whether the substrate was the naked RNA or a ribonucleoprotein particle. Under no experimental conditions was maturation of either the 5′ or the 3′ end of the 16S RNA observed, suggesting either that maturation requires conditions not easily reproducible in vitro or that the responsible endonucleases are scarcely represented in cell extracts.
- Published
- 2001
25. Microchip Capillary electrophoresis of multi-locus VNTR analysis for genotyping of Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis in microbial forensic cases
- Author
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Andrea, Ciammaruconi
- Subjects
Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ,Electrophoresis, Microchip ,Forensic Genetics ,Genotyping Techniques ,Genetic Loci ,Yersinia pestis ,Bacillus anthracis ,Lab-On-A-Chip Devices ,Statistics as Topic ,Electrophoresis, Capillary ,Reproducibility of Results ,Minisatellite Repeats - Abstract
Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis are etiological agents of anthrax and plague respectively, and are also considered among the most feared potential bioterrorism agents. These microorganisms show intraspecies genome homogeneity, making strains differentiation difficult, while strains identification and comparison with known genotypes may be crucial for naturally occurring outbreaks vs. bioterrorist events discrimination.Here an MLVA application for B. anthracis and Y. pestis strains differentiation is described on Microchip Capillary electrophoresis apparatus. The platform is a candidate for on-site MLVA genotyping of biothreat agents as well as other bacterial pathogens. This microfluidics-based electrophoresis analysis system represents an alternative to the more expensive and demanding capillary electrophoresis methods, and to the less expensive but more time-consuming standard agarose gel approach.
- Published
- 2011
26. Microchip Capillary Electrophoresis of Multi-locus VNTR Analysis for Genotyping of Bacillus Anthracis and Yersinia Pestis in Microbial Forensic Cases
- Author
-
Andrea Ciammaruconi
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_compound ,Capillary electrophoresis ,chemistry ,Yersinia pestis ,Agarose ,Biology ,Multiple Loci VNTR Analysis ,biology.organism_classification ,Genotyping Techniques ,Genotyping ,Genome ,Microbiology ,Bacillus anthracis - Abstract
Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis are etiological agents of anthrax and plague respectively, and are also considered among the most feared potential bioterrorism agents. These microorganisms show intraspecies genome homogeneity, making strains differentiation difficult, while strains identification and comparison with known genotypes may be crucial for naturally occurring outbreaks vs. bioterrorist events discrimination.Here an MLVA application for B. anthracis and Y. pestis strains differentiation is described on Microchip Capillary electrophoresis apparatus. The platform is a candidate for on-site MLVA genotyping of biothreat agents as well as other bacterial pathogens. This microfluidics-based electrophoresis analysis system represents an alternative to the more expensive and demanding capillary electrophoresis methods, and to the less expensive but more time-consuming standard agarose gel approach.
- Published
- 2011
27. Brucella: Molecular Diagnostic Techniques in Response to Bioterrorism Threat
- Author
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Alice Pomponi, Florigio Lista, Silvia Fillo, Andrea Ciammaruconi, and R. De Santis
- Subjects
biology ,Zoonosis ,Outbreak ,Brucellosis ,Disease ,Brucella ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Bioinformatics ,Virology ,Human morbidity ,Biological warfare ,medicine ,Identification (biology) - Abstract
Brucellosis, a worldwide zoonosis caused by members of the genus Brucella, is responsible of a considerable human morbidity and economic losses. Although the disease is associated with low mortality and has a relative limited medical impact, Brucella spp., particularly B.melitensis and B. abortus, have been also reported as possible biological weapons. A prompt detection and identification of involved biological agents and the following discrimination between natural outbreaks and/or intentional release of micro-organism, represents the crucial point for an effective response. Furthermore, being members of the genus Brucella genetically homogeneous, the development of accurate strain typing methods is essential in order to investigate the source of an epidemic event. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the current molecular diagnostic tools developed as response to bioterrorism episodes.
