Research Publications (Food Safety)

Background

The prion protein-encoding gene (PRNP) is one of the major determinants for scrapie occurrence in sheep and goats. However, its effect on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) transmission to goats is not clear.

Methods

Background

Cell-culture-derived (CC) influenza vaccine production methods could provide benefits over classical embryonated-egg technology, including a higher production capacity and the faster creation of a supply that meets demand.

Methods

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

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

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

Publication date: Available online 23 July 2015

Author(s): Byoung-Kwon Hahm, Hyochin Kim, Atul K. Singh, Arun K. Bhunia

Publication date: Available online 22 July 2015

Author(s): Abhishek Jaiswal, Sounak Sarkar, Parijat Das, Suman Nandy, Hemanta Koley, Banwarilal Sarkar

Sinéad Murphy, Jonathan L Barber, Jennifer A. Learmonth, Fiona L. Read, Robert Deaville, Matthew W. Perkins, Andrew Brownlow, Nick Davison, Rod Penrose, Graham J. Pierce, Robin J. Law, Paul D. Jepson

David M. Greenberg, Simon Baron-Cohen, David J. Stillwell, Michal Kosinski, Peter J. Rentfrow

Glycosylation is an important plant defense mechanism and conjugates of Fusarium mycotoxins often co-occur with their parent compounds in cereal-based food and feed. In case of deoxynivalenol (DON), deoxynivalenol-3-O-β-D-glucoside (D3G) is the most important masked mycotoxin. The toxicological significance of D3G is not yet fully understood so that it is crucial to obtain this compound in pure and sufficient quantities for toxicological risk assessment and for use as an analytical standard.

Publication date: Available online 21 July 2015

Author(s): Dov B. Schlisselberg, Edna Kler, Guy Kisluk, Dina Shachar, Sima Yaron

Phenotypic heterogeneity describes the occurrence of "nonconformist" cells within an isogenic population. The nonconformists show an expression profile partially different from that of the remainder of the population. Phenotypic heterogeneity affects many aspects of the different bacterial lifestyles, and it is assumed that it increases bacterial fitness and the chances for survival of the whole population or smaller subpopulations in unfavorable environments.

Cronobacter species are Gram-negative opportunistic pathogens that can cause serious infections in neonates. The lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) that form part of the outer membrane of such bacteria are possibly related to the virulence of particular bacterial strains. However, currently there is no clear overview of O-antigen diversity within the various Cronobacter strains and links with virulence. In this study, we tested a total of 82 strains, covering each of the Cronobacter species.

Cronobacter spp. (formerly defined as Enterobacter sakazakii) are opportunistic bacterial pathogens of both infants and adults. In this study, we analyzed 70 Cronobacter isolates from powdered infant formula (PIF) and an infant formula production facility in China to determine possible contamination routes. The strains were profiled by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), PCR-based O-antigen serotyping, and ompA and rpoB sequence analyses.

Campylobacter jejuni is a common cause of the frequently reported food-borne diseases in developed and developing nations. This study describes the development of multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) using capillary electrophoresis as a novel typing method for microbial source tracking and epidemiological investigation of C. jejuni.

Taxonomic classification of Clostridium botulinum is based on the production of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), while closely related, nontoxic organisms are classified as Clostridium sporogenes. However, this taxonomic organization does not accurately mirror phylogenetic relationships between these species. A phylogenetic reconstruction using 2,016 orthologous genes shared among strains of C. botulinum group I and C.

The production of cysts, an integral part of the life cycle of many free-living protozoa, allows these organisms to survive adverse environmental conditions. Given the prevalence of free-living protozoa in food-related environments, it is hypothesized that these organisms play an important yet currently underinvestigated role in the epidemiology of foodborne pathogenic bacteria.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen whose survival in food processing environments may be associated with its tolerance to desiccation. To probe the molecular mechanisms used by this bacterium to adapt to desiccation stress, a transposon library of 11,700 L. monocytogenes mutants was screened, using a microplate assay, for strains displaying increased or decreased desiccation survival (43% relative humidity, 15°C) in tryptic soy broth (TSB).

In the case of a release of highly pathogenic bacteria (HPB), there is an urgent need for rapid, accurate, and reliable diagnostics. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is a rapid, accurate, and relatively inexpensive technique that is becoming increasingly important in microbiological diagnostics to complement classical microbiology, PCR, and genotyping of HPB. In the present study, the results of a joint exercise with 11 partner institutions from nine European countries are presented.

Current European Commission (EC) surveillance regulations require discriminatory testing of all transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE)-positive small ruminant (SR) samples in order to classify them as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or non-BSE. This requires a range of tests, including characterization by bioassay in mouse models. Since 2005, naturally occurring BSE has been identified in two goats.

Culture remains the cornerstone of diagnosis for pulmonary tuberculosis, but the fastidiousness of Mycobacterium tuberculosis may delay culture-based diagnosis for weeks. We evaluated the performance of real-time high-resolution imaging for the rapid detection of M. tuberculosis colonies growing on a solid medium.

The laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis usually relies on culture-based isolation of the causative Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. We developed and evaluated the performance of MOD9, a new blood-free derivative of the MOD4 solid medium on which we previously reported for the isolation and culture of mycobacteria. First, inoculation of Lowenstein-Jensen medium with 21 M.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is the most common Salmonella serovar causing foodborne infections in Australia and many other countries. Twenty-one S. Typhimurium strains from Salmonella reference collection A (SARA) were analyzed using Illumina high-throughput genome sequencing. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 21 SARA strains ranged from 46 to 11,916 SNPs, with an average of 1,577 SNPs per strain. Together with 47 strains selected from publicly available S.

In the present study, microbiological, chemical and sensory changes of sausage samples produced from fillets of Chondrostoma regium, Luciobarbus mystaceus and Capoeta trutta implemented with traditional and liquid smoke were investigated during a storage period of 70 days at 4 ± 1C. The results of microbiological, physicochemical, chemical and sensory analyses showed that there were no differences between sausages smoked with either liquid smoke or traditional smoke (P > 0.05).