Research Publications (Food Safety)

L. monocytogenes causes relatively few outbreaks linked to whole fresh produce but triggers recalls each year in the US. There are limited data on the influence of wet vs. dry methods on pathogen growth on whole produce. A cocktail of five L. monocytogenes strains that included clinical, food, or environmental isolates associated with foodborne outbreaks and recalls was used. Cultures were combined to target a final wet inoculum concentration of 4-5 log CFU/mL.

The application of plant extracts (PEs) could be a promising option to satisfy consumers’ demand for natural additives to inhibit growth of variable pathogenic bacteria. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a standardized microdilution method to examine the antimicrobial effects of ten hydrophilic plant extracts against two strains of C. perfringens facing various food-relevant influencing factors.

Objective. This cross-sectional study conducted in Kibera, Kenya, sought to gain insights on relative microbial contamination levels of popular unprocessed food types, determine antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden and the carriage of integrons that are essential elements for spreading antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG).

Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 are enterohemorrhagic bacteria that induce hemorrhagic colitis. This, in turn, may result in potentially lethal complications, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is characterized by thrombocytopenia, acute renal failure, and neurological abnormalities.

Journal of Fish Diseases, EarlyView. A rapid increase in multi-drug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in aquaculture highlights the risk of production losses due to diseases and potential public health concerns. Previously, we reported that ozone nanobubbles (NB-O3) were effective at reducing concentrations of pathogenic bacteria in water and modulating fish immunity against pathogens; however, multiple treatments with direct NB-O3 exposures caused alterations to the gills of exposed fish.

Since sewage is a hotspot for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), the identification of ARGs in environmental waters impacted by sewage, and their correlation to fecal indicators, is necessary to implement management strategies.

Author(s): Yurong Zhu, Ye Lu, Lin Yuan, Wei Ling, Xugan Jiang, Shengxia Chen, Bing Hu

Author(s): Lu Tian, Xuyang Wang, Di Zhang, Mi Wu, Zhifei Xue, Zhiqiang Liu, Siqi Yang, Hui Li, Guoli Gong

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) expressing the colonization pili CFA/I are common causes of diarrhoeal infections in humans.

Stingless bees are the main pollinators in tropical and subtropical regions. However, there are only a few studies on the structure and composition of bacteria in the gut and beebread of stingless bees, especially in China. To address this shortage of information, we characterized the microbiota of three common species of stingless bees (Lepidotrigona terminata, Lepidotrigona ventralis and Tetragonula pagdeni) and beebread samples of T. pagdeni.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp) clones have become a major threat to global public health. The clonal group 258 (CG258) is considered a high-risk CG and the K. pneumoniae strains belonging to it are often multi-resistant and to spread mainly in the hospital environment. This study aimed to characterize the antimicrobial resistance profile, virulence factors, and the clonal relationships among 13 K.

The Enterobacter cloacae complex is an emerging opportunistic pathogen whose increased resistance to carbapenems is considered a public health problem. This is due to the loss of efficacy of beta-lactam antibiotics, which are used as the first treatment option in the management of infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The objective of this study was to perform the molecular characterization of 28 isolates of the E.

Environmental Microbiology, Accepted Article.

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from a seafood market in Wuhan, China, has ushered in a new era. It transformed into a pandemic, seized global attention, and was the biggest highlight of the year 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has jeopardized health systems and greatly affected socioeconomic parameters. With global focus on fighting this unpredictable fight with this new virus, the biggest chronic infectious killer, mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.

Extended shelf-life of many foods is a modern requirement that has been achieved by means of fossil-based plastic films despite their environmental issues. Recently, starch-based, fully biodegradable thermoplastics are gaining momentum as packaging material; however, if they are in contact with food, aspects such storage, water interaction and spoilage due to microorganisms must be considered.

Escherichia coli can cause intestinal diseases in humans and livestock, destroy the intestinal barrier, exacerbate systemic inflammation, and seriously threaten human health and animal husbandry development. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the antimicrobial peptide mastoparan X (MPX) was effective against E. coli infection. BALB/c mice infected with E. coli by intraperitoneal injection, which represents a sepsis model.

Bacterial biofilms play a key role in metal biosorption from wastewater. Recently, Enterobacter asburiae ENSD102, Enterobacter ludwigii ENSH201, Vitreoscilla sp. ENSG301, Acinetobacter lwoffii ENSG302, and Bacillus thuringiensis ENSW401 were shown to form air–liquid (AL) and solid–air–liquid (SAL) biofilms in a static condition at 28 and 37°C, respectively.

A 2-year longitudinal study of three tree fruit packinghouses was conducted to determine the prevalence and distribution of Listeria monocytogenes. Samples were collected from 40 standardized non-food-contact surface locations six different times over two 11-month production seasons. Of the 1,437 samples collected, the overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes over the course of the study was 17.5%. Overall prevalence did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between each year.

Background

Author(s): Young-Min Bae, Hana Song, Sun-Young Lee

Author(s): Yan Ma, Yingying Zhang, Ke Chen, Lingzhu Zhang, Yibei Zhang, Xin Wang, Xiaodong Xia

Author(s): Xiang Wang, Yani Xie, Hua Cai, Shenggang Duan, Xia Song, Yufan Wu, Taisong Fang, Qingli Dong, Hong Liu

Ultra-small (size < 2 nm) gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are used as fluorescent probes which have excellent applications in bioimaging and sensing due to their emission in visible and NIR spectral region. Here, this property is exploited for understanding the quorum sensing phenomenon in bacteria which is regulated by signal molecules which are specific to various species.

There is an increasing drug resistance of animal-derived pathogens, seriously posing a huge threat to the health of animals and humans. Traditional drug resistance testing methods are expensive, have low efficiency, and are time-consuming, making it difficult to evaluate overall drug resistance.

Due to the broad-spectrum antibiotic usage and empirical treatments, the pathogenic bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, has shown extremely high detection rates at hospitals with an increasing antibiotic resistance. Therefore, rapid detection of the antibiotic resistance is urgently required and essential for effective treatments. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a newly developed method for ultra-rapid detection of antibiotic resistance in 30–60 min in K.