Kiju Kim

Helicopter-borne and ground-towed radar surveys of the Fourcade Glacier on King George Island, Antarctica

To determine subglacial topography and internal features of the Fourcade Glacier on King George Island in Antarctica, helicopter-borne and ground-towed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data were recorded along four profiles in November 2006. Signature deconvolution, f-k migration velocity analysis, and finite-difference depth migration applied to the mixed-phase, single-channel, ground-towed data, were effective in increasing vertical resolution, obtaining the velocity function, and yielding clear depth images, respectively. For the helicopter-borne GPR, migration velocities were obtained as root-mean-squared velocities in a two-layer model of air and ice. The radar sections show rugged subglacial topography, englacial sliding surfaces, and localised scattering noise. The maximum depth to the basement is over 79 m in the subglacial valley adjacent to the south-eastern slope of the divide ridge between Fourcade and Moczydlowski Glaciers. In the ground-towed profile, we interpret a complicated conduit above possible basal water and other isolated cavities, which are a few metres wide. Near the terminus, the GPR profiles image sliding surfaces, fractures, and faults that will contribute to the tidewater calving mechanism forming icebergs in Potter Cove.

Brucella abortusΔcydCΔcydD and ΔcydCΔpurD double-mutants are highly attenuated and confer long-term protective immunity against virulent Brucella abortus

We constructed double deletion (ΔcydCΔcydD and ΔcydCΔpurD) mutants from virulent Brucella abortus biovar 1 field isolate (BA15) by deleting the genes encoding an ATP-binding cassette-type transporter (cydC and cydD genes) and a phosphoribosylamine-glycine ligase (purD). Both BA15ΔcydCΔcydD and BA15ΔcydCΔpurD double-mutants exhibited significant attenuation of virulence when assayed in murine macrophages or in BALB/c mice. Both double-mutants were readily cleared from spleens by 4 weeks post-inoculation even when inoculated at the dose of 10(8) CFU per mouse. Moreover, the inoculated mice showed no splenomegaly, which indicates that the mutants are highly attenuated. Importantly, the attenuation of in vitro and in vivo growth did not impair the ability of these mutants to confer long-term protective immunity in mice against challenge with B. abortus strain 2308. Vaccination of mice with either mutant induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, and provided significantly better protection than commercial B. abortus strain RB51 vaccine. These results suggest that highly attenuated BA15ΔcydCΔcydD and BA15ΔcydCΔpurD mutants can be used effectively as potential live vaccine candidates against bovine brucellosis.

Booster vaccination with safe, modified, live-attenuated mutants of Brucella abortus strain RB51 vaccine confers protective immunity against virulent strains of B. abortus and Brucella canis in BALB/c mice.

Brucella abortus attenuated strain RB51 vaccine (RB51) is widely used in prevention of bovine brucellosis. Although vaccination with this strain has been shown to be effective in conferring protection against bovine brucellosis, RB51 has several drawbacks, including residual virulence for animals and humans. Therefore, a safe and efficacious vaccine is needed to overcome these disadvantages. In this study, we constructed several gene deletion mutants (ΔcydC, ΔcydD and ΔpurD single mutants, and ΔcydCΔcydD and ΔcydCΔpurD double mutants) of RB51 with the aim of increasing the safety of the possible use of these mutants as vaccine candidates. The RB51ΔcydC, RB51ΔcydD, RB51ΔpurD, RB51ΔcydCΔcydD and RB51ΔcydCΔpurD mutants exhibited significant attenuation of virulence when assayed in murine macrophages in vitro or in BALB/c mice. A single intraperitoneal immunization with RB51ΔcydC, RB51ΔcydD, RB51ΔcydCΔcydD or RB51ΔcydCΔpurD mutants was rapidly cleared from mice within 3 weeks, whereas the RB51ΔpurD mutant and RB51 were detectable in spleens until 4 and 7 weeks, respectively. Vaccination with a single dose of RB51 mutants induced lower protective immunity in mice than did parental RB51. However, a booster dose of these mutants provided significant levels of protection in mice against challenge with either the virulent homologous B. abortus strain 2308 or the heterologous Brucella canis strain 26. In addition, these mutants were found to induce a mixed but T-helper-1-biased humoral and cellular immune response in immunized mice. These data suggest that immunization with a booster dose of attenuated RB51 mutants provides an attractive strategy to protect against either bovine or canine brucellosis.