Research Publications (Food Safety)

Infection and Immunity, Ahead of Print. Cronobacter sakazakii, an opportunistic foodborne pathogen prevalently detected in contaminated powdered infant formula, is associated with different diseases, including meningitis. It can cross the blood-brain barrier and affects the CNS. The impact of C. sakazakii on host neuronal cells and behavior is largely unknown.

Salmonella enteritidis (SE) accounts for more than 70% of Salmonella spp. infections in humans with a primary source being chicken eggs, that can result from post-lay SE cross-contamination of the shell from contaminated equipment or the environment.

Background Aflatoxins contamination, one of the most severe food safety issue, has received global concern for everyone's health. Fluorescent aptasensor, as a rising sensing strategy, have opened up innovative platform for monitoring and trace levels of aflatoxins thanks to their ease of operation, rapid response, accurate determination, and high sensitivity and selectivity, as well as the promising potential in point-of-care (POC) testing.

Despite their clonality, intracellular bacterial pathogens commonly show remarkable physiological heterogeneity during infection of host cells. Physiological heterogeneity results in distinct ultrastructural morphotypes, but the correlation between bacterial physiological state and ultrastructural appearance remains to be established. In this study, we showed that individual cells of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium are heterogeneous in their ultrastructure.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print. Vibrio spp. were isolated from raw shrimps imported into Canada (2009 to 2019). A total of 92 isolates with various multidrug resistance profiles were sequenced, including 59 V. parahaemolyticus, 12 V. diabolicus, 10 V. cholerae, 7 V. alginolyticus, 1 V. campbellii, 1 V. harveyi, 1 V. owensii, and 1 V. vulnificus isolate.

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. A novel solid phase microextraction device coated with an efficient and cheap thin film of polyurethane was developed for trace determination of 13 widely used pesticides in fruit and tea beverages. A round-shaped polyurethane film covering the bottom of a glass vial was fabricated as the sorbent to exhibit a superior capacity of preconcentrating target compounds and reducing matrix interferences.

Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB)-assisted phytoextraction can enhance the removal of toxic metals by plants from contaminated soil. Here, we investigated the promotion effects of a Pb-tolerant PSB strain, Leclercia adecarboxylata L1-5, on assisting Pb phytoextraction by Celosia cristata L.. The results showed that PSB inoculation could increase the plant shoot and root biomass by 34.90% and 55.56% when the Pb concentration was 800 mg kg−1.

After harvest at horticultural maturity, X-ray computed tomography was used for the non-destructive determination of internal defects occurring in chestnuts during storage. An image processing pipeline was established to accurately identify various types of defective chestnuts. Severely defective chestnuts, with a complete loss of eating quality, were accurately identified by their gray scale value from volume and porosity analyses.

Using heterocyclic phenyl-imidazole (2-phenylimidazole, 4,5-diphenylimidazole and 2,4,5-triphenylimidazole) as monomer, three novel hyper-crosslinked polymers (PI-HCP, DPI-HCP and TPI-HCP) with large specific surface area and excellent chemical stability were fabricated by Friedel-Crafts reaction.

Ethylene is a two-carbon gaseous plant growth regulator that involved in several important physiological events, including growth, development, ripening and senescence of fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops. The hormone accelerates ripening of ethylene sensitive fruits, leafy greens and vegetables at micromolar concentrations, and its accumulation can led to fruit decay and waste during the postharvest stage.

The trichothecene toxin-producing fungus Trichoderma arundinaceum has potential as a biological control agent. However, most biocontrol studies have focused only on one strain, IBT 40837. In the current study, three Trichoderma isolates recovered from bean-field soils produced the trichothecene harzianum A (HA) and trichodermol, the latter being an intermediate in the HA biosynthesis. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the three isolates were assigned to the species T. arundinaceum.

Two previously undescribed lactones, phomolides A and B (1 and 2), and three new sesquiterpenoids, phomenes A–C (3–5), together with one known compound, colletotricholide A (6), were isolated from the endophytic fungus Phomopsis sp. SZSJ-7B.

