Therefore, prescriptions should be in liquid form, that

Therefore, prescriptions should be in liquid form, that this website is, soluble painkillers (analgesics), ideally a sugar-free form. Frequency of dental review should be scheduled according to the risk of caries every 3 to 6 months5,15,22,27. As the predisposition to develop intraoral carcinoma (SSC) increases with age, cancer screening must be considered a very important aspect of the review appointment in patients with RDEB from the second decade on19,28. Routine dental treatment can be provided5,22,29.

Dental management does not require many modifications4; however, a careful approach is advised as tissue manipulation can produce oral ulceration. This group of patients requires an aggressive preventive programme and frequent visits to the dentist as they present enamel hypoplasia/defects, leading to an increased risk for cavities and severe attrition. Patients with DDEB are able to receive routine dental treatment with little or no modifications28. Patients with the severe generalized RDEB subtype of EB require several treatment modifications and a careful approach to avoid as much tissue damage as possible. Management of LDK378 these patients ideally requires a well-organized multidisciplinary team approach27,30 with good communication involving case discussion. 1 Lubrication Lips should always be lubricated with Vaseline®/petrolatum or other appropriate lubricant before any procedure is performed to reduce

adherence and lesions formation1,5,18,27,31. Bullae formation or epithelium sloughing can occur upon contact with the suction tip1. It is suggested to lean the

suction tip or saliva ejector upon hard tissue, that is, on the tooth surface. High vacuum suction should be avoided. Blood- or fluid-filled bullae that occur during treatment have to be drained with a sterile needle or by a cut with scissors to avoid lesion expansion because of fluid pressure13,22,23,33. Extreme care of fragile tissues is important. To handle tissues, a little pressure (compressive forces) can be applied, but no sliding movements (lateral traction or other shear forces) should Adenosine be used, as these can cause tissue sloughing5,11,23. At the end of every clinical session, it is important to check for fluid-filled blisters and drain them. It is also important to check whether there are remnants of dental materials. A careful approach is advised, as mucosal sloughing can form following dental treatment34. In patients with severe generalized RDEB, periapical technique is difficult in the posterior area because of microstomia, ankyloglossia, and scarring of the sublingual area. Orthopantomography (panoramic) is the investigation of choice. Other alternatives are as follows: small films bitewings, extraoral bitewings capabilities in panoramic radiographs (if equipment is available), and occlusal or lateral oblique techniques. There are no contraindications to the use of conventional dental materials5,38.

This description of time-dependent changes in carotenoid content

This description of time-dependent changes in carotenoid content inside cells of R. glutinis when submerged in culture is in agreement with that measured by Bhosale & Gadre (2001 b) using HPLC. However, carotenoid quantification based on LTRS has the following advantages over traditional methods. First, it is less time consuming. The classic extraction procedure using HPLC requires over 5 h. In contrast, it only takes about 40 min to acquire Raman

spectra from 100 cells. Second, LTRS cannot cause degradation HDAC inhibitor review or isomerization of carotenoids when using a low-power laser. Third, only a small amount of sample, for example, not more than 200 μL culture, is required for carotenoid measurement. Finally, because no organic solvent is used for LTRS, environmental pollution and health hazards can be avoided. Most of our knowledge on the microbial fermentation process has been obtained by inference from cell-population www.selleckchem.com/products/AZD6244.html level data, including information on substrate concentration, product concentration, and fermentation broth pH. However, in many cases, a population of cells has a different response to the environment due to heterogeneity within the population. The increasing need to understand individual cell behavior drives the development of single-cell analytical techniques. Of particular

importance are techniques, like the one presented in this paper, which will enable us to probe the dynamic changes within an individual cell and the intercellular variability that reveals the underlying mechanisms behind the coordination of multicellular behavior. In this work, we assessed the variation in carotenoid levels per cell over 100 single cells of R. glutinis at different time points (8, 16, 32, 48, and 64 h). Figure 4 shows 10 randomly selected Raman spectra from the 100 spectral data of R. glutinis cells at each time point and Table 2 illustrates the mean value and coefficient

of variation (CV; SD/mean) for carotenoid content inside the cells at these time points. In the lag (8 h) and early exponential phases (16 h), most cells were in rapid proliferation and had a low intracellular carotenoid content. The variation in Methocarbamol carotenoid levels of cells was significant, giving a CV value of 144% and 241%, respectively. At 32 h, most cells entered the carotenogenesis phase and the heterogeneity in carotenoid levels began to diminish, with a CV value of 63%. A further decrease of variation in the carotenoid levels of cells could be seen with the increase of the carotenoid content during the late exponential and stationary phases; the CVs were 33% and 32%, respectively. The results indicate that the carotenoid levels in individual cells in a population vary significantly, especially for the population of cells in the lag and early exponential phases. In order to estimate the carotenoid level measurement errors, we made 100 measurements on a single cell randomly selected from the sample at 64 h.

