Research Publications (Food Safety)

by Michael Anger, Christian Wendelborn, Eva C. Winkler, Christoph Schickhardt Background Data Sharing is widely recognised as crucial for accelerating scientific research and improving its quality. However, data sharing is still not a common practice. Funding agencies tend to facilitate the sharing of research data by both providing incentives and requiring data sharing as part of their policies and conditions for awarding grants.

Octopamine and Tyramine are biogenic amines that have been demonstrated to play an important immunological role in white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. G protein-coupled receptors, known as seven-transmembrane domain receptors, are a variety of neurotransmitter receptors which are sensitive to biogenic amines for initiating the cell signaling pathway. In present study, we cloned and characterized an octopamine/tyramine receptor (LvOA/TA-R) from the hemocytes of L.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been implicated in a variety of biological processes. However, most ncRNAs are of unknown function and are as-yet unannotated. The immune-related functions of ncRNAs in the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata martensii were explored based on transcriptomic differences in the expression levels of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in the hemocytes of P.f.

Arsenic (AS), an environmental contaminant, is a known human carcinogen that can cause cancer of the lung, liver, and skin. Furthermore, AS induces oxidative stress and mitochondrial impairments in mammalian cells. However, limited information is available on the effect of AS exposure on oocyte maturation of porcine, whose anatomy, physiology, and metabolism are similar to those of human.

Background Salmonella enterica is among the major burdens for public health at global level. Typing of salmonellae below the species level is fundamental for different purposes, but traditional methods are expensive, technically demanding, and time-consuming, and therefore limited to reference centers.

Background Studies have shown that cadmium (Cd) exposure primarily occurs through diet, and Cd ingestion is a risk factor for atherosclerosis (AS). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. As a target organ, the gastrointestinal tract may play a key role in Cd-induced AS.

Cadmium is a persistent environmental pollutant whose neurotoxicity is of serious concern. Mitochondrial dysfunction and its mediated mitophagy and apoptosis are considered key events in Cd-induced neurological pathologies, but the exact molecular mechanism has not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Cd-induced mitophagy and apoptosis and their role in Cd-induced neuronal death.

Cadmium (Cd) is one the leading environmental contaminants. The Cd toxicity and its potential stabilization strategies have been investigated in the recent years. However, the combined effects of biochar and microorganisms on the adsorption of Cd and maize plant physiology, still remained unclear.

Being sessile organisms, plants cannot escape unwanted changes in the environment. The rapid human population explosion caused significant environmental problems. Heavy metals produced through various sources can cause severe damage to living organisms. The study was planned to evaluate four grass species’ morpho-physiological growth characteristics and phytoremediation capabilities under chromium (Cr) and lead stress (Pb) in the arid climate.

Since the introduction of LED lamps a decade ago, the plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL) has been expected to be a savior that overcomes the food crisis, brings food safety, and enhances environmental friendliness. Despite such high expectations, the diffusion of commercial crop production in PFALs has been slow. It has been said that the main reason for this is the huge initial investment required to construct PFALs.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a public health threat worldwide, and there is no direct treatment yet available. In the event of infection, patients may present liver cirrhosis and cancer, which threaten the patients’ health globally, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and China. In 2019, Chinese hepatopathologists updated the 2015 Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B as the clinical reference.

This study assessed a reliable and accessible method based on QuEChERS (quicky, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) and HPLC–PDA to determine simultaneously deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON), and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON) to be applied to monitor the contamination indifferent oat products. These mycotoxins can affect the functionality of oat products that are used in the feed of different human groups.

Long-term monitoring is required to assess the current state and trend of water quality in anthropogenic-influenced estuarine systems. In this study, we evaluated 1581 samples from a 27-year time series (1990–2016) of physicochemical parameters, microbiological, and heavy metals in the surface waters of the Santa Cruz estuarine channel, Brazil.