- Published
- 2011
28. A FRET based melting curve analysis to detect nucleotide variations in HA receptor-binding site of H5N1 virus
- Author
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Florigio Lista, Giovanni Faggioni, Fabiana Corcioli, Valeria Clausi, Alberta Azzi, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Silvia Fillo, and R. De Santis
- Subjects
Hemagglutinin (influenza) ,Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Melting curve analysis ,Virus ,Birds ,Influenza, Human ,Influenza A virus ,medicine ,Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer ,Animals ,Humans ,Transition Temperature ,Nucleotide ,Molecular Biology ,Pandemics ,Genetics ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Binding Sites ,Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ,Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Nucleic acid sequence ,virus diseases ,Genetic Variation ,Reproducibility of Results ,Cell Biology ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,Virology ,Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 ,Förster resonance energy transfer ,chemistry ,Influenza in Birds ,biology.protein ,RNA, Viral ,Receptors, Virus ,DNA Probes - Abstract
Outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza A virus represent a major public health problem because of the possibility of direct transmission of these viruses from avian species to humans. For influenza H5N1 hemagglutinin, a switch from SA-a-2, 3-Gal to SA-a-2, 6-Gal receptor specificity is a critical step that could lead to inter-human transmission. The monitoring of the receptor-binding preference of H5N1 viruses represents an instrument to detect a potential pandemic virus. The aim of this study was to develop a method based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology and melting peaks analysis for rapid screening of pandemic H5N1 influenza A virus. Three selected probes corresponding to a 23 bp nucleotide sequence of the avian receptor-binding site were used in a real-time RT-PCR to detect nucleotide variations. Five strains of avian influenza A viruses isolated from avian species and two synthesized HA gene were tested. The results showed that the melting peaks analysis is a reliable screening method for detecting the variability of the H5N1 receptor-binding site
- Published
- 2010
29. Lab on a chip genotyping for Brucella spp. based on 15-loci multi locus VNTR analysis
- Author
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Raffaele D'Amelio, Giovanni Faggioni, Cinzia Marianelli, Riccardo De Santis, Andrea Ciammaruconi, and Florigio Lista
- Subjects
DNA, Bacterial ,Genetic Markers ,Microbiology (medical) ,Minisatellite Repeat ,lcsh:QR1-502 ,Minisatellite Repeats ,Brucella ,Multiple Loci VNTR Analysis ,Methodology article ,Sensitivity and Specificity ,Microbiology ,lcsh:Microbiology ,Brucellosis ,Tandem repeat ,Genotyping ,Genetics ,Molecular Epidemiology ,Molecular epidemiology ,biology ,Reproducibility of Results ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,biology.organism_classification ,Bacterial Typing Techniques ,Variable number tandem repeat ,Brucella melitensis - Abstract
Background Brucellosis is an important zoonosis caused by the genus Brucella. In addition Brucella represents potential biological warfare agents due to the high contagious rates for humans and animals. Therefore, the strain typing epidemiological tool may be crucial for tracing back source of infection in outbreaks and discriminating naturally occurring outbreaks versus bioterroristic event. A Multiple Locus Variable-number tandem repeats (VNTR) Analysis (MLVA) assay based on 15 polymorphic markers was previously described. The obtained MLVA band profiles may be resolved by techniques ranging from low cost manual agarose gels to the more expensive capillary electrophoresis sequencing. In this paper a rapid, accurate and reproducible system, based on the Lab on a chip technology was set up for Brucella spp. genotyping. Results Seventeen DNA samples of Brucella strains isolated in Sicily, previously genotyped, and twelve DNA samples, provided by MLVA Brucella VNTR ring trial, were analyzed by MLVA-15 on Agilent 2100. The DNA fragment sizes produced by Agilent, compared with those expected, showed discrepancies; therefore, in order to assign the correct alleles to the Agilent DNA fragment sizes, a conversion table was produced. In order to validate the system twelve unknown DNA samples were analyzed by this method obtaining a full concordance with the VNTR ring trial results. Conclusion In this paper we described a rapid and specific detection method for the characterization of Brucella isolates. The comparison of the MLVA typing data produced by Agilent system with the data obtained by standard sequencing or ethidium bromide slab gel electrophoresis showed a general concordance of the results. Therefore this platform represents a fair compromise among costs, speed and specificity compared to any conventional molecular typing technique.
