In a review, which includes an imporatnt part of our research, we focoused on plant viruses found in environmental waters and their detection. Infectious plant pathogenic viruses from at least 7 different genera have been found in aqueous environment. The release of such viruses from plants can lead to their dissemination in streams, lakes, and rivers, thereby ensuring the long-distance spread of viruses that otherwise, under natural conditions, would remain restricted to limited areas. Due to the widespread use of hydroponic systems and intensive irrigation in horticulture, the review is focused on the possibility and importance of spreading viral infection by water, together with measures for preventing the spread of viruses. The development of new methods for detecting multiple plant viruses at the same time, like microarrays or new generation sequencing, will facilitate the monitoring of environmental waters and waters used for irrigation and in hydroponic systems.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2613327
Researchers of the National Institute of Biology were invited to write a book on GMO detection in the series Springer Briefs in Food, Health and Nutrition, because of their international recognition and many years of experience in GMO testing, development of real-time PCR methods, implementation of quality system requirements, validations and verification of methods, and measurement uncertainty. They invited the colleagues from the European Union Joint Research Centre which hosts the European Union Reference Laboratory for GM Food and Feed and chairs the European Network of GMO Laboratories to join the authorship. This Brief provides the current state-of-the-art on all key topics involved in GMO testing and is a source of detailed practical information for laboratories. Special focus is given to qualitative and quantitative real-time PCR analysis relevant to all areas where detection and identification rely on nucleic acid-based methods. The following topics, important for testing laboratories, are also discussed: organization of the laboratory, focusing on aspects of the quality system and methods for testing, validation and verification of methods, and measurement uncertainty. The Brief also discusses the new challenges of GMOs and novel modified organisms, using new technologies, and the possible solutions for GMO detection, including bioinformatics tools. Finally, legislation on GMOs and sources of information on GMOs are provided, which are relevant not only to testing laboratories, but to anyone interested in GMOs.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2460239
Six different PCR ribotypes were detected among Clostridium difficile strains sampled periodically from 50 animals at a single veal calf farm over a period of 6 months. We have shown that PCR ribotypes often associated with cattle (ribotypes 078, 126, and 033) were not clonal but differed in PFGE type, sporulation properties, antibiotic sensitivities, and tetracycline resistance determinants, suggesting that multiple strains of the same PCR ribotype infected the calves and that calves were likely to be infected prior to arrival at the farm. Importantly, strains isolated at later time points were more likely to be resistant to tetracycline and erythromycin and showed higher early sporulation efficiencies in vitro, suggesting that these two properties converge to promote the persistence of C. difficile in the environment or in hosts.
COBISS.SI-ID: 512251192
A quantitative real-time PCR was used to follow the seasonal changes of flavescence dorée phytoplasma (FDp) titre in grapevines from two vineyards located in climatically different vine-growing regions of Slovenia. Besides its known presence in the leaf veins, FDp was also detected in flowers, berry tissues and tendrils. In plants with high concentrations of FDp in tissues with symptoms, phytoplasma was also detected in symptomless tissues. A trend of decreasing FDp titre in all examined symptomless tissues from June to July and an increasing one throughout the growing season in tissues with symptoms was recorded. Accordingly, FDp was present in detectable amounts in flowers, petioles and veins of almost all infected plants in the late spring, and was detected in all examined tissue types in summer, with the highest titre in berries in August. The study showed that in the absence of plant health measurements an FDp infection may spread exponentially by a factor of 40 per year.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2656079
Several proteins including lectins, lignocellulolytic enzymes, protease inhibitors and hydrophobins isolated from mushrooms show unique features. They can offer solutions to several medical and biotechnological problems such as microbial drug resistance, low crop yields, and demands for renewable energy. Large-scale production and industrial application of some fungal proteins proves their biotechnological potential and establishes higher fungi as a valuable, although relatively unexplored, source of unique proteins. In this review the first comprehensive overview of known proteins from mushrooms, describes the process of acquiring a new bioactive protein, and provides an overview of current and anticipated applications of these proteins across biotechnology, medicine and agriculture.
COBISS.SI-ID: 2504527