196 μg/mL, 6384 μg/mL, and 41952 μg·h/mL and were 31, 4 and 16%

196 μg/mL, 6.384 μg/mL, and 41.952 μg·h/mL and were 31, 4 and 16% higher following TDF coadministration. After TDF alone, the steady-state geometric mean TFV Cmin, Cmax and AUC were 0.052 μg/mL, 0.262 μg/mL and 2.590 μg·h/mL, respectively. These values decreased by 12, 25 and 15%, respectively, after FPV coadministration mTOR inhibitor and by 9, 18 and 7%, respectively, after FPV/RTV coadministration. During FPV/RTV dosing, the geometric

mean ritonavir Cmin, Cmax and AUC were 0.177 μg/mL, 0.858 μg/mL and 5.104 μg·h/mL, respectively (data not shown). During TDF coadministration, these increased slightly in groups C and D [GMR (90% CI) 1.09 (0.80–1.49) for AUC0−24 h, 1.12 (0.81–1.55) for Cmax, and 1.05 (0.79–1.40) for Cmin]. The regimens were generally well tolerated, although possibly drug-related maculopapular rash was observed in 38% (15 of 39) of the subjects: during FPV dosing alone in six subjects (three grade 1, two grade 2 and one

grade 3), during FPV/TDF dosing in four subjects (two grade 1 and two grade 2), during FPV/RTV+TDF dosing in four subjects (all grade 2), and during FPV/RTV dosing in one subject (grade 4). Laboratory parameters remained stable over the study period. Our results show that, when TDF is coadministered with either unboosted FPV or FPV/RTV, a small reduction in selleck products TFV exposure and increase in APV exposure occur. In previous TDF–FPV/RTV coadministration studies, the effect of adding an FPV regimen to a TDF regimen was not evaluated. However, two studies that evaluated APV pharmacokinetics following the addition of TDF 300 mg qd to an FPV/RTV 700/100 mg bid or 1400/200 mg

qd regimen noted negligible increases in steady-state APV Cmin values (by 4% [15] and 2% [19], respectively). The APV and TFV pharmacokinetic changes observed in our study were unlikely to be clinically important because the steady-state geometric mean TFV Cmin remained within the range reported in HIV-infected patients treated with TDF 300 mg qd without concurrent FPV [22–24], and the geometric clonidine mean APV Cmin for unboosted FPV (0.351 μg/mL) and FPV/RTV (2.88 μg/mL) during TDF coadministration remained 2.4- and 19.7-fold higher than the documented protein binding-adjusted 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) for wild-type HIV isolates (0.146 μg/mL), respectively [25]. The pattern of plasma Cmin and AUC changes that we observed during TDF–FPV and TDF–FPV/RTV coadministration was different from the pattern reported when TDF was given with ATV [10,26], ATV/RTV [10,11,27], LPV/RTV [12,13,24,28] or indinavir (IDV) [13] (increase in TFV and decrease in PI), DRV or brecanavir (BCV) (increase in TFV and PI) [14,29], nelfinavir (NFV) (no change in TFV and decrease/no change in NFV and/or active metabolite M8) [30,31], saquinavir (SQV) (increase in TFV and increase/no change in SQV) [22,32], or TPV/RTV (no change/increase in TFV and decrease in TPV) [33]. Interactions between TDF and PIs can potentially occur at the kidney and/or the gut level.

