Frequencies of vanB-type Enterococcus faecium increased in Europe during the last years. VanB enterococci show various levels of vancomycin MICs even below the susceptible breakpoint challenging a reliable diagnostics. The performance of 3 chromogenic vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) screening agars, 2 Etest® vancomycin protocols, and different microdilution methods to detect 129 clinical...

Using the chromogenic substrate S-2222, we have optimized and automated an amidolytic assay for heparin. The assay is based on the detection of anti-Xa activity generated by heparin in plasma. The method is reproducible (intra- and interassay CVs of 2.4 and 3.3%, respectively) and reliable in antithrombin III-deficient plasma. Results of this assay, obtained for plasma samples from patients and...

We present a simple, two- or three-step method for the synthesis of chromogenic octamethylcalix[4]pyrrole-based (OMCP) sensors for anions. Electrophilic aromatic substitution allows for converting the pyrrole moieties of OMCP into a dye. The formation of a sensor-anion complex results in partial charge transfer and a dramatic change in color. The absorption (UV-vis) and NMR titration experiment...

We describe a simple plaque color assay for identifying oligonucleotide-directed mutations in cloned DNA fragments. The basis of the method is to: fuse the sequence of interest in-frame to the E.coli lacZ gene to produce a blue plaque phage, mutate the site of interest to a stop codon to generate a white plaque phage, and revert the stop codon and surrounding nucleotides to give a blue plaque p...