Research Publications (Food Safety)

Slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) is a commonly used disinfectant for fecal sludge. Although viruses are inactivated by lime treatment, whether RNA viruses adapt to lime treatment has not yet been determined. Here, we show that murine norovirus developed higher tolerance during serial passages with lime treatment.

Aspergillus westerdijkiae, the producer of ochratoxin A (OTA), which is of worldwide concern, is an import fungal species in agriculture, food, and industry. Here, we got the uridine auxotrophic mutant of A. westerdijkiae by deleting AwpyrG. The ΔAwpyrG could be used for bio-transformation with exogenous AfpyrG expression cassette as a selection marker. In order to enhance the efficiency of gene targeting, Awku70 and Awlig4 were homologously deleted from ΔAwpyrG.

There is a growing demand for rapid, sensitive, field-deployable nucleic acid tests for cholera, which usually occurs in rural areas. In this study, we developed a Cas12a-assisted rapid isothermal detection (CARID) system for the detection of toxigenic V. cholerae serogroups O1 and O139 by combining recombinase-aided amplification and CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins).

PirAB toxins secreted by Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) harbor the pVA1 virulence plasmid, which causes acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), an emerging disease in Penaeid shrimp that can cause 70–100% mortality and that has resulted in great economic losses since its first appearance. The cytotoxic effect of PirABVp on the epithelial cells of the shrimp hepatopancreas (Hp) has been extensively documented.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of molds and mainly produced by species of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. They can be synthesized on the field, during harvest as well as during storage. They are fairly stable compounds and difficult to remove. Among several hundreds of mycotoxins, according to the WHO, ochratoxin A, aflatoxins, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, patulin, fumonisins as well as T-2 and HT-2 toxins deserve special attention.

The motor behaviour of patients with Upper Motor Neuron Syndrome (UMNS) is characterised by spasticity. The first-line treatment for this clinical condition is Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNTA), but the number and key locations of muscles which need to be treated is not much discussed in the literature. Cross-sectional analysis of outpatient cohort with UMNS spasticity, who were potential candidates for BoNTA treatment, was performed.

Bacterial ocular infections are a worldwide health problem and, if untreated, can damage the structure of the eye and contribute to permanent disability. Knowledge of the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the main causative agents involved in ocular infections is necessary for defining an optimal antibiotic therapy. The aim of this study was to analyse bacterial species involved in ocular infections and the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns.

Salmonella enterica is an invasive intracellular pathogen and hires diverse systems to manipulate its survival in the host cells. Salmonella could eavesdrop on the host cells, sensing and responding to the produced adrenergic hormones and other neurotransmitters, which results in the augmentation of its virulence and establishes its accommodation in host cells. The current study aims to assess the anti-virulence effect of α-adrenergic antagonist terazosin on S. Typhimurium.

Campylobacter jejuni is a foodborne pathogen causing bacterial gastroenteritis, with the highest incidence reported in Europe. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in C. jejuni, as well as in many other bacterial pathogens, has increased over the last few years. In this report, we describe the presence of a plasmid in a multi-drug-resistant C. jejuni strain isolated from a gastroenteritis patient. Mating experiments demonstrated the transference of this genetic element (pCjH01) among C.

EFSA Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3, March 2022. Under European Union legislation (Article 32, Regulation (EC) No 396/2005), the EFSA provides an annual report which examines pesticide residue levels in foods on the European market. This report is based on data from the official national control activities carried out by EU Member States, Iceland and Norway and includes a subset of data from the EU-coordinated control programme, which uses a randomised sampling strategy.

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. A temperature–induced counter current homogenous liquid–liquid extraction procedure performed in a burette has been proposed for the isolation of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 from various fruit chip samples. In this method, a homogenous solution of deionized water and cyclohexyl amine is added onto the solid sample and the resulted mixture is vortexed.

Letters in Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is a common marine foodborne pathogen that causes gastroenteritis. With the long-term use of antibiotics, many bacteria become resistant strains, therefore, developing antibiotic-free antimicrobial strategies is urgent.

