Research Publications (Food Safety)

Campylobacteriosis seems to be a growing problem worldwide. Apart from the most common sources of numerous Campylobacter species, such as poultry and other farm animals, dogs may be an underrated reservoir of this pathogen. Our goal was to establish the frequency of occurrence, antimicrobial resistance, and detection of chosen virulence factor genes in genomes of canine Campylobacter isolates. Campylobacter isolates frequency in dogs from shelters, and private origin was 13%.

Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial disease that remains under-explored; up to date it is known that the bacterium Cutibacterium acnes is involved in the disease occurrence, also associated with a microbial dysbiosis. Antibiotics have become a mainstay treatment generating the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In addition, there are some reported side effects of alternative treatments, which indicate the need to investigate a different therapeutic approach.

mBio, Ahead of Print. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes a devastating burden of invasive disease in sub-Saharan Africa with high levels of antimicrobial resistance. No licensed vaccine is available, but O-antigen-based candidates are in development, as the O-antigen moiety of lipopolysaccharides is the principal target of protective immunity.

Fish products are highly vulnerable to microbial contamination due to their soft tissues, making them perishable and harmful to consumers. The clinical and subclinical infections reported by fish consumers are mainly associated with pathogenic microorganisms in fish products. Therefore, this study aimed at establishing the molecular profiles and diversity of the bacterial isolates from fish and fish products obtained from Kirinyaga County markets in Kenya.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of electron-beam generated X-ray irradiation on the postharvest storage quality and antioxidant capacity of Agaricus bisporus.

Patulin (PAT) contamination caused by Penicillium expansum growth in postharvest fruit brings safety problems. This study investigated the inhibitory effect and mechanism of curcumin (CUR)-based photodynamic inactivation (PDI) on PAT secreted by P. expansum in vitro using a multifunctional light source instrument.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a highly toxic non-steroidal mycotoxin produced via some Fusarium species that intimidate the agricultural and food industry. Therefore, it is an intense need for different groups to develop some novel, rapid, reliable, and precise analytical methods for ZEN detection to ensure food safety.

The presence of Penicillium and Aspergillus fungi during cheese production may lead to the formation of ochratoxin A, aflatoxins, as well as their partly mutagenic biosynthetic precursors. However, data about the presence of these toxins in final cheese is scarce.

Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) kills Staphylococcus aureus (Sau) through a contact-dependent mechanism that is catalyzed by cations, including iron, to convert hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to highly toxic hydroxyl radicals (•OH). There are two well-characterized ABC transporters that contribute to the pool of iron in Spn, named Pia and Piu.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a universal mycotoxin contaminant in corn and its products. A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) based test strip was proposed for the detection of ZEN, which had the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, and high sensitivity. Core-shell Au@AgNPs with embedded reporter molecules (4-MBA) were synthesized as SERS nanoprobe, which exhibited excellent SERS signals and high stability.

Hepatitis E is caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV), one of the causes of acute viral hepatitis. Domestic pigs are considered as the main reservoir of HEV-3. The recently reported high prevalence of HEV in liver- and meat products on the Dutch market warranted a cross-sectional prevalence study on HEV infection among 5–6 months old pigs slaughtered in the Netherlands (n = 250).

Environmental extremes such as hypersaline conditions are significant threats to agricultural productivity. The sustainable use of halophilic microbial strains was evaluated in plant in a salt stress environment. Oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), energy compartmentalization, harvesting efficiencies (LHE), specific energy fluxes (SEF), and nitrogen assimilation of oilseed crops (Sunflower cultivars) in a suboptimal environment was examined.

Ionomics, the study of the composition of mineral nutrients and trace elements in organisms that represent the inorganic component of cells and tissues, has been widely studied to explore to unravel the molecular mechanism regulating the elemental composition of plants. However, the genetic factors of rice subspecies in the interaction between arsenic and functional ions have not yet been explained.

In response to the increasing nosocomial infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), bacteriophages (phages) have emerged as an alternative to antibiotics. Staphylococcus ureilyticus, one of the representative species of the CoNS, is now considered a notable pathogen that causes nosocomial bloodstream infections, and its biofilm-forming ability increases pathogenicity and resistance to antimicrobial agents. In this study, a lytic phage infecting S.

The fucosyltransferase 2 gene (FUT2) mediates the synthesis of histoblood group antigens (HBGA) that occur in vivo from multiple organs, particularly on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells and body fluids. To date, many studies have demonstrated that the interaction of HBGA with the host microbiota is the cause of pathogenesis of intestinal diseases, making FUT2 non-secretor a risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) due to the lack of HBGA.

It was acknowledged long ago that microorganisms have played critical roles in animal evolution. Tibetan wild asses (TWA, Equus kiang) are the only wild perissodactyls on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and the first national protected animals; however, knowledge about the relationships between their gut microbiota and the host's adaptability remains poorly understood.

Bacterial skin diseases of livestock could be a serious global threat, especially in association with overcoming bacterial resistance. Combinatory action of antimicrobial agents proves to be an effective strategy to overcome the problem of increasing antibiotic resistance of microorganisms.

An in-package atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma (CP) treatment integrated with malic acid (MA)-incorporated whey protein isolate coating treatment (MA-WPI + CP treatment) was developed to inactivate Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in steamed fish paste packaged in a plastic container. MA-WPI + CP treatment inactivated Salmonella and L.

Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide-distributed zoonotic protozoan parasite which causes toxoplasmosis and has a significant effect on public health. In the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), toxoplasmosis can cause asymptomatic infections, reproductive disorder and even death, which poses a serious threat to the conservation of this rare protected species. Therefore, serological investigation of T.

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a zoonotic intracellular protozoan parasite that can invade, replicate and survive in almost all cells of warm-blooded animals. T. gondii infection threatens the life of the fetus or can cause morbidity in the infant. As the only definitive host of T.

Chronic lead exposure can result in cognitive dysfunction and behavioral disorders. However, the current treatments for alleviating lead poisoning have many side effects. Previous studies have suggested that probiotics may have the potential to ameliorate neurotoxicity caused by lead exposure.

A bacterial isolate PM1 obtained from the rhizosphere of healthy plants was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa by biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence (GenBank ID OL321133.1). It induced resistance in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi-nc and Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, against Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and Sunn-hemp rosette virus (SRV), respectively. Foliar treatment with isolate PM1 curbed TMV accumulation in susceptible N. tabacum cv.

In this work, biphenyl was used as carbon source to enrich microorganisms from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)-contaminated paddy soil samples, and the taxonomic structures in both of the soil samples and the fourth-generation enrichments were examined with high-throughput sequencing.

Macrocyclic lactones (MLs) are widely used as antiparasitic agents in the livestock, monensin (ionophore antibiotics) is recommended in cattle feed as growth-promoting additives, and fipronil is a drug prescripted in animal production to control ectoparasitic infestations. However, the use of these drugs in food-producing animals may lead to the appearance of their residues in meat and offals.

Bacillus velezensis FTL7 which exhibited potent antimicrobial peptide producing capacity was isolated from a marine sediment sample of the West Coast region, South India, and characterized through experimental and genomic analysis approaches.