Research Publications (Food Safety)

J. Turner et al. Abstract
Migratory birds play a major role in spreading influenza viruses over long distances. We report highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N6) viruses in migratory and resident ducks in Bangladesh. The viruses were genetically similar to viruses detected in wild birds in China and Mongolia, suggesting migration-associated dissemination of these zoonotic pathogens.

Author(s): V. Robichaud, B.R. Aguilar-Uscanga, M. Millette, Z. Allahdad, M. Lacroix

Author(s): Dimitrios N. Varvarousis, Dimitris Dimopoulos, George I. Vasileiadis, Ioannis Manolis, Avraam Ploumis

Author(s): Jin-Hee Kim, Se-Wook Oh

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural soils poses a direct threat to food safety and human health. It has been shown that the colloids is the carrier of heavy metal transport in the polluted soil by heavy metals, but the sources of heavy metals in the soil and colloids and their interrelations are not transparent at present.

Remediation of contaminated soil and sediment is important for improving the eco-environmental quality. Electro-kinetic remediation (EKR) is an environmentally friendly technology to migrate and remove pollutants from the soil and sediment matrix. This paper analyses the mechanism and performance of EKR of heavy metals, organic pollutants, and compound pollutants.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a kind of nonsteroidal mycotoxin that is considered a risk affecting the safety of human food and livestock feed that causes oxidative damages in mammalian cells. Selenomethionine (SeMet) was indicated to have antioxidant activity and received great interest in investigating the role of SeMet as a therapeutic agent in oxidation.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and Zearalenone (ZEN) are two commonly co-occurring mycotoxins produced by members of the genus Fusarium. As important food chain contaminants, these can adversely affect both human and animal health. Critically, as they are formed prior to harvesting, their occurrence cannot be eliminated during food production, leading to ongoing contamination challenges.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Abstract

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Abstract

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Accepted Article. Abstract
Background

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is the most harmful mycotoxin produced by filamentous fungi and presents a serious threat to human and animal health. Therefore, it is essential to protect humans and animals from AFB1-induced acute and chronic toxicity. In this study, Pseudomonas strain m29 having a high efficiency of AFB1 transformation was isolated from soil. The transformation ratio by m29 was more than 97% within 24 h, and the optimum temperature for transformation was 37°C.

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), known as a common plant hormone, is one of the most distributed indole derivatives in the environment, but the degradation mechanism and cellular response network to IAA degradation are still not very clear. The objective of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of IAA degradation at the protein level by a newly isolated strain Pseudomonas sp. LY1.

Bacterial gene expression is under the control of a large set of molecules acting at multiple levels. In addition to the transcription factors (TFs) already known to be involved in global regulation of gene expression, small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are emerging as major players in gene regulatory networks, where they allow environmental adaptation and fitness. Developments in high-throughput screening have enabled their detection in the entire bacterial kingdom.

Abstract

by Julia Montes-Landa, Mercedes Murillo-Barroso, Ignacio Montero-Ruiz, Salvador Rovira-Llorens, Marcos Martinón-Torres

J. Ahmed-Bentley et al. Abstract We report a case of human infection with a Brucella canis isolate in an adult in Canada who was receiving a biologic immunomodulating medication. We detail subsequent investigations, which showed that 17 clinical microbiology staff had high-risk exposures to the isolate, 1 of whom had a positive result for B. canis.

Using a previously described metagenomics dataset of 27 billion reads, we reconstructed over 50 000 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of organisms resident in the porcine gut, 46.5 % of which were classified as >70 % complete with a <10 % contamination rate, and 24.4 % were nearly complete genomes. Here, we describe the generation and analysis of those MAGs using time-series samples.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an emerging gas transmitter, has been shown to be involved in multiple intracellular physiological and biochemical processes. In this study, the effects of hydrogen sulfide coupled with calcium on cadmium removal and resistance in Phanerochaete chrysosporium were examined. The results revealed that H2S enhanced the uptake of calcium by P. chrysosporium to resist cadmium stress.

Cadmium and copper toxicity was investigated using bioassays with neonates of a freshwater gastropod Physa acuta. Mortality, lethal time, and effects on shell length were studied during 28-day chronic exposure experiments. Relative toxicity was assessed from acute and chronic LC values.

Norovirus is a major cause of foodborne-associated acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks worldwide. Usually, food products are contaminated either during harvesting or preparation, and the most common products associated to norovirus outbreaks are raw or undercooked bivalve shellfish, fruits (frozen berries) and ready-to-eat produce. In the present study, we investigated an AGE outbreak caused by norovirus associated with the consumption of ice pops in southern Brazil.

Abstract

In the present study, the antimicrobial efficiency of thymol and thymol-nanoemulsion (NE) was investigated against S. aureus, E. coli, and C. perfringens on a sausage product during 4 weeks. The droplets size of the thymol-NE was 86.39 nm with the zeta potential of −0.86 mV. The MIC and MBC values for thymol were approximately twice that of NE, indicating that NE was more effective in inhibiting the growth of three tested bacteria.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the leading causes of diarrhoea and gastroenteritis in human on consumption of raw or insufficiently cooked seafood. This study was aimed at isolating and characterizing the pathogenic and pandemic V. parahaemolyticus from oysters (n = 90) in coastal parts of West Bengal, India; their antibiotic resistance and potential for involvement in the food chain. During bacteriological culture, typical V.

Leishmaniasis, included in the priority list of the WHO, remains as a neglected disease caused by parasites of the Leishmania genus. There is no vaccine available for human leishmaniasis, and the current treatment is based on old drugs that cause serious side effects.