Arsenic (As) is very common pollutant of the environment categorized as class-I human carcinogen. Rice crop is inherently efficient at accumulating As that is also triggered by conventional cropping methods (flooded conditions).

Fusarium Head Blight is a devastating disease of wheat caused by a complex of Fusarium species producing a wide range of mycotoxins. Fusarium species occurrence is variable in different geographical areas and subjected to a continuous evolution in their distribution. A total of 141 durum wheat field samples were collected in different regions of Italy in three years, and analyzed for Fusarium species and related mycotoxin occurrence.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has evolved vast antibiotic resistance. These strains contain numerous virulence factors facilitating the development of severe infections. Considering the costs, side effects, and time duration needed for the synthesis of novel drugs, seeking efficient alternative approaches for the eradication of drug-resistant bacterial agents seems to be an unmet requirement.

mSphere, Ahead of Print. Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is thought to cause lethal enterotoxemia when absorbed from the intestinal lumen into the circulation. CPE action sequentially involves receptor-binding, oligomerization into a prepore, and pore formation.

mBio, Ahead of Print. Centrosomes are the main microtubule-organizing center of the cell. They are normally formed by two centrioles, embedded in a cloud of proteins known as pericentriolar material (PCM). The PCM ascribes centrioles with their microtubule nucleation capacity. Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, divides by endodyogeny. Successful cell division is critical for pathogenesis.

Infection and Immunity, Ahead of Print. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are frequently commensal bacteria that rarely cause disease in mammals. Staphylococcus lugdunensis is an exceptional CoNS that causes disease in humans similar to virulent Staphylococcus aureus, but the factors that enhance the virulence of this bacterium remain ill defined.

by Jun Jie Wong, Foo Kiong Ho, Pei Yi Choo, Kelvin K. L. Chong, Chee Meng Benjamin Ho, Ramesh Neelakandan, Damien Keogh, Timothy Barkham, John Chen, Chuan Fa Liu, Kimberly A. Kline Wound infections are often polymicrobial in nature, biofilm associated and therefore tolerant to antibiotic therapy, and associated with delayed healing. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus are among the most frequently cultured pathogens from wound infections.

by Glaucia M. Fragoso, Emlyn J. Davies, Trygve O. Fossum, Jenny E. Ullgren, Sanna Majaneva, Nicole Aberle, Martin Ludvigsen, Geir Johnsen Plankton distributions are remarkably ‘patchy’ in the ocean. In this study, we investigated the contrasting phytoplankton-zooplankton distributions in relation to wind mixing events in waters around a biodiversity-rich island (Runde) located off the western coast of Norway.

by Tahmina Islam, M. K. Reddy Non-essential toxic heavy metal like cadmium (Cd2+) interferes with the plant growth and development in many ways. Cd2+ travels via plant transportation system, specifically through xylem and may integrate into the food chain causing unfavorable condition in human health. Therefore, strategies to develop Cd2+ tolerance and less accumulation in the plant system require urgent attention.

The survival of E. coli O157:H7 strain (NCTC 12900) was assessed in raw donkey milk, in mild pasteurised donkey milk (50 ° C for 30 min), in donkey milk processed by HP at 400 MPa at 3 °C for 60 s, and in donkey milk treated with a combination of the two technologies. The results showed that E. coli O157:H7 was able to survive in raw donkey milk for 15 days and in mild pasteurised donkey milk for 4 days.

Wheat flour contaminated with Salmonella or Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has been linked to foodborne outbreaks and recalls. The survival of five strains of rifampicin-resistant Salmonella and STEC on wheat berries was evaluated during tempering (hydration). Wheat berries were inoculated with Salmonella (cocktail) or STEC (individual strains or cocktail) and dried at ambient conditions for 24 h.

The paper outlines a procedure based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry and QuEChERS pretreatment for the determination of patulin in selected berries and stone fruits. The mycotoxin was determined in the positive electrospray ionization mode utilizing the formation of its methanol adduct.