Hybrid polymer seed and tablet coating process (more...)

Rapid, efficient, and low cost detection and identification of microorganisms including pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and fungi is a challenge facing plant and animal health. Current technologies such as Q-PCR rely on multiple assays and amplification methods to identify bacteria and viruses. Traditional optical detection methods also require fluorescent markers. These multiple independent steps and tests increase the processing time and cost for detection and identification. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a technique that uses nanotechnology to electrically detect and identify bacterial and viral RNA sequences without the necessity of using enzymatic amplification methods or fluorescent markers. In cases where microbe densities are particularly low, the technique provides additional sensitivity that allows for the target molecules to be detected in small quantities. Furthermore, the technique may be scaled into large multiplexed arrays for high-throughput and rapid screening. The implementation is further able to differentiate closely related variants of a given bacterial or viral species or strain. This technique addresses the need for a quick, efficient, and inexpensive bacterial and viral detection and identification system. (more...)

Researchers at University of California, Davis have developed a cost effective and miniaturized device that can determine the size of particles in suspension with a precision better than 10nm. (more...)

Available for licensing are patent rights covering disease resistant vegetable species (and methods of producing the same) wherein the disease-resistance is mediated by host-induced gene silencing (HIGS). (more...)

Turkey viral hepatitis (TVH) is an acute, highly contagious and often subclinical disease of turkey.  It is widespread causing reduced fertility and mortality in turkeys.  The disease is highly contagious; therefore, rapid response to infection is important for minimizing the impact.  Currently the disease is diagnosed by post-mortem lesions, which takes place after infection in the turkey population.  In addition, no treatment is available for this disease.  Therefore, there is a need for a diagnostic test, a vaccine or a method of treating animals with such poultry disease. (more...)

BACKGROUND: Natural Killer T-cells (NKT cells) are a growing area of preclinical and clinical research, and modulation of these cells has therapeutic applications in various diseases with immunological, infectious, or oncologic components. DESCRIPTION: Investigators at UCSF and Harvard have identified, isolated, purified, and characterized a novel chemical composition – a glycolipid molecule, from a prominent commensal bacterium. The glycolipid is an analog of a known synthetic class of compounds that are known to activate natural killer T-cells. This new glycolipid compound is also a close analog of a previous clinical candidate for cancer and viral infections, and a current clinical candidate for autoimmune disorders, including graft-versus-host disease. However, the other known NKT activators are synthetic and are thus non-physiological. By contrast the new glycolipid is a fully natural glycolipid produced by resident microbes of the human GI tract. The investigators have demonstrated the ability of the new glycolipid to activate NKT cells and classical NKT-cell cytokine response in cellular experiments (via administration to immune cells) and in vivo (via application of glycolipid-pulsed dendritic cells to conventional mice, and variable expression of the relevant synthetic pathway in gnotobiotic mice).  Interestingly, the glycolipid appears to have a subtle but significant difference in in vitro affinity for NKT cells as well as a different cytokine activation profile from known, synthetic NKT activator. Our study implies that the co-evolved human gut microbiome might specifically produce this physiological glycolipid as a natural ligand that modulates the NKT subset of immune cells relevant to pathogen response and autoimmune disease. Given that the compound is significantly different in structure and activity than the previously studied compounds, this new glycolipid and the surrounding chemical space should be useful as therapeutics as well as research tools. (more...)

Fusarium wilt diseases, instigated by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum, limit or threaten the cultivation of hundreds of crop species, most notably cotton, tomato, and banana. Selective plant breeding to establish fungal resistance has been historically employed to combat this disease. However, the recent appearance of highly virulent strains of F. oxysporum and a reduced diversity in elite crop varieties have made selective breeding more challenging. New pathogens of cotton and bananas have become especially troublesome and have triggered an intense pursuit to genetically-engineer plant resistance. Ultimately, bioengineering crop resistance will require the identification of genes that can provide specific recognition of the pathogen infection and trigger an appropriate resistance response. (more...)

Over 20 mg of synthetic pinnatoxin A, a marine toxin that is not easily isolated from natural sources. (more...)

