Background: The introduction of the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection creates the need for precise tools for the quality control of vaccination procedures, detection of poor humoral response, and estimation of the achieved protection against the disease. Thus, the study aimed to compare the results of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 tests to evaluate the application of the WHO standard unitage (the binding antibody units; BAU/mL) for a measurement of response to the vaccination. Methods: Patients undergoing vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 with Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 (BNT162b2) (n = 79), referred for SARS-CoV-2 antibody measurement prior to vaccination and 21 days after dose 1, and 8, 14, and 30 days after dose 2 were included. The sera were tested with three assays: Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 S (Roche), LIAISON^® SARS-CoV-2 TrimericS IgG (DiaSorin), and SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant (Abbott). Results: The three assays showed varying correlations at different time points in the study. The overall agreement for all samples was moderate to high (ρ = 0.663–0.902). We observed the most uniform agreement for the day of dose 2 (ρ = 0.775–0.825), while it was least consistent for day 8 (ρ = −0.131–0.693) and 14 (ρ = −0.247–0.603) after dose 2. The dynamics of changes of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in patients without history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection appears homogenous based on the Roche results, more heterogenous when considering the DiaSorin results, and in between for the Abbott results. Conclusions: The results highlight the need for further work on the international standard of measurement of SARS-CoV-2 Ig, especially in the era of vaccination. The serological assays can be useful to detect IgG/IgM antibodies to assess the response to the vaccination. However, they cannot be used interchangeably. In terms of the evaluation of the immune response to the BNT162b2 vaccine, Roche and Abbott kits appear to be more useful.

Two bacteriophages, ϕA38 and ϕA41, infecting Pectobacterium parmentieri strain SCC 3193 (former Pectobacterium wasabiae strain SCC 3193) were isolated from arable soil samples collected in different regions of Poland. ϕA38 and ϕA41 have a typical morphology of the members of the family Podoviride and order Caudovirales, with a head diameter of ca. 60 nm and tail length of ca. 20 nm. Phages ϕA38 and ϕA41 exhibited a similar RFLP pattern with Csp6I restriction endonuclease. They were stable in a range of pHs, temperatures and osmolarities but were rapidly inactivated by UV light. During the first 20 min., 74 and 69% of ϕA38 and ϕA41 phages, respectively, were adsorbed to SCC 3193 cells. In one-step growth experiments, ϕA38 and ϕA41 showed latent period of ca. 20–30 min and burst size of 102 and 141 phages, respectively. The optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) was calculated to be 0.01 for both bacteriophages. In the host range experiments, both phages were able to infect six from 21 of the tested P. parmentieri isolates but the phages were unable to infect other members of the Pectobacterium spp. or Dickeya spp. In the proof-of-concept experiments, ϕA38 and ϕA41 were able to inhibit the growth of P. parmentieri strain SCC 3193 and to protect potato tuber tissue maceration caused by the bacterium. The potential use of ϕA38 and ϕA41 bacteriophages for the biocontrol of P. parmentieri in potato is discussed.

Ochrobactrum spp. are ubiquitous bacteria attracting growing attention as important members of microbiomes of plants and nematodes and as a source of enzymes for biotechnology. Strain Ochrobactrum sp. A44^T was isolated from the rhizosphere of a field-grown potato in Gelderland, the Netherlands. The strain can interfere with quorum sensing (QS) of Gram-negative bacteria through inactivation of N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) and protect plant tissue against soft rot pathogens, the virulence of which is governed by QS. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene alone and concatenation of 16S rRNA gene and MLSA genes (groEL and gyrB) revealed that the closest relatives of A44^T are O. grignonense OgA9a^T, O. thiophenivorans DSM 7216^T, O. pseudogrignonense CCUG 30717^T, O. pituitosum CCUG 50899^T, and O. rhizosphaerae PR17^T. Genomes of all six type strains were sequenced, significantly expanding the possibility of genome-based analyses in Ochrobactrum spp. Average nucleotide identity (ANIb) and genome-to-genome distance (GGDC) values for A44^T and the related strains were below the single species thresholds (95% and 70%, respectively), with the highest scores obtained for O. pituitosum CCUG 50899^T (87.31%; 35.6%), O. rhizosphaerae PR17^T (86.80%; 34.3%), and O. grignonense OgA9a^T (86.30%; 33.6%). Distinction of A44^T from the related type strains was supported by chemotaxonomic and biochemical analyses. Comparative genomics revealed that the core genome for the newly sequenced strains comprises 2731 genes, constituting 50–66% of each individual genome. Through phenotype-to-genotype study, we found that the non-motile strain O. thiophenivorans DSM 7216^T lacks a cluster of genes related to flagella formation. Moreover, we explored the genetic background of distinct urease activity among the strains. Here, we propose to establish a novel species Ochrobactrum quorumnocens, with A44^T as the type strain (= LMG 30544^T = PCM 2957^T).

DapuNPV (Dasychira pudibunda nucleopolyhedrovirus), presented in this report, belongs to Alphabaculovirus group Ib. Its full, newly sequenced genome shows close relationship to baculovirus OpMNPV isolated from douglas-fir tussock moth Orgyia pseudotsugata. Baculovirus DapuNPV is a natural limiter of pale tussock moth Dasychira pudibunda L. (syn. Calliteara pudibunda L.)(Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae), which can occur in a form of an outbreak on many species of deciduous trees and may cause significant economic losses in the forests. Late instars dead larvae of pale tussock moth were mechanically homogenized and polyhedra were purified during series of ultracentrifugation. Viral DNA was extarcted and sequenced using Miseq Illumina platform. 294,902 paired reads were used for de novo assembling. Genome annotation, multiple allingment to others baculoviruses and phylogegentic analises were perform with the use of multiple bioinformatic tools like: Glimmer3, HMMER web server, Geneious 7 and MEGA6. The genome of DapuNPV is 136,761 bp long with AT pairs content 45.6 %. The predicted number of encoded putative open reading frames (ORFs) is 161 and six of them demonstrate low or no homology to ORFs previously found in baculoviruses. DapuNPV genome shows very high similarity to OpMNPV in a nucleotide sequence (91.1 % of identity) and gene content (150 homologous ORFs), though some major differences (e.g. lack of he65 in OpMNPV) have also been noted. Similarly to other members of the Baculoviridae family, DapuNPV baculovirus possesses highly conserved core genes. Among them, there is a second copy of occluded derived virus envelope 27 protein (odv-e27), which was previously found only in a member of Alphabaculovirus group II – LyxyMNPV (Lymantria xylina MNPV). Surprisingly enough, DapuNPV and LyxyMNPV genomes share also another feature. Phylogenetic analysis of chitin binding family protein (cbpl) indicates significant similarity of those two baculoviruses from distinct evolutionary groups which infect the same hosts from Lymantriidae. The ubiquitin like family gene (ubil), which has not been described until now, is another characteristic component of DapuNPV genome.