An improved high-performance liquid chromatography separation was developed to detect and quantify beta-exotoxin production in Bacillus thuringiensis culture supernatants. Exotoxin production was assigned to a plasmid in five strains, from three subspecies (B. thuringiensis subsp. thuringiensis serotype 1, B. thuringiensis subsp. tolworthi serotype 9, and B. thuringiensis subsp. darmstadiensis serotype 10). A new exotoxin, called type II beta-exotoxin in this report, was discovered in B. thuringiensis subsp. morrisoni serotype 8ab, purified, and partially characterized. This material is more specific than type I beta-exotoxin and is very active against the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata.

In a randomized controlled trial, we administered seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) or placebo to subjects 6–15 years of age in two consecutive years. Receipt of TIV in year 2 induced seroprotection in most subjects. Among 39 children who received TIV in the second year, receipt of TIV in the first year was associated with lower antibody titer rises in the second year to seasonal influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) strains for which the vaccine strains remained unchanged. Antibody response to a different influenza B strain in the second year was unaffected by receipt of TIV in the first year.

No abstract