- Published
- 2009
30. Evidence of a humoral response to a novel protein WARF4 embedded in the West Nile virus NS4B gene encoded by an alternative open reading frame
- Author
-
Laura Masuelli, Florigio Lista, Maria Teresa Scicluna, Giovanni Faggioni, Alice Pomponi, Roberto Bei, Gianluca Autorino, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Riccardo De Santis, and Katia Barbaro
- Subjects
viruses ,alternative open reading frame ,Blotting, Western ,Sequence Homology ,Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ,Genome, Viral ,Biology ,Viral Nonstructural Proteins ,Antibodies, Viral ,Virus ,Antibodies ,antibodies ,west nile alternative reading frame 4 ,west nile virus ,Open Reading Frames ,Viral Proteins ,Antigen ,Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid ,Genetics ,Animals ,Viral ,Horses ,Neurotropic virus ,Settore MED/04 - Patologia Generale ,Computational Biology ,Immune Sera ,Base Sequence ,Antibody Formation ,West Nile virus ,Horse Diseases ,Genome ,Nucleic Acid ,Blotting ,Immunogenicity ,virus diseases ,General Medicine ,biology.organism_classification ,Virology ,nervous system diseases ,Open reading frame ,Flavivirus ,Capsid ,biology.protein ,Antibody ,Western - Abstract
West Nile virus (WNV) is a flavivirus that is maintained in a bird-mosquito transmission cycle. Humans, horses and other non-avian vertebrates are usually incidental hosts. However, WNV is a neurotropic virus, which requires an efficient humoral response for the control of a neuroinvasive infection. The WNV genome encodes three structural (capsid, premembrane/membrane and envelope) and seven non-structural proteins. Bioinformatic analysis performed on the WNV genomes detected a conserved alternative open reading frame restricted to the lineage I virus. To quickly verify the existence of this putative protein, entitled West Nile Alternative Reading Frame 4 (WARF4), we produced a prokaryotic recombinant source of WARF4 and verified its immunogenicity in vivo by analyzing 43 horse serum samples, of which 15 were positive for antibodies to WNV premembrane and envelope (prM-E) proteins. Specific antibodies to WARF4 were significantly detected in 5 out of the 15 serum samples testing positive for antibodies to prM-E WNV proteins. Our findings provide evidence of a significant antibody response to the WARF4 protein in the serum of the horse testing positive for antibodies to prM-E proteins, thus indicating that this antigen might be a potential tool for further characterization of the immune response of WNV infections in humans as well.
- Published
- 2009
31. A rapid allele variant discrimination method for Yersinia pestis strains based on high-resolution melting curve analysis
- Author
-
Gilles Vergnaud, Riccardo De Santis, Giovanni Faggioni, Saverio Grassi, Florigio Lista, Andrea Ciammaruconi, Valentina Pittiglio, Raffaele D'Amelio, Institut de génétique et microbiologie [Orsay] (IGM), and Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
Microbiology (medical) ,DNA, Bacterial ,Genotype ,Yersinia pestis ,MESH: Yersinia pestis ,Multiple Loci VNTR Analysis ,high-resolution melting analysis ,High Resolution Melt ,MESH: Bacterial Typing Techniques ,law.invention ,MESH: Genotype ,MESH: Transition Temperature ,03 medical and health sciences ,law ,mlva ,MESH: Polymorphism, Genetic ,Humans ,Transition Temperature ,[SDV.BBM]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology ,Typing ,Polymerase chain reaction ,Alleles ,030304 developmental biology ,Genetics ,0303 health sciences ,MESH: Humans ,Polymorphism, Genetic ,biology ,030306 microbiology ,MESH: Alleles ,General Medicine ,yersinia pestis genotyping ,biology.organism_classification ,Molecular biology ,MESH: DNA, Bacterial ,vntr ,3. Good health ,Bacterial Typing Techniques ,Variable number tandem repeat ,Infectious Diseases ,Minisatellite ,[SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology - Abstract
International audience; Yersinia pestis isolates were genotyped analyzing the polymorphic DNA regions named variable number tandem repeats (VNTR). Allele variants were studied by high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) of polymerase chain reaction fragments obtained for 25 VNTR loci. After comparison with previous results, 14 loci gave distinguishable normalized melting curves and allowed to correctly assign alleles. This HRMA typing technique permits to differentiate Y. pestis isolates and turned out to be robust, reproducible, and cheap.
- Published
- 2008
32. Preliminary validation of real-time PCR assays for the identification of Yersinia pestis
- Author
-
Andrea Ciammaruconi, Maria Del Carmen Ybarra de Villavicencio, Sascha Al Dahouk, Roger Petersen, Mireille M. Kattar, Jaran Strand Olsen, Alexander Indra, Heinrich Neubauer, Christian Beuret, Martien Broekhuijsen, Daniela Jacob, Herbert Tomaso, Pirjo Matero, Ricela E Sellek Cano, Jean-Luc Gala, Bernd Appel, Holger C. Scholz, Udo Reischl, Simo Nikkari, Florigio Lista, Hermann Broll, Helga Plicka, and Meike Eickhoff
- Subjects
Time Factors ,biology ,Yersinia pestis ,Biochemistry (medical) ,Clinical Biochemistry ,Reproducibility of Results ,Biological Warfare Agents ,Diagnostic accuracy ,General Medicine ,Reference laboratory ,medicine.disease ,Diagnostic tools ,biology.organism_classification ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Enterobacteriaceae ,Microbiology ,law.invention ,Septicemic plague ,Real-time polymerase chain reaction ,law ,medicine ,Laboratories ,Polymerase chain reaction - Abstract
Background: Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) is a zoonotic bacterium mainly circulating among rodents and their fleas. Transmission to humans can cause bubonic, pneumonic or septicemic plague with a high case-fatality rate. Therefore, rapid and reliable diagnostic tools are crucial. The objective of this study was to assess the inter-laboratory reproducibility of in-house developed real-time PCR assays for the identification of Y. pestis. Methods: A total of four samples of quantified Y. pestis DNA and two blank samples were sent blinded to 14 laboratories. To standardize the procedures, oligonucleotides were provided and the same instrument platform and a commercial mastermix were used. The participants were requested to report their results including cycle threshold and melting temperature values. Results: All participating laboratories were able to perform the real-time PCR assays according to the protocols provided and identified the samples containing Y. pestis DNA correctly. Significant differences between the reference laboratory and participating laboratories were observed in cycle threshold values and melting temperatures. This, however, did not adversely affect the interpretation of results. Conclusions: Our real-time PCR system proved to be highly reproducible and has the potential of complementing the diagnostic tools for rapid identification of Y. pestis isolates. Further steps of validation are needed to determine diagnostic accuracy and predictive values with clinical samples. © 2008 by Walter de Gruyter.
