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US 6,649,398 B2Granted
Method for inducing bacterial growth using autoinducers
AssigneeUniversity of Leicester
InventorsPrimrose Pamela Elaine Freestone, Peter Humphrey Williams, Mark Lyte, Richard David Haigh
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Abstract
A bacterial autoinducer and method for isolating and purifying a bacterial autoinducer form a sample comprising the steps of collecting a sample containing the autoinducer, fractionating the sample to isolate fractions corresponding to molecular weights of approximately 300-1500 Dalton, and eluting the isolate on an anion-exchange chromatographic column and selecting the faction containing the autoinducer.
Claims12
A method for inducing bacterial growth, the production of bacterial toxins or the production of bacterial adhesions, comprising the steps of:
- i) contacting a sample containing bacteria with a bacterial autoinducer having the following properties:
- a) it is produced in response to noradrenaline in serum SAPI medium;
- b) it is heat stable;
- c) it is stable to lyophilisation;
- d) it has a negative charge;
- e) it is polar;
- f) it is hydrophilic;
- g) it will not partition into organic solvents;
- h) it is capable of binding positively charged metal ions;
- and
- j) it has a molecular weight of about 300-1500 daltons;
- and
- ii) culturing said bacteria, thereby inducing bacterial growth or producing bacterial toxins or bacterial adhesions.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.