Recently, a regimen consisting

of rituximab and mycopheno

Recently, a regimen consisting

of rituximab and mycophenolate mofetil without oral corticosteroids was reported to be effective in lupus nephritis. While the efficacy of this regimen has to be confirmed, future controlled trials should focus on the efficacy of rituximab in refractory lupus manifestations and its synergistic effect with other immunosuppressive agents such as cyclophosphamide. In short-term randomized controlled trials, a non-significant increase in serious adverse events was observed in SLE patients treated with rituximab. Long-term safety data of rituximab in SLE, in particular the incidence of hypogammaglobulinemia and serious/opportunistic infections, have to be continuously surveyed. ”
“Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the sequestration of various selleck kinase inhibitor leukocyte subpopulations within both the developing pannus and synovial space. The chronic nature of this disease results in inflammation of multiple joints, with subsequent destruction of the joint cartilage and erosion of bone. Identification

of Epigenetics Compound Library T helper (Th)17 cells led to breaking the dichotomy of the Th1/Th2 axis in immunopathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as RA, and its experimental model, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Th17 cells produce cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-17, IL-6, IL-21, IL-22 and tumor necrosis factor

(TNF)-α, with pro-inflammatory effects, which appear to have a role in immunopathogenesis of RA. Regarding the wide ranging production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines by Th17 cells, it is expected that Th17 cell could be a potent pathogenic O-methylated flavonoid factor in disease immunopathophysiology. Thus the identification of effector mechanisms used by Th17 cells in induction of disease lesions may open new prospects for designing a new therapeutic strategy for treatment of RA. The newly identified CD4+ T helper (Th) cell subtype, Th17 cells, are characterized by production of a distinct profile of effector cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-17F, IL-6, IL-9, IL-21, IL-22, IL-26 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. They have probably evolved to promote host clearance of a range of pathogens distinct from those targeted by Th1 and Th2.[1, 2] Th17 produces cytokine profiles, including IL-17, IL-6, IL-21, IL-22 and TNF-α, which have pro-inflammatory functions, suggesting an important factor in immunopathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), because the main feature of RA pathophysiology is the inflammatory reaction.[3-5] The first sign of Th17 cells identification relates to the role of these cells in host immune response to Borrelia burgdorferi which induced the production of IL-17 by Th17.

Using this approach, some patients may have been diagnosed with T

Using this approach, some patients may have been diagnosed with TB without ever receiving confirmation and/or treatment, and the actual study population with TB may be lower than estimated by this study. This research confirms that treatment with bDMARDs in patients with RA is associated with a higher risk of TB, as well as with risk for incident lymphoma, compared see more with tDMARDs. Additionally, risk of adverse events (in particular, SBI and TB) vary based on bDMARD type, with a higher risk associated with the monoclonal antibody therapy adalimumab, as compared to etanercept, a soluble receptor fusion protein. This study expands

the evidence base for differential risk of infection posed by specific http://www.selleckchem.com/products/LY294002.html bDMARDs. This study was based in part on data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database provided by the Bureau of National Health Insurance,

Department of Health and managed by National Health Research Institutes. The interpretation and conclusions contained herein do not represent those of the Bureau of National Health Insurance, Department of Health or National Health Research Institutes. Ming-Ta Yang is an employee of IMS Health who was a paid consultant to Pfizer in connection with the development of this manuscript. Vernon F. Schabert was an employee of IMS Health who was a paid consultant to Pfizer during the development of the study and manuscript. This study was funded by Pfizer Inc. Ya-Wen Yang is an employee Thalidomide of Pfizer Taiwan. Chi-Hui Fang and Boxiong Tang were employees of Pfizer during the development of the study and manuscript. ”
“International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases is entering its second phase of existence. It was born into APLAR in 1997 and nurtured by Prof Ken Muirden as it marched ahead into early

childhood as APLAR Journal of Rheumatology; it then grew further under the editorship of Professor P H Feng. Prof CS Lau inherited it, renamed it as International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases in recognition of APLAR’s global goals and was instrumental in having it indexed initially in Science citation index-extended (SCI-E) and subsequently in Medline. The journal is at the threshold of entering young adulthood today with a modest, but growing impact factor of 0.807. Its publisher Wiley has provided the right grooming to achieve all its feats of success till date. The Journal is still in its formative years and needs more nutrition in terms of Science and Art of Rheumatology to become a truly international journal. While the aspirations of our APLAR region including science from disadvantaged regions will be kept in mind, uncompromising quality will be the topmost priority of the new editorial team. An overwhelming willingness to join my team by top experts and scientists from all across the globe in response to my request was reassuring.