Alginates have been used for decades for the encapsulation of biological molecules, cells and chemicals. The traditional encapsulation process involved dissolving or dispersing the active agent in a sodium alginate solution, forcing the solution through an orifice to form a droplet which was then cross-linked by contact with a calcium chloride solution. This process was not easily scaled-up and was limited to particles larger than 500 μm. Spray-drying would be a commercially viable process to form a calcium alginate matrix particle in the size range of 10 – 20 μm; however, one would have to find a way of cross-linking the sodium alginate solution during atomization. Researchers at the University of California Davis have developed a method that accomplishes this by spray-drying an aqueous formulation that contains sodium alginate, a calcium salt that is only soluble at reduced pH and an organic acid that has been neutralized to a pH just above the pKa with a volatile base. Under these conditions, the calcium salt is insoluble and calcium ions are not available for cross-linking. The solution in this fluid state is pumped through the nozzle of the spray dryer, where it is effectively atomized. Upon atomization, the volatile base is vaporized, which reduces the pH (hydrogen ions are released into solution) and in turn releases calcium ions from the calcium salt that cross-link the alginate. The incorporation of an additional polymer to the formulation allows for the control of hydration properties of the particles to control the release of the encapsulated compounds. This same process can be used for encapsulation using soy protein. (more...)

Emulsions comprised of microscale droplets of a liquid in another immiscible liquid are common products and have been made for centuries. These emulsions can be simply made by applying viscous stresses using a mechanical mixer that break larger droplets into smaller droplets, consequently storing energy in the additional droplet interfacial area that is created. Traditional mechanical mixing devices can achieve droplet diameters to around 200 nm, but usually have difficulty creating droplets smaller than this limit. Existing methods for making elastic emulsions of small droplets typically alter the composition to raise the volume fraction of the dispersed (i.e. droplet) phase up to the point where the droplets begin to pack and deform. Due to the geometrical nature of the packing of disordered spheres, a significant elasticity appears at droplet volume fractions above sixty percent, and is reached by adding more of the dispersed phase while mixing. Obtaining elastic emulsions at droplet volume fractions much below sixty percent has never been achieved simply by the history of applied flow stresses. (more...)

Normal 0 0 1 95 543 UC Berkeley 4 1 666 11.1282 0 0 0 This invention relates to genes and methods to control eukaryotic mechanisms responsible for both the genesis and maintenance of heritable phenotypic variation. Paramutations represent specific types of epigenetic alterations that can be stably inherited without altering the DNA sequence. Several genes are known to be involved in regulating the paramutant state in maize plants. It is currently thought that these allelic interactions cause structural alterations to the chromatin. This invention relates to the use of the rmr1 gene for reducing or mitigating gene silencing in a transgenic maize plant and also to reduce or mitigate inbreeding depression (more...)

The life cycle of higher plants consists of two major phases, the vegetative phase and the reproductive (flowering) phase. In general, plants store matter and energy in the form of carbohydrate reserves during the vegetative phase, and then mobilize these reserves in the development of flowers, fruit, and seeds during the reproductive phase, which is often triggered by various light- and circadian-related factors. As a consequence of this, the timing of the transition to flowering can significantly affect the biomass yields of vegetative structures (leaves, stems, and roots) and reproductive structures. Hence, the ability to control the timing of plant flowering could have important applications in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. Researchers at the University of California have isolated an Arabidopsis gene, known as CCA1, that encodes a regulatory transcription factor involved in light- and circadian-regulated gene expression. The UC researchers have shown that CCA1 plays an important role in plant development, notably that overexpression of the gene in transgenic plants causes delayed flowering. These plants also display reduced sensitivity to photoperiod for their growth and development, and have elongated stems. Transgenic plants incorporating CCA1 might have a number of advantages over wild-type plants, such as a lengthened harvesting season for vegetables and fruits or lengthened vegetative phases with higher yields for vegetables such as spinach and cabbage. Further, light requirements might be rendered less stringent to extend the growing range of photoperiodic plants. The UC researchers have also isolated a protein kinase regulatory subunit, called CKB2, which stimulates the transcriptional activity of CCA1 proteins. CKB2 does so both by inducing protein-binding and by protein-activation (via phosphorylation), thus strongly modulating CCA1-mediated transcription. Thus, CKB2 provides an alternative to CCA1 for genetic engineering of plants to control light- and circadian-associated plant developmental processes. (more...)