A multi-drug resistant, CTX-M-65 producing Salmonella Infantis was identified from a patient in Brazil. Whole genome sequencing followed by hybrid assembly (short and long reads) indicated the presence of blaCTX-M-65 in a pESI-like megaplasmid in this ST32 isolate and phylogenetic analysis showed high similarity with IncFIB S. Infantis isolates from food and poultry in the USA.

Various studies have identified the kidney as a target organ for patulin (PAT)-induced toxicity. However, detailed mechanistic insights into PAT-induced nephrotoxicity had not yet been done.

Giardia duodenalis is one of the most common parasitic causes of gastrointestinal illness in humans worldwide with widespread infections in mammalian hosts. It frequently infects cattle, producing a high number of cysts. Cattle can harbor both host-adapted assemblage E and human pathogenic assemblages A and B.

Felids are definitive hosts of Toxoplasma gondii, being the only hosts that can spread the infection through oocyst shedding in their feces. The elevated presence of this parasite in the domestic cat (Felis catus), and its close contact with humans, make it necessary to obtain reliable diagnostic methods to detect positive animals as a public health measure.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen able to survive in a wide range of conditions, including low temperatures, being highly persistent in the food-processing environments. Anti-listerial bacteriocins produced by Latilactobacillus curvatus CRL705 and CRL1579 were used to prevent/control biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes FBUNT, Scott A and CECT 4031T strains at 10 °C and genes transcription was evaluated.

Salmonella is an essential food-borne pathogenic microorganism. Humans could get infected by consuming of Salmonella-contaminated foods, especially contaminated meat. In this study, a total of 580 retail meat samples (280 pork, 240 chicken, and 60 goose) were collected from slaughterhouses in Hangzhou to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Salmonella.

Campylobacter jejuni is a globally important foodborne pathogen that can exist environmentally in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, leading to missed detection of VBNC cells in food and false results in epidemiological surveillance. To establish a method for its resuscitation from the VBNC state and enable better detection, the mechanisms by which C. jejuni are induced into the VBNC state should be understood in detail.

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is one of the largest commercial harvesting areas for Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in the United States. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacterium naturally present in estuarine waters accumulates in shellfish and is a major cause of seafood-borne illness. Growers, consumers, and public-health officials have raised concerns about rising vibriosis cases in the region.

The halophilic γ-proteobacterium Halomonas elongata DSM 2581T thrives at salt concentrations well above 10 % NaCl (1.7 M NaCl). A well-known osmoregulatory mechanism is the accumulation of the compatible solute ectoine within the cell in response to osmotic stress. While ectoine accumulation is central to osmoregulation and promotes resistance to high salinity in halophilic bacteria, ectoine has this effect only to a much lesser extent in non-halophiles.

Chitosan-ZnO nanoparticle (ZnONP) edible coating was applied to extend shelf life of wild-simulated Korean ginseng root (WsKG). In antimicrobial testing of various coating solutions (0.01, 0.02, 0.03% ZnONP), Bacillus cereus (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) were most inhibited by the 0.03% chitosan-ZnONP solution. The 0.03% chitosan-ZnONP solution was finally used for edible coating of WsKG.

Fungi and mycotoxins in silage can have detrimental consequences for both cattle and human health. This pilot study identified, via the routinary direct plating method, the dominant cultivable fungi in mouldy grass silages (GS) (n = 19) and maize silages (MS) (n = 28) from Austria. The profiles of regulated, modified, and emerging mycotoxins together with other fungal metabolites were analysed via LC-(ESI)MS/MS.

This study aims to test the toxicity of some metallic elements on Salmonella enterica strains and their power to grow and to develop a biofilm to overcome this environmental stress. From 50 selected strains of Salmonella, 70% belong to the Kentucky serotypes that is the most frequent one, followed by the other serotypes such as Amsterdam 6%, anatum 4%, derby 4% Enteritidis 4%, Zanzibar 4%, typhyrimium 2%, gallinaruim 2%, inbondaka 2% and Newport 2%.

A programmed, autonomous, and self-powered DNA motor was developed for one-step amplification detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). The OTA can bind with the aptamer of hairpin and induce the opening of hairpin. Then, the Mg2+-specific DNAzyme can circularly cleave the fluorophore-labeled DNA on the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), causing autonomous and processive movement of DNA motor.