Research Publications (Food Safety)

Listeria monocytogenes serotype 7 lacks glycosidic constituents in wall teichoic acids. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of L. monocytogenes serotype 7 strain FSL R9-0915 and an analysis of genes known to affect L. monocytogenes antigenicity. This strain is used as a control strain in Listeria phage host range analyses.

Bacteriophages can be used as a biocontrol for the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Propagation of phages is a necessary step for their use in experimental studies and biocontrol applications. Here, we present the complete genomes of three Listeria monocytogenes strains commonly used as propagation hosts for Listeria phages.

We report the complete genome (3.9-Mb chromosome, 5.9-kb plasmid) of Clostridium botulinum CJ0611A1, a type A(B) strain isolated from carrot juice distributed in Canada and linked to an international 2006 foodborne botulism outbreak. This strain encodes a full-length bont/A1 gene and a truncated bont/B gene.

Author(s): Yu-gang Shi, Run-run Zhang, Chen-min Zhu, Ming-feng Xu, Qing Gu, Rammile Ettelaie, Shan Lin, Yi-fan Wang, Xin-yi Leng

Author(s): Na Ling, Xin Wang, Dengyu Liu, Yizhong Shen, Danfeng Zhang, Dexin Ou, Hongying Fan, Juan Wang, Yu Ding, Jumei Zhang, Qingping Wu, Yingwang Ye

Author(s): Chunyan Zhang, Xia Jia, Yonghua Zhao, Lu Wang, Kemeng Cao, Ningjing Zhang, Yunfeng Gao, Ziwei Wang

Author(s): Ying Yan, Qianqian Sun, Jingjie Yang, Xiaowen Zhang, Boli Guo

Author(s): Usama Nasir, Iqra Naeem, Muhammad Asif, Amir Ismail, Yun Yun Gong, Michael N. Routledge, Adnan Amjad, Ambreen Fazal, Zubair Ismail

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The presence of Bacillus cereus plays a key role in clubroot suppression and improves plant biomass in pak choi. B. cereus is reported for the first time as a novel biocontrol agent against clubroot.

The frequency of some major mycotoxins in marker tissues (liver and kidney) and in muscle tissue of slaughter pigs and cattle, obtained from registered abattoirs in South Africa, was studied. Samples of each three bovine carcasses were obtained from two abattoirs, and samples of three porcine carcasses were from a third abattoir. All samples originated from animals from subsistence farming.

Active films have gained increasing interest because of their potential to reduce the amount of additives into foods. The aim of this work was to produce and characterize bi-layer films based on gelatin in both layers, in which the nisin and/or “pitanga” leaf hydroethanolic extract was loaded in the second layer.

The probiotic medicinal product TSO (Trichuris suis ova) is administered to patients with active ulcerative colitis in an ongoing clinical phase IIb trial where the typical co-medications are steroids (prednisolone or budesonide) and antibiotics (e.g., phenoxymethylpenicillin). The present pre-clinical study evaluates the effects of these co-medications on the biological activity of TSO in Göttingen Minipigs.

Low DNA concentration recovered from highly processed products such as gelatin and gelatin-based products renders difficulty in detecting porcine contamination using conventional PCR techniques. We documented here a porcine-specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to identify porcine traces in gelatin products. The porcine-specific primers were designed according to mitochondrial DNA of Cytochrome b gene sequence.

Vegetables are potential vehicles for the transmission of parasites. Helminth eggs have been detected in produce in various countries around the world, with high prevalence rates. However, there is no standard validated method or ISO to the isolation, concentration, and identification of helminth eggs in salad vegetables, which makes comparison difficult since each study utilized different analytical methods and food matrix.

Novel sensitive analytical agents that can be used for simple, affordable, and rapid analysis of mycotoxins are urgently needed in scientific practice, especially for the screening of perspective bio-destructors of the toxic contaminants.

Over the last few decades, proteins and peptides have become increasingly more common as FDA-approved drugs, despite their inefficient delivery due to their inability to cross the plasma membrane. In this context, bacterial two-component systems, termed AB toxins, use various protein-based membrane translocation mechanisms to deliver toxins into cells, and these mechanisms could provide new insights into the development of bio-based drug delivery systems.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of filamentous fungi and represent one of the most common groups of food contaminants with low molecular weight. These toxins are considered common and can affect the food chain at various stages of production, harvesting, storage and processing. Zearalenone is one of over 400 detected mycotoxins and produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium; it mainly has estrogenic effects on various organisms.

Sows were fed naturally contaminated diets containing: (i) 100 ppb zearalenone (ZEN) one week before farrowing and during the lactation period (at 26 days), (ii) 100 ppb ZEN one week before farrowing and 300 ppb ZEN during the lactation period, or (iii) 300 ppb ZEN one week before farrowing and during the lactation period. All diets contained 250 ppb deoxynivalenol (DON).

The presence of Listeria monocytogenes in Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Protected Designation of Origin cheeses may depend on curd stretching conditions and post contaminations before packaging. To avoid cross-contamination, thermal treatment of water, brines and covering liquid may become necessary. The present study aimed to improve knowledge about L.

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by Lena Diaz, Yong Li, Daniel M. Jenkins