Research Publications (Food Safety)

In the last decades, the aquaculture industry has introduced plant-based ingredients as a source of protein in aquafeeds. This has led to mycotoxin contaminations, representing an ecological, health and economic problem. The aim of this study was to determine in the RTgill-W1 fish cell line the toxicity of fifteen mycotoxins of common occurrence in aquafeeds. To identify the most sensitive endpoint of toxicity, the triple assay was used.

The Selvagens Islands, which are a marine protected area located at the southernmost point of the Portuguese maritime zone, have been associated with fish harboring ciguatoxins (CTX) and linked to ciguatera fish poisonings. This study reports the results of a field sampling campaign carried out in September 2018 in these remote and rarely surveyed islands.

Alternative pre-mRNA splicing plays a very important role in expanding protein diversity as it generates numerous transcripts from a single protein-coding gene. Therefore, alterations lead this process to neurological human disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Moreover, accumulating evidence indicates that the splicing machinery highly contributes to the cells’ ability to adapt to different altered cellular microenvironments, such as hypoxia.

For decades antibiotics have been used in poultry rearing to support high levels of production. Nevertheless, several problems have arisen because of the misuse of antibiotics (i.e., antibiotic resistance, residues in animal products, environmental pollution). Thus, the European Union (EU) as well as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) promote action plans to diminish the use of antibiotics in animal production. Alternatives to antibiotics have been studied.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the prevalence and genetic characteristics of ESBL and acquired-AmpC (qAmpC)-producing Escherichia coli isolates from healthy and sick dogs in Portugal. Three hundred and sixty-one faecal samples from sick and healthy dogs were seeded on MacConkey agar supplemented with cefotaxime (2 µg/mL) for cefotaxime-resistant (CTXR) E. coli recovery. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for 15 antibiotics was performed and the ESBL-phenotype of the E.

Molecular Microbiology, Accepted Article. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) causes severe human diseases worldwide. The type three secretion system and effector proteins are essential for EHEC infection, and are encoded by the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE). RNA-binding protein Hfq is essential for small regulatory RNA (sRNA)-mediated regulation at a post-transcriptional level and full virulence of many pathogenic bacteria.

In recent years, complex new bottom ash treatment processes for enhanced metal recovery have been implemented in Switzerland, producing residual bottom ash fractions with various qualities. This study focusses on three different treatment processes by characterizing all arising fractions in detail. Thereby the factors influencing the composition of these fractions are identified and their recycling potential in Switzerland is investigated.

Cholera toxin (CT)-producing Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 cause acute diarrheal disease and are proven etiological agents of cholera epidemics and pandemics. On the other hand, V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 are designated as non-agglutinable (NAG) vibrios and are not associated with epidemic cholera. The majority of NAG vibrios do not possess the gene for CT (ctx). In this study, we isolated three NAG strains (strains No.

Fuzi (the lateral root of Aconitum carmichaelii Debx.) is a traditional Chinese medicine that is cultivated in more than eight provinces in China. However, it can be easily devastated by post-harvest rot, causing huge losses. Therefore, it is extremely important that the primary causal pathogens of post-harvest Fuzi rot are identified and appropriate detection methods for them are developed to prevent and control losses.

Maize stalk rot caused by Fusarium species is one of the most important fungal diseases of maize throughout the world. The disease is responsible for considerable yield losses and has also been associated with mycotoxin contamination of the crop. In this study, a survey of maize stalk rot was performed in seven locations of Yunnan Province in China during the cropping season of 2015 and 2016. Based on morphological and molecular characteristics, 204 isolates belonging to 12 Fusarium spp.

Brucella melitensis causes small ruminant brucellosis and a zoonotic pathogen prevalent worldwide. Whole genome phylogeny of all available B. melitensis genomes (n = 355) revealed that all Indian isolates (n = 16) clustered in the East Mediterranean lineage except the ADMAS-GI strain. Pangenome analysis indicated the presence of limited accessory genomes with few clades showing specific gene presence/absence pattern.

ABSTRACT

Author(s): Novi Rosmala Dewi, Huai-Ting Huang, Yu-Sheng Wu, Zhen-Hao Liao, Yu-Ju Lin, Po-Tsang Lee, Fan-Hua Nan

Author(s): Aney Parven, Md. Sirajul Islam Khan, Mohammad Dalower Hossain Prodhan, Kadiyala Venkateswarlu, Mallavarapu Megharaj, Islam Md Meftaul

Author(s): Xinghe Wang, Yang He, Jinlong Tian, Ishfaq Muhammad, Mingchun Liu, Changde Wu, Chang Xu, Xiaohuan Zhang

Author(s): Yves Moreira Ribeiro, André Alberto Weber, Alessandro Loureiro Paschoalini, Davidson Peruci Moreira, Camila Ferreira Sales, Thais Victória Pires de Almeida, Mirra Angelina Neres, Nilo Bazzoli, Elizete Rizzo

Author(s): Pei-Lun Chu, Chien-Yu Lin, Fung-Chang Sung, Ta-Chen Su

The complexity of the food system makes analyzing microbiological data from food studies challenging since many of the assumptions (e.g., linear relationship between independent and dependent variable, independence of observations) made by common analytical approaches (e.g., ANOVA) are violated. Further, repeated sampling within establishments introduces longitudinal correlation that must be accounted for during analyses.

Salmonella is a foodborne pathogen associated with poultry meat. This study aimed to determine the efficiency and quality attributes of two antimicrobial agents to reduce Salmonella on raw chicken meat when applied individually and in combination using an electrostatic spray cabinet.

Fresh produce continues to be the main source of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States implicating bacterial pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC). The efficacy of nanoemulsified carvacrol (NCR) as a washing treatment in reducing EHEC on fresh produce was investigated. Fresh baby spinach, Romaine lettuce, and Iceberg lettuce leaves (2.5 cm diameter cores) were spot-inoculated with a five-strain cocktail of nalidixic acid resistant EHEC at ~ 6 log CFU/cm 2 .

Federally funded school meals can help alleviate food insecurity and meals are required to be modified when medically necessary (i.e., food allergies, special diets). The COVID-19 pandemic caused many schools across the USA to close, but schools quickly modified meal serving models. The purpose of this study was to understand how school nutrition professionals were ensuring food safety and providing special diets through these modified serving models.

Salmonella causes foodborne disease outbreaks worldwide and raises considerable concerns about public health and economic losses. To determine prevalence, serovar, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns, and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes, the present cross-sectional study collected a total of 418 fecal, carcass (three slaughterhouses), pork and cutting board (four markets) samples from a province in central Thailand in 2017 and 2018.

The region around the plant root referred to as the rhizosphere, is the zone where various microbial activity occurs. It performs crucial functions such as increasing the uptake of nutrients for plant development and preventing plant against plant pathogens. Keeping in mind the beneficial role performed by rhizospheric microorganisms, rhizobacterial species were isolated from the maize and soybean plant's rhizosphere.

Cryptosporidium is one of the most important parasitic protozoa that can be transmitted through food and water contamination. With the increasing report of Cryptosporidium infections in wild birds, especially in herbivorous waterfowl, concerns have been raised for oocyst contamination of water and food supplies, which in turn can cause human and domestic animal infections in areas neighboring wild birds’ habitats.