, 2003), in P syringae pv phaseolicola 1448A annotated as PSPPH

, 2003), in P. syringae pv. phaseolicola 1448A annotated as PSPPH_A0122 (HopAW1) and PSPPH_A0129, and in Acidovorax avenae ssp. avenae annotated as Acav_0110 and Acav_4550. Such situation might be check details indicative of different substrates being targeted in the plant host or the same substrate cleaved at different positions (thus generating different

cleavage products) or function in different plant hosts. Other T3S effector genes are also present in duplicate in B. japonicum genome, such as NopE1 and NopE2 (Wenzel et al., 2010). The presence in a single strain of multiple members belonging to a T3S effector family also occurs in phytopathogenic bacteria. For example, multiple members of the YopJ family are present in P. syringae, Xanthomonas campestris, and Ralstonia solanacearum (Ma et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2009; Szczesny et al., 2010; Lewis et al., 2011). The diversification of effector family

members is thought to have been evolved during the co-evolutionary arms race between plants and their attackers via both pathoadaptation and horizontal gene transfer (Ma et al., 2006). Further studies are needed to determine the driving forces in shaping the T3E repertoire of B. japonicum as well as the presence of multiple effector paralogs. Here, we present evidence that NopT1 and NopT2 are indeed cysteine proteases with autoproteolytic activity which is maximal at pH of 6.5, and it is completely abolished by the class-specific cysteine peptidase inhibitor, E-64. Moreover, single mutations disrupting the catalytic core residues Sorafenib supplier (C100, H213, and D228) of NopT1 diminished both the cysteine protease and the autoprocessing activities. These findings are consistent with previous reports indicating that some T3S effectors classified as clan CA proteases from plant pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria are autoproteolytically cleaved in E. coli (Puri et al., 1997; López-Solanilla Buspirone HCl et al., 2004; Dai et al., 2008; Dowen et al., 2009; Kambara

et al., 2009). It is interesting to note that two previous studies (Dai et al., 2008; Kambara et al., 2009) reached contradictory conclusions regarding the necessity of the catalytic residue H205 in the proteolytic activity of NopT from NGR234. Although these studies reached different conclusions, their primary data are not necessarily mutually exclusive because differences in methods applied might account for the seeming discrepancy. To gain insight into the role of the residues surrounding the autoproteolytic site in NopT1 autoprocessing, we mutated the amino acids immediately preceding the putative autocleavage sites at P3, P2, and P1 that are occupied by residues D47, K48, and M49, respectively. Triple substitution of P1–P3 sites with alanines completely abolished the autoproteolytic cleavage of NopT1. This finding is consistent with previous studies demonstrating that mutations of P1–P3 residues in AvrPphB, ORF4, NopT, RipT, and PBS1 prevent self-processing (Shao et al., 2003b; Zhu et al.

4]; p=0007) and in

CORE score (CORE score pre-counsellin

4]; p=0.007) and in

CORE score (CORE score pre-counselling [mean ± SD] 1.60±0.71, post-counselling 0.89±0.57; p<0.001), suggesting a reduction in anxiety in these individuals about their diabetes. In this paper, we have evaluated a counselling service for people with type 1 diabetes, showing it to be associated with improvements in glycaemic control and reduction in anxiety (about risk of long-term diabetic complications). We believe that this is an effective intervention in helping individuals with type 1 diabetes to self-manage ITF2357 clinical trial their condition. There is increasing evidence that psychological morbidity, in the form of anxiety and depression, is associated with diabetes,2,3 although interventions that can help to alleviate these problems may have only small benefits

on measures of physical health such as glycaemic control.8 This has posed a problem in our unit, in that it is difficult to justify funding for psychological intervention without evidence in the literature of benefit to people with diabetes. Our service improvement project, using our own unit charitable funds, has demonstrated a benefit, not just in a reduction in patients’ anxiety about their presenting issues, but also in obtaining an improvement in glycaemic control, albeit a modest one. The literature suggests that there is an association between both depression9 and anxiety10 Gefitinib with poor glycaemic control. We did not use a measure of depression, such as

the HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) score used in other studies, but rather a specific measure of the patient’s feelings of anxiety and risk. It is therefore in keeping with the literature Resminostat that a reduction in feelings of anxiety, as demonstrated by a lower CORE score, could be associated with better glycaemic control. As poor glycaemic control is associated with increased risk of microvascular and macrovascular complication in type 1 diabetes,11 this intervention to reduce anxiety, and thereby improve glycaemic control, has an important role in improving long-term health in patients with type 1 diabetes. There are limitations to this study of our service. This paper describes an evaluation of a real service, rather than a randomised controlled trial. People with type 1 diabetes were selected for referral by any member of the secondary care diabetes team, without specific referral criteria (although the counsellor has discussed this service at different times with members of the team). It is possible therefore that those referred to the service were the group who would benefit most, although the relatively small numbers of people who completed the counselling course preclude analysis of who may particularly benefit.

