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Research Publications (Food Safety)

This page tracks research articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Recent articles are available ahead of print and searchable by Journal, Article Title, and Category. Research publications are tracked across six categories: Bacterial Pathogens, Chemical Contaminants, Natural Toxins, Parasites, Produce Safety, and Viruses. Articles produced by USDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) and FDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) are also tracked in Scopus.

Displaying 1 - 25 of 34

  1. Biological characteristics and pathogenicity of a Staphylococcus aureus strain with an incomplete hemolytic phenotype isolated from bovine milk

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Abstract Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen capable of infecting both humans and animals and causing various severe diseases. Here, we aimed to determine the biological features and pathogenicity of S. aureus strain Sa9, of the incomplete hemolysis phenotype, isolated from bovine milk. Sa9 was classified as ST97 by multilocus sequence typing, and it showed increased β‐hemolysin expression and lower Hla and Hld expression levels compared with that in the S. aureus USA300 strain LAC.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Staphylococcus aureus
  2. Coccomyxa sp.KJ extract affects the fate of T cells stimulated by toxic shock syndrome toxin‐1, a superantigen secreted by Staphylococcus aureus

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • T cell stimulation by bacterial superantigens induces a cytokine storm. After T cell activation and inflammatory cytokine secretion, regulatory T cells (Treg) are produced to suppress the immune response. Coccomyxa sp.KJ (IPOD FERM BP-22254), a green alga, is reported to regulate immune reactions. Therefore, we examined the effects of Coccomyxa sp.KJ extract (CE) on the superantigen-induced immune response.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Staphylococcus aureus
  3. Establishment of monoclonal antibodies broadly neutralize infection of hepatitis B virus

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article. Antibodies against hepatitis B virus S protein can protect against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Therefore, hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG), which contains HBsAb, is used clinically as a therapy for HBV infection. In this study, we obtained a series of monoclonal antibodies that recognize multiple HBV genotypes. All the antibodies recognized conformational epitopes of S protein, but not linear epitopes.

      • Viruses
      • Hepatitis
  4. Differences in the sequence of PlcR transcriptional regulator binding site affect sphingomyelinase production in Bacillus cereus

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Bacillus cereus
  5. Achievements in bacterial flagellar research with focus on Vibrio species

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, EarlyView.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Vibrio
  6. Basic reproduction numbers of three strains of mouse hepatitis viruses in mice

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article.

      • Viruses
      • Hepatitis
  7. Detection of the serological markers hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core IgM antibody (anti‐HBcIgM) in the diagnosis of acute hepatitis B virus infection after recent exposure

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Volume 66, Issue 1, Page 1-9, January 2022.

      • Viruses
      • Hepatitis
  8. Cytokines profile in patients with acute and chronic hepatitis B infection

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Volume 66, Issue 1, Page 31-39, January 2022.

      • Viruses
      • Hepatitis
  9. Effects of antibiotics on the viability of and toxin production by Clostridium botulinum

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article. Clostridium botulinum causes infant and adult intestinal botulism by colonizing in the intestine and producing botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT). Antimicrobial agents are not currently used for treatment due to the potential facilitation of BoNT production and bacterial cell lysis, which releases toxins into the intestinal lumen.

      • Clostridium botulinum
      • Bacterial pathogens
  10. Inhibition of the interaction between fibronectin and dermatopontin by Clostridium perfringens fibronectin‐binding proteins

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article. Fibronectin (Fn) is an approximately 450 kDa glycoprotein that is comprised of 12 type I, 2 type II, and 15–17 type III modules. Fibrillation of Fn is important for tissue reconstitution and wound healing. We previously reported that Clostridium perfringens produces several Fn‐binding proteins (Fbps), two of which, FbpA and FbpB, bind to III1‐C (a fragment of Fn derived from the carboxyl‐terminal two‐thirds of the first type III module).

      • Clostridium perfringens
      • Bacterial pathogens
  11. Vibrio cholerae toxin co‐regulated pilus provokes inflammatory responses in co‐culture model of Caco‐2 and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) leading to increased colonization

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Microbiology and Immunology, Accepted Article.

      • Vibrio
      • Bacterial pathogens
  12. Downregulation of hepatitis C virus replication by miR‐196a using lentiviral vectors

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus is a positive‐sense, single‐stranded RNA virus that causes chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Cellular microRNAs directly modulate the viral infectivity and indirectly through targeting virus‐related host factors. They play an essential role in the progression of different stages of HCV infection. The roles of miR‐196 family in HCV infection and HCC progression remain poorly understood.

      • Hepatitis
      • Viruses
  13. Continuous prevalence of VEB‐3 extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase‐producing Aeromonas hydrophila in a local river in Gifu City, Japan

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Antimicrobial‐resistant bacteria and resistance determinants are of great concern to human and veterinary medicine worldwide. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

      • Bacterial pathogens
  14. The candidate vaccine strain Brucella ovis ∆abcBA is protective against Brucella melitensis infection in mice

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Brucellosis is a major zoonotic disease, and Brucella melitensis is the species most often associated with human infection. Vaccination is the most efficient tool for controlling animal brucellosis, with a consequent decrease of incidence of human infections. Commercially available live attenuated vaccines provide some degree of protection but retain residual pathogenicity to human and animals.