- Published
- 2008
33. Optimization of high-resolution melting analysis for low-cost and rapid screening of allelic variants of Bacillus anthracis by multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis
- Author
-
Florigio Lista, Antonio Cassone, Andread Ciammaruconi, Antonio Fasanella, Riccardo De Santis, Antonio Battisti, Raffaele D'Amelio, Daniela Fortini, and Alessandra Carattoli
- Subjects
Genetics ,Bacteriological Techniques ,Genotype ,Biochemistry (medical) ,Clinical Biochemistry ,Genetic Variation ,Minisatellite Repeats ,Biology ,Multiple Loci VNTR Analysis ,biology.organism_classification ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,High Resolution Melt ,Melting curve analysis ,Bacillus anthracis ,Variable number tandem repeat ,Minisatellite ,Tandem repeat ,Transition Temperature ,Genotyping - Abstract
Background: Molecular genotyping of Bacillus anthracis, the etiologic agent of anthrax, is important for differentiating and identifying strains from different geographic areas and for tracing strains deliberately released in a bioterrorism attack. We previously described a multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) based on 25 marker loci. Although the method has great differentiating power and reproducibility, faster genotyping at low cost may be requested to accurately identify B. anthracis strains in the field.Methods: We used the High Resolution Melter-1 (Idaho Technology) and a saturating dye of double-stranded DNA (LCGreen I) to identify alleles via PCR and melting-curve analysis of the amplicons. We applied high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) to a collection of 19 B. anthracis strains.Results: HRMA produced reproducible results for 6 of the 25 B. anthracis loci tested. These easily interpretable and distinguishable melting curve results were consistent with MLVA results obtained for the same alleles. The feasibility of this method was demonstrated in testing of different allelic variants for the 6 selected loci.Conclusions: The described HRMA application for screening B. anthracis VNTR loci is fast and widely accessible and may prove particularly useful under field conditions.
- Published
- 2007
34. The chaperonin of the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is an RNA binding protein that participates in ribosomal RNA processing
- Author
-
Andrea Ciammaruconi, Paola Londei, and Davide Ruggero
- Subjects
Chaperonins ,Archaeal Proteins ,Molecular Sequence Data ,ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species ,RNA-binding protein ,RNA, Archaeal ,macromolecular substances ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Sulfolobus ,Chaperonin ,RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ,Signal recognition particle RNA ,RRNA processing ,Molecular Biology ,Genetics ,Base Sequence ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,ved/biology ,General Neuroscience ,Sulfolobus solfataricus ,Intron ,RNA-Binding Proteins ,RNA ,Ribosomal RNA ,enzymes and coenzymes (carbohydrates) ,Biochemistry ,RNA, Ribosomal ,biological sciences ,bacteria ,Research Article - Abstract
The 60 kDa molecular chaperones (chaperonins) are high molecular weight protein complexes having a characteristic double‐ring toroidal shape; they are thought to aid the folding of denatured or newly synthesized polypeptides. These proteins exist as two functionally similar, but distantly related families, one comprising the bacterial and organellar chaperonins and another (the so‐called CCT‐TRiC family) including the chaperonins of the archaea and the eukaryotes. Although some evidence exists that the archaeal chaperonins are implicated in protein folding, much remains to be learned about their precise cellular function. In this work, we report that the chaperonin of the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is an RNA‐binding protein that interacts specifically in vivo with the 16S rRNA and participates in the maturation of its 5′ extremity in vitro . We further show that the chaperonin binds RNA as the native heterooligomeric complex and that RNA binding and processing are inhibited by ATP. These results agree with previous reports indicating a role for the bacterial/organellar chaperonins in RNA protection or processing and suggest that all known chaperonin families share specific and evolutionarily ancient functions in RNA metabolism.
- Published
- 1998
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