Written informed consent was obtained from all patients The stud

Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. The study protocol was approved by the appropriate committees and authorities and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration Raf inhibitor of Helsinki. The cut-off date for this analysis was when all patients had reached week

192 or had discontinued earlier. Efficacy and safety variables were assessed at screening, at baseline, at 2 weeks, at 4 weeks, then every 4 weeks until week 16, at week 24, and every 12 weeks until week 192 (or earlier discontinuation). The primary population for the efficacy analyses was the ITT population. This was used to test for noninferiority with the TLOVR algorithm being followed to assess virological response (HIV-1 RNA < 50 copies/mL). Response GSK1120212 and loss of response needed to be confirmed and were defined as response/lack of response at two consecutive visits. Intermittent missing values were imputed as responders only if the patient was responding at the preceding and following visits. If noninferiority was established in the study, superiority testing was also to be performed on this population. Efficacy analyses were also performed on the per-protocol (PP) population: all patients who were randomized, who had taken trial medication and who did not take any disallowed antiretroviral medication

as described in the protocol for > 1 week. Noninferiority at week 192 was confirmed if the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the difference between the DRV/r and LPV/r arms was higher than –12%. Superiority

was confirmed if the lower limit of the 95% CI for the difference in treatment response between the treatment arms was greater than 0%. In this study, secondary efficacy variables Thymidine kinase included the percentage of patients with plasma viral load < 400 copies/mL at all time-points. Additional sensitivity analyses were also performed to compare virological response rates. These included: PP-TLOVR; ITT missing=failure (M = F); ITT-TLOVR non-VF-censored (patients are censored out after they discontinued for reasons other than VF); and Food and Drug Administration snapshot, whereby only the last HIV-1 RNA measurement within a window of the assessed time-point was taken into account to determine response. Virological response rates were also analysed by the following subgroups: baseline HIV-1 RNA, CD4 cell count, gender, race, age and viral clade. Statistical analyses were carried out using a logistic regression model adjusted for treatment and stratification factors. Changes in CD4 cell count were analysed using the noncompleter=failure (NC = F) imputation. A modified medication adherence self-report inventory (M-MASRI) questionnaire was used to evaluate patient adherence to treatment up to week 192 or time of withdrawal.

Moreover, the in vitro functions of MycE and MycF proteins were c

Moreover, the in vitro functions of MycE and MycF proteins were characterized using the purified MycE and MycF proteins overexpressed in E. coli cells (Li et al., 2009; Fig. 1). The purified MycE and MycF proteins methylated the C2″-OH group of Idasanutlin solubility dmso 6-deoxyallose in mycinamicin VI (M-VI) and the C3″-OH group of

javose (i.e. C2″-methylated 6-deoxyallose) in M-III, respectively. Here, we have demonstrated the isolation and characterization of mycE and mycF disruption mutants obtained from M. griseorubida A11725, which would not possess the φC31 attB site on the chromosome, by the disruption cassette FRT-neo-oriT-FRT-attB and the genetic complemented strains, in which plasmids including each OMT gene –mycE or mycF– were inserted into the artificially inserted attB site. The strains used in this study are shown in Table

1. The culture conditions of M. griseorubida and E. coli were according to our previous report (Anzai et al., 2004a). FMM broth containing 7% dextrin, 0.5% glucose, 0.5% yeast extract, 0.5% soybean meal (Ajinomoto, Japan), 0.5% CaCO3, 0.1% K2HPO4, 0.4% MgSO4·7H2O, and 0.0002% CoCl2·6H2O was used for fermentation of M. griseorubida. The vectors used in this study are shown in Table 1. TaKaRa ExTaq® (TaKaRa, Japan) and PfuTurbo® (Stratagene) DNA polymerase used for the DNA fragment were amplified by PCR. Plasmid and genomic DNA amplification, restriction enzyme digestion, Cytoskeletal Signaling inhibitor fragment isolation, cloning, and DNA fragment amplification were performed according to standard procedures. Southern blot analysis was performed according to our previous procedure (Anzai et al., 2004a). Using pIJ776 containing FRT-neo-oriT-FRT as the template, the gene disruption cassette FRT-neo-oriT-FRT-attB was amplified by PfuTurbo® DNA polymerase