      • Bacterial pathogens
  15. Cloning of hok gene into anhydrotetracycline inducible pASK75 vector reveals potent antimicrobial effect of 19 amino acid long N‐terminal fragment of hok peptide

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • An important toxin‐antitoxin (TA) system hok/sok, encoded by R1 plasmid of Escherichia coli, is involved in post segregation killing of cells that have lost the plasmid. The lethal properties of hok protein have been utilized for the environmental containment of microbes and the development of potential vaccine candidates. We aim to demonstrate the potent anti‐microbial property of 19 amino acid (AA) long N‐terminal fragment of hok peptide.

      • Vibrio
      • Bacterial pathogens
  16. Hepatitis C virus genotypes in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection in southern Iran from 2016 to 2019

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The treatment of HCV infection has become more complicated due to various genotypes and subtypes of HCV. Treatment of HCV has made significant advances with direct‐acting antivirals. However, for the choice of medicine or the combination of drugs for hepatitis C, it is imperative to detect and discriminate the crucial HCV genotypes.

      • Viruses
      • Hepatitis
  17. Host response to the Subtilase cytotoxin produced by locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE)‐negative Shiga‐toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC)

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Shiga‐toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) is a major bacterium responsible for disease resulting from foodborne infection, including bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). STEC produces important virulence factors such as Shiga toxin (Stx) 1 and/or 2. In the STEC family, some Locus for Enterocyte Effacement (LEE)‐negative STEC produce two different types of cytotoxins, Stx2 and Subtilase cytotoxin (SubAB).

      • Bacterial pathogens
  18. Antiviral activities of mycophenolic acid and IMD‐0354 against SARS‐CoV‐2

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • In this study, the anti–severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2) activity of mycophenolic acid (MPA) and IMD‐0354 was analyzed. These compounds were chosen based on their antiviral activities against other coronaviruses. Because they also inhibit dengue virus (DENV) infection, other anti‐DENV compounds/drugs were also assessed.

      • Viruses
      • COVID-19
  19. Pathogenicity of Clinical Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Isolates from Thailand in a Mouse Colitis Model

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium, STM) is a leading cause of non‐typhoidal salmonellosis (NTS) worldwide. The pathogenesis of NTS has been studied extensively using a streptomycin‐pretreated mouse colitis model with the limited numbers of laboratory S. Typhimurium strains. However, the pathogenicity of the clinically isolated S. Typhimurium (STMC) strains endemic in Thailand in mice has not been explored.

      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  20. Development of a novel T cell‐oriented vaccine using CTL/Th‐hybrid epitope long peptide and biodegradable microparticles, against an intracellular bacterium

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Antigen‐specific CD8+ T‐lymphocytes (cytotoxic T‐lymphocytes: CTL), as well as CD4+ T‐lymphocytes (helper T‐lymphocytes: Th), simultaneously play an important role in elimination of intracellular bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes. Administration of T‐cell epitope short peptide needs large numbers of peptides for effective vaccination due to its easily degradable nature in vivo.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Listeria monocytogenes
  21. Persistence of extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase plasmids among Enterobacteriaceae in commercial broiler farms

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • To clarify the persistence of extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase (ESBL) producers, 13 plasmids from two broiler farms were analyzed. On the farm not using antimicrobials, one plasmid from Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from a day‐old chick was similar to that from Escherichia coli isolated a year later, with the deletion of two transposons. On the farm using antimicrobials, most circulating plasmids (8/9) in a flock of 40‐days‐old chicks were identical, although one from K.

      • Bacterial pathogens
  22. Animal infection models using non‐mammals

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • The use of non‐human animal models for infection experiments is important for investigating the infectious processes of human pathogenic bacteria at the molecular level. Mammals, such as mice and rabbits, are also utilized as animal infection models, but large numbers of animals are needed for these experiments, which is costly, and fraught with ethical issues.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Staphylococcus aureus
  23. Interaction of Escherichia coli and its culture supernatant with Vibrio vulnificus during biofilm formation

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Vibrio vulnificus is a foodborne pathogen causing septicemia with high mortality rate. In this study, we explored how Escherichia coli, one of the commensal bacteria in human gastrointestinal tract, can interact with V. vulnificus. Our study showed that, the amount of biofilm produced by V. vulnificus was reduced in the presence of E. coli ATCC 35218, although the growth of V. vulnificus L‐180 remains unaffected. We also detected antibiofilm effect of E. coli culture supernatant against V.

      • Vibrio
      • Bacterial pathogens
  24. Translocation domain of botulinum neurotoxin A subtype 2 potently induces entry into neuronal cells

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is the causative agent of botulism in humans and animals. Only BoNT serotype A subtype 1 (BoNT/A1) is clinically used because of its high potency and long duration of action. BoNT/A1 and BoNT/A subtype 2 (BoNT/A2) have high degree of amino acid sequence similarity in light chain (LC) (96%), whereas their N‐and C‐terminal heavy chain (HN and HC) differ by 13%.

      • Clostridium botulinum
      • Bacterial pathogens
  25. TOLL‐interacting protein in the freshwater fish Labeo rohita exhibits conserved structural motifs of higher eukaryotes and is distinctly expressed in PAMPs‐stimulations and bacterial infections

    • Microbiology and Immunology
    • TOLL‐interacting protein (Tollip) is a critical regulator of TLRs (toll‐like receptors) signaling pathway. It is predominantly associated with TLR2 and TLR4 during the acute inflammatory conditions and inhibits the TLR‐mediated NF‐κB activation by suppressing the auto‐phosphorylation of interleukin‐1 receptor associated kinase (IRAK1) and its kinase activity. This article describes about the Tollip in Labeo rohita (LrTollip), a highly valuable freshwater fish of the Indian subcontinent.

      • Bacterial pathogens