Molecular Level Identification Research Articles

Near Infrared Spectra of Cows' Milk for Milk Quality Evaluation: Disease Diagnosis and Pathogen Identification

Food quality and safety, as well as bacteria identification, have become very important issues. Establishing fast and non-destructive methods for control is of a great importance. The performance and safety of processed milk and milk products are influenced by the quality of the raw milk used and animal health. Cell count in udder quarter milk has been established as the main criteria by which milk abnormality is evaluated and, in addition to electrical conductivity and pathogen identification, it is also a principle means for the diagnosis of the inflammatory udder disease known as mastitis. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has proved to be a fast non-destructive method for the analysis of food and agricultural products, including non-homogenised milk. In this study, we have analysed NIR spectra of udder quarter milk samples collected continuously from individual cows, at various farms, at different times of the year. We report that NIR spectra of cows' udder quarter milk, when subjected to multivariate data analysis, provides information about milk abnormality and health disorders in cows. We have developed spectroscopic models for the simultaneous measurement of somatic cell count and electrical conductivity, as well as for identification of the main mastitis-causing bacterial pathogens in cow's udder quarter milk. These findings present NIR spectroscopy as a powerful technology for in vivo health monitoring, disease diagnosis at molecular level and bacteria identification.

Genomes to Life "Center for Molecular and Cellular Systems": a research program for identification and characterization of protein complexes.

Goal 1 of Department of Energy's Genomes to Life (GTL) program seeks to identify and characterize the complete set of protein complexes within a cell. Goal 1 forms the foundation necessary to accomplish the other objectives of the GTL program, which focus on gene regulatory networks and molecular level characterization of interactions in microbial communities. Together this information would allow cells and their components to be understood in sufficient detail to predict, test and understand the responses of a biological system to its environment. The Center for Molecular and Cellular Systems has been established to identify and characterize protein complexes using high through-put analytical technologies.A dynamic research program is being developed that supports the goals of the Center by focusing on the development new capabilities for sample preparation and complex separations, molecular level identification of the protein complexes by mass spectrometry, characterization of the complexes in living cells by imaging techniques, and bioinformatics and computational tools for the collection and interpretation of data and formation of databases and tools to allow the data to be shared by the biological community.

Acid–base characterisation of flat oxide-covered metal surfaces

This paper gives a brief description of the experimental methods which can be used to determine the main parameters characteristic of the acid/base properties of flat oxide-covered metal surfaces, either at a macroscopic scale (point of zero charge, isoelectric point, surface charge…) or at a molecular level (identification of the acid/base nature of the reaction sites, strengths of acid/base interactions…). It will be shown that, even though a global description of acid–base properties in terms of zero-point charge or isoelectric point might prove to be a useful parameter for characterisation of a solid surface, a localised description at an atom- or molecular-size of the nature and the strength of the reactive sites is required for the explanation of molecular events involved in the acid–base interactions.