Cyanobacteria are a promising source of biofuels. They have higher growth rates and greater solar energy capture efficiency than multi-cellular plants. Traditional downstream recovery of the cell membrane lipids from cyanobacteria, however, typically requires cell lysis followed by solvent extraction. This can account for 70-80% of the cost of biofuel...

Photosynthetic bacteria potentially provide a source of lipids that is relatively easy to harvest and convert into biofuels. To increase the efficiency of this system it would be beneficial to use a bacterial strain that produces lipids that are readily converted to biofuels, such as neutral lipids. Hence, there is a need for a photosynthesizing...

Conventional cancer therapies are limited by a number of factors including the develop-ment of drug-resistant tumor cells, the toxicity of treatment agents to normal tissue, and the difficulty of bringing therapy to poorly perfused areas of solid tumors. While these factors have prompted the development of new approaches for the treatment of cancer,...

The development of sustainable biofuels has gained significant support because of the prospect of global climate change, energy shortages, and petroleum supply constraints. Microalgae and cyanobacteria are efficient at converting solar energy into fuels; however, their potential biofuel productivity depends on their biomass. It would be a significant...

Cheap renewable energy is a major goal of many countries. Although wind, solar, and hydro power are supplements to the power grid, they cannot be efficiently converted into the liquid biofuels needed for cars, ships, and planes. In contrast, photosynthetic microbes are not only the most efficient organisms for solar energy conversion, but they have...

Plague is endemic in many areas of the world, including even the western United States. The etiological agent of the disease, Yersinia pestis, infects both humans and rodents. Once a potential host is exposed, Y. pestis can rapidly invade the lymphatic system to produce systemic and often fatal disease. Recent efforts to create a safe and effective...

Bacterial strains designed for immunization frequently have mutations that eliminate lipopolysaccharide O-antigen. These mutants are less immunogenic, however they also have a lowered ability to colonize the intestinal tract and invade intestinal mucosal cells. There is a need then, for a bacterium that has a mutation allowing O-antigen synthesis,...

DNA immunization strategies offer the promise of controlling avian coccidiosis in the poultry industry. DNA vaccination, however, typically requires delivery of large quantities of DNA by injection or particle gun. This mandates the handling of individual birds for each vaccination and makes the use of DNA vaccines prohibitively expensive for control...

Fish farming generates billions of dollars of revenue, and the culture of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is the largest aquaculture in the U.S. The most serious bacterial pathogens affecting this industry are Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium columnare. Losses due to these pathogens are estimated to be $50-80 million, annually. The...

In the process of developing vaccines against influenza, generating influenza virus in cultured cells using a minimal number of plasmid constructs has been a long-term challenge. In an effort to reduce costs and save time in constructing these plasmids a new technology has been developed to generate influenza virus from cultured eukaryotic cells...