The object is to provide a lysis method, lysis treatment solution, detection method using an immunochromatographic device, and detection kit comprising an immunochromatographic device for detecting whether causative bacteria of mastitis are coliform bacteria or not by using milk of a livestock animal. There is provided a method for lysing coliform bacteria, which comprises the step of mixing a lysis agent containing a lytic enzyme, and at least one kind of anionic surfactant, and preferably further containing at least one kind of nonionic surfactant, with milk obtained form a livestock animal to lyse coliform bacteria existing in the milk. The lytic enzyme is preferably lysozyme.

The disclosure provides methods and compositions that are useful to lessen and/or cure bacterial biofilms and treat diseases or disorders associated with biofilms using one or more novel polypeptide vaccines, antibodies, antibody fragments and compositions. Bacteria that cannot form functional biofilms are more readily cleared by the remainder of the host's immune system and/or traditional antibiotics.

A system for detecting an infection caused by a strain of bacteria, the system comprising an electrode functionalised with proteins isolated from a cell wall of a bacteria of the strain of bacteria and a controller configured to communicate with the electrode to perform an electrochemical test of a blood sample from a subject. The blood binding sites of proteins to bacteria cell wall to sample deposited on the electrode, wherein the electrochemical test measures a binding energy of one or more biomarkers in the blood sample with the proteins functionalised on the electrode to determine whether the subject has or has had an immune response to the strain of bacteria indicative of an infection caused by the strain of bacteria.

The present invention relates to vitro method for analysing a liquid sample as to the presence, identity and properties of microbes comprising: a) isolating microbes from the liquid sample; b) analysing said microbes spectroscopically by means of spontaneous Raman spectroscopy; and c) determining antibiotic susceptibility of said microbes spectroscopically by means of spontaneous Raman spectroscopy. The present invention also refers to device for analysing a liquid sample as to the presence, identity and properties of microbes, wherein the device comprises as a first unit (i) a chip comprising a filtering unit and an antibiotics exposure unit capable of determining the susceptibility of microbes to an antibiotic; as a second unit (ii) a Raman spectroscopy system; and as a third unit (iii) an evaluation module which is coupled to the Raman spectroscopy system.

To provide a method for discriminating a microorganism by selecting and using a marker protein capable of reproducibly and quickly discriminating a bacterial species of the genus Listeria. The method for discriminating a microorganism according to the present invention includes: a step of subjecting a sample containing a microorganism to mass spectrometry to obtain a mass spectrum; a reading step of reading a mass-to-charge ratio m/z of a peak derived from a marker protein from the mass spectrum; and a discrimination step of discriminating which bacterial species of Listeria bacteria the microorganism contained in the sample contains based on the mass-to-charge ratio m/z, in which at least one of 17 ribosomal proteins L3, L4, L23, L2, L24, L6, L18, S5, L15, S13, S11, L10, L21, L13, S9, L31, S16 is used as the marker protein and particularly at least one of 8 ribosomal proteins L24, L6, L18, L15, S9, L31, S16 among the 17 ribosomal proteins is used.

Methods for determining the susceptibility or resistance of bacteria to antibiotic agents are provided. In one embodiment, the methods include culturing the bacteria in the presence or absence or the antimicrobial agent to generate a primary culture which is then cultured in the presence or absence of transforming phages. The recombinant phages are specific to the bacteria and comprise a heterologous marker (e.g., a nucleic acid that is expressible as a detectable product such as an RNA or a protein). The susceptibility or resistance of the bacteria to the antimicrobial agent may be determined by assaying the culture for the presence or absence of the heterologous marker, wherein a reduction in the level or activity of the marker in the culture compared to the level or activity of the marker in a comparative culture indicates that the bacteria is sensitive to the antibiotic agent.

The invention provides compositions (e.g., peptide compositions) useful for the detection of antibodies that bind to Borrelia antigens. The peptide compositions comprise polypeptide sequences comprising variants in the IR6 domain of the Borrelia VlsE protein. The invention also provides devices, methods, and kits comprising such peptide compositions and useful for the detection of antibodies that bind to Borrelia antigens and the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

The invention provides assays and methods for diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. The invention relates in some embodiments to urinary biomarkers and their use in the differential diagnosis of bacterial and viral infections. The invention further relates to means for determining and providing correct treatment to infection in a non-invasive manner, while minimizing antibiotic misuse.

The present invention relates to the field of medicine and in particular to Parkinson's disease (PD). Specifically the present invention relates to methods and means for early detection of PD. The invention relates also to methods and means for treatment or prophylaxis of PD.

In the method of the invention a probability of a subject developing or having Parkinson's disease (PD) is determined by measuring the relative abundances of one or multiple microbial taxa in a sample from a subject; and the probability of the subject developing or having PD is determined based on the measured abundances. The present invention provides a novel approach for the diagnostics of PD.

The present invention relates to the treatment of diseases relating to proteins of the human microbiome metasecretome and, thus, to microbiome interactions, especially microbiome-host interactions. In particular the present invention relates to a method for identification of secreted peptides and proteins of the human microbiome. The present invention also relates to methods for generating a database of human microbiome metasecretome protein sequences. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for preparing a protein of the human microbiome metasecretome as well as to the use of such proteins in medicine.