with the primers FRTF+attB containing the sequence of the bacteriophage φC31 attB attachment site and FRTR (Table 2). The PCR fragment was cloned into the EcoRV site of pLITMUS38 to generate pMG501. The mycE-disrupted plasmid, pMG502, was constructed using three restriction fragments (3.2 kb BamHI–MluI, 0.7 kb MluI–EcoRI, and 3.8 kb StuI–BamHI) derived from pMR01, and the 1.5-kb EcoRV fragment containing the disruption cassette FRT-neo-oriT-FRT-attB derived from pMG501. The 9.5-kb DNA learn more fragment linking these three restriction fragments and the disruption cassette together was inserted into the BglII and EcoRI sites on pSAN-lac to create pMG502. To generate pMG503 whose neo gene was in the opposite direction from the mycinose biosynthesis gene cluster, the 1.3-kb XbaI fragment including neo and oriT derived from pMG501 was ligated with the 15-kb XbaI fragment derived from pMG502. To construct pMG504 containing myrB, mycG, mycF, mycCI, and mycCII, the 2.4-kb BsiWI–StuI and 3.8-kb StuI–MluI fragments obtained from pMR01 were cloned into pLITMUS28 and pLITMUS38, respectively; then, the 2.4-kb BglII–StuI and 3.

Tenfold serial dilutions of extracted genomic DNA from pure cultu

Tenfold serial dilutions of extracted genomic DNA from pure cultures of Pseudomonas putida kt2440

and Burkholderia cepacia were used as standard curves. Standard curve calculations as described in Park and Crowley 2005. All statistical data analysis was conducted in sas Enterprise Guided 4.2. One-way anova with Tukey’s studentized range distribution was used to detect differences. A P < 0.05 level of significance was used. To validate the specificity of the Pseudomonas primers, DNA extracted from the soil sample treated with sludge was amplified using Pseudomonas primers and sequenced KU-60019 on a standard plate using the GS FLX system (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) as previously described (Poulsen et al., 2012). Briefly, DNA extracted from soil was amplified with the Pseudomonas 16S rRNA gene primers Pse435F and Pse686R as described above. The amplified products were purified from gel using The Montage DNA Gel Extraction Kit (Millipore). Addition of adapter and tags necessary for pyrosequencing was performed using the fusion primers (primer Pse435F with Adapter A and tag and primer Pse686R with Adapter B. The amplified fragments with adapters and tags were quantified

as mentioned above. Sequencing was performed using a modified version of the GS FLX amplicon sequencing GSK-3 inhibitor protocol (Roche). A similar approach with tagged primers was used to test the specificity of the Burkholderia primers (BKH812F and BKH1249R), sequencing on a Titanium plate using the GS FLX system (Roche, Basel, Switzerland). The Pyrosequencing Pipeline Initial Process at RDP was used for quality filtering and trimming of sequences with a minimum

length of 150 bp. The RDP pipeline was also used to generate rarefaction curves. Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) picking was carried out using the uclust/usearch oxyclozanide software (http://www.drive5.com/usearch/). The OTUs were picked by clustering the reads at ≥ 97% sequence identity, with the ‘optimal’ option enabled. Taxonomic classification was made on OTU representatives with the RDP classifier (ver. 2.1) software, which was run locally using the Training Data 5 set as a reference. A confidence threshold of ≥ 50% was chosen as the requirement for accurate genus-level determination, because of the reads length < 250 bp. Accordingly, sequences assigned to a genus with lower than 50% confidences were deemed as unclassified. Further species-level classification was made using usearch against a locally curated database of c. 45 000 nonredundant (nr100) 16S rRNA gene sequences from the RDP (release 10.20) and NCBI RefSeq databases. The reference set was truncated to only include the V3–V4 HVR. Based on the percentage of sequences that matched the primer and probes, an in silico analysis showed a specificity between 78% and 100%. Based on the type strains sequences in the RDP database, the primer and probe sets matched all Burkholderia and Pseudomonas with only one base mismatch (Table 1), and only very few nontarget organisms (0–0.