Research Publications (Food Safety)

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease , Vol. 0, No. 0.

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease , Vol. 0, No. 0.

The human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus is the leading cause of seafood-related deaths in the United States. Strains are genotyped on the basis of alleles that correlate with isolation source, with clinical (C)-genotype strains being more often implicated in disease and environmental (E)-genotype strains being more frequently isolated from oysters and estuarine waters. Previously, we have shown that the ecologically distinct C- and E-genotype strains of V.

Pathogenic enteric viruses are responsible for a wide range of infections in humans, with diverse symptoms. Raw and partially treated wastewaters are major sources of environmental contamination with enteric viruses.

Dairy industry fermentative processes mostly use Lactococcus lactis as a starter. However, some dairy L. lactis strains produce putrescine, a biogenic amine that raises food safety and spoilage concerns, via the agmatine deiminase (AGDI) pathway. The enzymatic activities responsible for putrescine biosynthesis in this bacterium are encoded by the AGDI gene cluster.

The control of multihost pathogens, such as Coxiella burnetii, should rely on accurate information about the roles played by the main hosts. We aimed to determine the involvement of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) in the ecology of C. burnetii. We predicted that red deer populations from broad geographic areas within a European context would be exposed to C. burnetii, and therefore, we hypothesized that a series of factors would modulate the exposure of red deer to C. burnetii.

Caleosins are a small family of calcium-binding proteins endowed with peroxygenase activity in plants. Caleosin-like genes are present in fungi; however, their functions have not been reported yet. In this work, we identify a plant caleosin-like protein in Aspergillus flavus that is highly expressed during the early stages of spore germination.

Phytophagous insects can encounter Salmonella enterica on contaminated plant surfaces and transmit externally adhered and internalized bacteria on and among leaves. Excretion of ingested S. enterica by the leafhopper Macrosteles quadrilineatus has been previously reported; however, the sites of persistence of ingested bacteria remain undetermined. Fluorescence microscopy revealed the presence and persistence of S. enterica in various organs of M.

Publication date: Available online 20 August 2015

Author(s): Wilson J. Bertu, Marie J. Ducrotoy, Pilar M. Muñoz, Virginie Mick, Amaia Zúñiga-Ripa, Ward Bryssinckx, Jacob K.P. Kwaga, Junaid Kabir, Susan C. Welburn, Ignacio Moriyón, Reuben A. Ocholi

The estuarine gram-negative rod and human diarrheal pathogen Vibrio cholerae synthesizes a VPS exopolysaccharide-dependent biofilm matrix that allows it to form a 3D structure on surfaces. Proteins associated with the matrix include, RbmA, RbmC, and Bap1. RbmA, a protein whose crystallographic structure suggests two binding surfaces, associates with cells...

Natural transformation is one mechanism of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera. Recently, it was found that V. cholerae isolates from the Haiti outbreak were poorly transformed by this mechanism. Here, we show that an integrating conjugative element (ICE)-encoded DNase, which we name...

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease , Vol. 0, No. 0.

H. M. Abdallah, E. A. Reuland, B. B. Wintermans, N. al Naiemi, A. Koek, A. M. Abdelwahab, A. M. Ammar, A. A. Mohamed, C. M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls

Objectives

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and to characterize extended-spectrum β-lactamases- and/or carbapenemases-producing Enterobacteriaceae among Enterobacteriaceae isolated from retail chicken meat in Zagazig, Egypt.

Methods

Kirk S. B. Bergstrom, Vijay Morampudi, Justin M. Chan, Ganive Bhinder, Jennifer Lau, Hyungjun Yang, Caixia Ma, Tina Huang, Natasha Ryz, Ho Pan Sham, Maryam Zarepour, Colby Zaph, David Artis, Meera Nair, Bruce A. Vallance

Aims
Ileocaecal lymph nodes (ICLNs) of pigs, the key immune inductive site for bacterial systemic invasion, were examined in this study with emphasis on viable and cultivable bacteria.

A quantitative comparison between discriminatory indexes and concordance among multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), automated ribotyping, and phage typing has been performed, testing 238 Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis isolates not epidemiologically correlated.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has emerged today as an ultimate typing tool to characterize Listeria monocytogenes outbreaks. However, data analysis and interlaboratory comparability of WGS data are still challenging for most public health laboratories. Therefore, we have developed and evaluated a new L. monocytogenes typing scheme based on genome-wide gene-by-gene comparisons (core genome multilocus the sequence typing [cgMLST]) to allow for a unique typing nomenclature.

We isolated Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains resistant to third-generation cephalosporins. The resistant strains harbored blaCMY-2, a plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamase. Genotyping of isolates revealed the possible spread of this problematic bacterium. Results suggested the importance of the investigation and surveillance of enterobacteria with plasmids harboring blaCMY-2.

Infant botulism is a potentially life-threatening paralytic disease that can be associated with prolonged morbidity if not rapidly diagnosed and treated. Four infants were diagnosed and treated for infant botulism in NSW, Australia, between May 2011 and August 2013. Despite the temporal relationship between the cases, there was no close geographical clustering or other epidemiological links.

Zearalenone and its metabolites, α-zearalenol and β-zearalenol, demonstrate estradiol-like activity and disrupt physiological functions in animals. This article evaluates the carryover of zearalenone and its selected metabolites from the digesta to intestinal walls (along the entire intestines) in pre-pubertal gilts exposed to low doses of zearalenone over long periods of time.

Abstract

Bo Cui, Lei Feng, Zhenzhong Pan, Manli Yu, Zhanghua Zeng, Changjiao Sun, Xiang Zhao, Yan Wang, Haixin Cui

Marua Prevato, Ilaria Ferlenghi, Alessandra Bonci, Yasushi Uematsu, Giulia Anselmi, Fabiola Giusti, Sylvie Bertholet, Francois Legay, John Laird Telford, Ethan C. Settembre, Domenico Maione, Roberta Cozzi

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a blend of organic acids (OAs) in diets with or without antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) in chickens challenged with Clostridium perfringens. Day-old male broiler chicks were used in a trial with 4 treatments and 6 replicates of 50 birds per pen, for 43 days, in a completely randomized design. The treatments in a 2x2 factorial arrangement consisted of the presence or absence of enramycin (AGP) and of a blend of OA in the feed.

Campylobacter occur in fresh retail poultry products as a result of their colonization of the gastro-intestinal tract of chickens during growth. Feed additives could be used for suppression of Campylobacter levels in the chickens prior to slaughter. To address this opportunity, feed manufacturers are targeting natural antimicrobials from plant material as new forms of consumer-accepted feed additives.