Three new antibacterial spirooxindole alkaloids, spirobrefeldins A–C (1–3), together with four known analogs, spirotryprostatin M (4), spirotryprostatin G (5), 12β-hydroxyverruculogen TR-2 (6), and 12α-hydroxyverruculogen TR-2 (7), were isolated from terrestrial fungus Penicillium brefeldianum.

Recurrent epidemics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (MRSA) have illustrated that the effectiveness of antibiotics in clinical application is rapidly fading. A feasible approach is to combine natural products with existing antibiotics to achieve an antibacterial effect.

Introduction

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites of medical and veterinary concern by causing abortions and systemic illness. Limited or ambiguous data on the prevalence of T. gondii and N. caninum in camels triggered us to conduct this study.

Methods

The environment has undergone significant change because of technological advancement. Industries are releasing pollutants directly into the environment. Water pollution is a growing issue for humanity. Methods for managing wastewater generated by biological and industrial wastes are being developed. Textile industries are risking the health of living beings by contaminating water with dyes. Azo dyes are the major constituent of wastewater from textile industries.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium L., AM) and nettle (Urtica dioica L., UD) are bioactive plants used commercially in functional food and supplement applications and traditionally to alleviate gastric disorders. In this work, the effects of food-grade optimized extracts of Finnish early-season AM and UD were tested on bacterial growth including potential beneficial and foodborne pathogens, as well as murine norovirus (MNV).

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. A high-performance liquid chromatography protocol for the analysis of brevetoxins has been developed using a silica hydride-based cholesterol column. Brevetoxins are neurotoxins produced by harmful algae that have additional potential as drugs for a number of illnesses/diseases. To develop the optimum conditions, a number of different experimental approaches were tested.

To understand the transmission of Toxoplasma gondii, this parasite's genetic diversity distribution in free-living hosts is essential. This research's objective is the molecular genotyping of T. gondii isolates from the brain and muscles of Columbidae, Corvidae, Rattus, and Felidae of Mianeh County, East-Azerbaijan Province, Northwest Iran. Three hundred fifty samples were taken. For the genotyping of T.

This study aimed to determine Patulin (PAT) in samples of organically and conventionally grown tomato varieties, to correlate it with their phenolic profile and at evaluating effects of phenolic extracts of tomato samples against the Penicillium expansum CCT 7549 strain. Four varieties of tomatoes (Cherry, Khaki, Italian and Long Life) subject to conventional and organic management were collected in markets in the south of Brazil.

Biofouling in the food industry is a huge issue, and one possible way to reduce surface fouling is to understand how naturally cleaning surfaces based on biomimetic designs influence bacterial binding. Four self-cleaning leaves (Tenderheart cabbage, Cauliflower, White cabbage and Leek) were analysed for their surface properties and artificial replicates were produced.

Vibrio alginolyticus is an important conditional pathogen of fish, shrimp, shellfish, and other marine aquaculture animals that causes huge economic losses to the marine aquaculture industries. Temperature has a significant influence on its quorum sensing (QS) system, which is essential for its various physiological functions.

There is no gold-standard treatment for idiopathic toe walking (ITW). Some previous evidence suggested that botulinum neurotoxin-A injection might improve ITW. This is a single-center retrospective study on children with ITW treated with incobotulinumtoxinA injection in the gastrocnemius medialis/lateralis muscles.

Water buffalo produce a tenth of milk for global human consumption. Non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) are among the most commonly isolated bacteria from mastitis in water buffalo and dairy cows. These results described the initial characterisation of 17 NAS—15 Staphylococcus simulans and two Staphylococcus chromogenes from a water buffalo herd (n = 44) in South Africa.

International Journal of Dairy Technology, EarlyView. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) are a group of persistent organic pollutants with well-known toxic effects and potential carcinogenicity. Human exposure to PCDD/Fs is mainly through food, including dairy products. The scientific information on the concentrations of PCDD/Fs in milk and dairy products is here reviewed. It also includes the intake of PCDD/Fs through the consumption of these products.