Research Publications (Food Safety)

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a common toxin in dairy products that causes acute and chronic human health disorders. Thus, the development of a rapid and accurate AFM1 detection method is of vital importance for food safety monitoring.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus aureus and its biofilm formation have been challenging to control in milk and dairy industries. Biofilms formed by Staph. aureus may result in the failure of antibacterial agents and disinfectants to penetrate the biofilm in an attempt to control contamination.

Staphylococcus aureus and its biofilm have emerged as a significant threat to the safety of dairy products.

Protein lysine acetylation is an evolutionarily conserved post-translational modification (PTM), which is dynamic and reversible, playing a crucial regulatory role in almost every aspect of metabolism, of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Several global lysine acetylome studies have been carried out in various bacteria, but thus far, there have been no reports of lysine acetylation for the commercially important aquatic animal pathogen Vibrio mimicus.

This study was performed to identify potential probiotic endophytes from Ageratina adenophora and evaluate their ameliorating effects on gut injury and integrity damage associated with microbiota dysbiosis in mice fed high fat diet. Using morphological and biochemical tests, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique, two bacteria endophytes were identified as strains of Bacillus toyonensis and were named Bacillus toyonensis SAU-19 (GenBank No.

The present study focused on phytofabrication of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) from Carica papaya extract and exploration of their multi-biofunctional features. Total phenolics and flavonoids of C. papaya fruit extract were determined as 23.30 ± 1.88 mg gallic acid equivalents and 19.21 ± 0.44 mg quercetin equivalents per gram, respectively, which suggested that C. papaya fruit extract could be a competitive reducing and stabilizing agent during phytofabrication of nanoparticles.

The efficient manipulation of their host cell is an essential feature of intracellular parasites. Most molecular mechanisms governing the subversion of host cell by protozoan parasites involve the release of parasite-derived molecules into the host cell cytoplasm and direct interaction with host proteins. Among these released proteins, kinases are particularly important as they govern the subversion of important host pathways, such as signalling or metabolic pathways.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global public health threat. Reaching the World Health Organization’s objective for eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030 will require a precise disease diagnosis. While immunoassays and qPCR play a significant role in detecting HCV, rapid and accurate point-of-care testing is important for pathogen identification. This study establishes a reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification–lateral flow dipstick (RT-RAA-LFD) assay to detect HCV.

T-2 toxin usually co-occurs with HT-2 toxin and neosolaniol (NEO) in the grains and feed. Our previous studies found that T-2 toxin and its metabolites’ binary or ternary combination exposure to porcine Leydig cells (LCs) displayed synergism in certain range of dosage and cannot be predicted based on individual toxicity. However, the possible mechanism of these mycotoxins’ combined exposure to cell lesions remains unknown.

The acquisition of the resistance determinant mecA by Staphylococcus aureus is of major clinical importance, since it confers a resistant phenotype to virtually the entire large family of structurally diverse β-lactam antibiotics. While the common resistance determinant mecA is essential, the optimal expression of the resistance phenotype also requires additional factors. Previous studies showed that the great majority of clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant S.

Hypothesis generation about potential food and other exposures is a critical step in an enteric disease outbreak investigation, helping to focus investigation efforts and use of limited resources. Historical outbreak data are an important source of information for hypothesis generation, providing data on common food– and animal–pathogen pairs and other epidemiological trends.

Bacteriological methods for the identification of Yersinia enterocolitica are laborious and time-consuming. The aim of this study was to compare Y. enterocolitica DNA isolation from swabs without pre-enrichment on selective media with isolation preceded by warm and cold enrichment. The material for the study consisted of 150 rectal swabs taken from 50 clinically healthy fattening pigs. Forty-one Y.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, EarlyView. The study explores in vitro antifungal and aflatoxin B1 inhibitory potency of chemically characterised Lippia origanoides EO (LOEO) encompassed in chitosan nanoparticle (CS-LOEO-Np). CS-LOEO-Np was physico-chemically characterised through XRD, SEM and FTIR analyses.

Soybean-corn intercropping is widely practised by farmers in Southwest China. Although rhizosphere microorganisms are important in nutrient cycling processes, the differences in rhizosphere microbial communities between intercropped soybean and corn and their monoculture are poorly known. Additionally, the effects of cadmium (Cd) pollution on these differences have not been examined.

Pest management is mostly accomplished by the use of insecticides. However, the overuse of insecticides has led to the development of resistance. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are vital detoxification enzymes involved in insecticide resistance in insects. In this study, we report the involvement of GSTs in insecticide resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin in Cydia pomonella, a globally quarantined fruit pest.

Veterinary drugs, including antibiotics, anti-parasitic drugs and growth promoters, are widely used in animal husbandry. Veterinary drug residues are key issues of food safety, which arouse public concerns and can seriously endanger the health of consumers.

by Kuan-Wen Wang, Yoshiyuki Iizuka, Caroline Jackson Mineral soda alumina (m-Na-Al) glass is a common glass production group found around the Indo-Pacific region. In Iron Age Taiwan, its presence dates back to the early 1st millennium AD. This research discusses m-Na-Al glass beads excavated from Iron Age sites in Taiwan. No production sites for m-Na-Al have been found, but microstructural analysis suggests m-Na-Al glass appears to originate around South Asia and is exchanged widely.

Cadmium-induced toxicity can affect fish embryo development, ion homeostasis regulation, energy metabolism, maturation and growth, stress response, and immunity. However, studies on the toxic effects of cadmium exposure to aquatic animals, particularly olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), are limited. In this study, juvenile P.

A collection of Listeria monocytogenes isolates from various food products, food processing environments and clinical sources (n = 153) were evaluated for their tolerance to acetic, lactic and propionic acids.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), one of the most important mycotoxins, is mainly produced by fungi in the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium, and commonly found in food and agricultural products. In addition to causing significant economic loss, the occurrence of OTA in foods poses a serious threat to human health. Therefore, it is very important to develop approaches to control or detoxify OTA contamination and thus ensure food safety.

Xyloglucan is a quantitatively major polysaccharide in the primary cell walls of flowering plants and has been reported to affect plants’ ability to tolerate toxic elements. However, it is not known if altering the amounts of xyloglucan in the wall influences the uptake and translocation of inorganic arsenic (As). Here, we identified two Nicotiana tabacum genes that encode xyloglucan-specific xylosyltransferases (XXT), which we named NtXXT1 and NtXXT2.

This study aimed to determine the effect of enrofloxacin (ENR) on the transfer of the plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) gene qnrS from opportunistic pathogen Escherichia coli (E2) to Salmonella Enteritidis (SE211) and to analyze the resistance characteristics of SE211-qnrS isolates. The plasmid carrying qnrS gene of E2 was sequenced by Oxford Nanopore technology. The plasmid carrying qnrS gene belonged to incompatibility group IncY.

Enteric diseases caused by Salmonella are prevalent in poultry farming. With the forbiddance of antibiotics in feedstuff industry, Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) preparation as antibiotic alternatives against Salmonella infection has gained increasing attention recently. However, the protection modes of B. subtilis against Salmonella infection in broilers are strain-specific. In this study, probiotic B.

In the recent years, yeasts have evolved as potent bioremediative candidates for the detoxification of xenobiotic compounds found in the natural environment. Candida sp. are well-studied apart from Saccharomyces sp. in heavy metal detoxification mechanisms. In the current study, Candida parapsilosis strain ODBG2, Candida sp.

Wild mushrooms are rich sources of natural compounds with potent bioactive properties. Several important metabolites have been reported from mushrooms, which possess clinically important bioactive properties like antibacterial, anticancer, antidiabetic, and neuroprotective activity.