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The deprotection step is crucial in order to secure a good quality product in Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis. 9-Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) removal is achieved by a two-step mechanism reaction favored by the use of cyclic secondary amines; however, the efficiency of the reaction could be affected by side reactions and by-product formation. Several aspects have to be taken into consideration when selecting a deprotection reagent: its physicochemical behavior, basicity (pKa) and polarity, concentration, and time of reaction, toxicity and disposability of residues and, finally, availability of reagents. This report presents a comparison of the performance of three strategies for deprotection using microwave-assisted Fmoc peptide synthesis. Four peptide sequences were synthesized using Rink amide resin with a Liberty Blue™ automated synthesizer and 4-methylpiperidine (4MP), piperidine (PP), and piperazine (PZ) as Fmoc removal reagents. In the first instance all three reagents behaved similarly. A detailed analysis showed a correlation between the hydrophobicity and size of the peptide with the yield and purity of the obtained product. The three reagents are interchangeable, and replacement of piperidine could be advantageous regarding toxicity and reagent handling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piscirickettsia salmonis is the bacterium that causes Piscirickettsiosis, a systemic disease of salmonid fish responsible for significant economic losses within the aquaculture industry worldwide. The growth of the bacterium for vaccine formulation has been traditionally accomplished by infecting eukaryotic cell lines, a process that involves high production costs and is time-consuming. Recent research has demonstrated that it is possible to culture pure P. salmonis in a blood containing (cell-free) medium. In the present work we demonstrate the growth of P. salmonis in a liquid medium free from blood and serum components, thus establishing a novel and simplified bacteriological medium. Additionally, the new media reported provides improved growth conditions for P. salmonis, where biomass concentrations of approximately 800 mg cell dry weight L−1 were obtained, about eight times higher than those reported for the blood containing medium. A 2- level full factorial design was employed to evaluate the significance of the main medium components on cell growth and an optimal temperature range of 23–27°C was determined for the microorganism to grow in the novel liquid media. Therefore, these results represent a breakthrough regarding P. salmonis research in order to optimize pure P. salmonis growth in liquid blood and serum free medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piscirickettsia salmonis is a novel, aggressive, facultative Gram-negative bacterium that drastically affects salmon production at different latitudes, with particular impact in southern Chile. Initially, P. salmonis was described as a Rickettsia-like, obligate, intracellular Alphaproteobacteria, but it was reclassified recently as a facultative intracellular Gammaproteobacteria. This designation has prompted the independent growth of the bacterium to a pure state for detailed study of its biology, genetics and epidemiology, properties that are still relatively poorly characterized. The preliminary sequence analysis of a 992-bp fragment of pure P. salmonis DNA allowed us to characterize a novel and complete 863-bp insertion sequence in the bacterial genome (named ISPsa2), which has a novel 16/16 bp perfectly inverted terminal repeat flanking a 726-bp ORF that encodes a putative transposase (Tnp-Psa). The coding sequence of the enzyme shares similarities to that described in some Bacillus species and particularly to those of the IS6 family. ISPsa2 carries its own promoter with standard −10 and −35 sequences, suggesting an interesting potential for plasticity in this pathogenic bacterium. Additionally, the presence of ISPsa2 was confirmed from three isolates of P. salmonis collected from different epizootics in Chile in 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: CECdir–CECret is a novel non-toxic doublet 8.5kDa peptide representing the natural coding sequence of the antimicrobial peptide Cecropin A from Drosophila melanogaster fused in-frame to its own inverted version. Expression of this cloned doublet peptide in Escherichia coli, yielded peptides that were mostly packaged into inclusion bodies. The new molecule was purified, solubilized and refolded, through a standard guanidine-based procedure. The recovered refolded peptides were then characterized by HPLC chromatography, MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry and peptide sequencing, and finally evaluated for their antimicrobial potential. The novel doublet peptide CECdir–CECret, displays an enhanced in vitro antimicrobial activity and action spectrum in comparison to the monomer Cecropin A. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Piscirickettsia salmonis genome was screened to evaluate potential flagella-related open reading frames, as well as their genomic organization and eventual expression. A complete and organized set of flagellar genes was found for P. salmonis, although no structural flagellum has ever been reported for this bacterium. To gain further understanding, the hierarchical flagellar cascade described for Legionella pneumophila was used as a reference model for putative analysis in P. salmonis. Specifically, 5 of the most relevant genes from this cascade were chosen, including 3 regulatory genes (fleQ, triggers the cascade; fliA, regulates the σ28-coding gene; and rpoN, an RNA polymerase-dependent gene) and 2 terminal structural genes (flaA and flaB, flagellin and a flagellin-like protein, respectively). Kinetic experiments evaluated gene expressions over time, with P. salmonis assessed in 2 liquid, cell-free media and during infection of the SHK-1 fish cell line. Under all conditions, the 5 target genes were primarily expressed during early growth/infection and were differentially expressed when bacteria encountered environmental stress (i.e. a high-salt concentration). Intriguingly, the flagellin monomer was fully expressed under all growth conditions and was located near the bacterial membrane. While no structural flagellum was detected under any condition, the recombinant flagellin monomer induced a proinflammatory response in SHK-1 cells, suggesting a possible immunomodulatory function. The potential implications of these observations are discussed in the context of P. salmonis biology and pathogenic potential.