Research Publications (Food Safety)

Crop diseases caused by Fusarium graminearum threaten crop production in both commercial and smallholder farming. F. graminearum produces deoxynivalenol mycotoxin, which is stable during food and feed processing. Therefore, the best way to prevent the sporulation of pathogens is to develop new prevention strategies. Plant-based pesticides, i.e., natural fungicides, have recently gained interest in crop protection as alternatives to synthetic fungicides.

Fifteen 4-methyl-1,2,3-thiadiazole-based hydrazone derivatives 3a–d and sulfonyl hydrazones 5a–k were synthesized. They were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS. Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv was used to assess their antimycobacterial activity.

Four models (Baranyi, modified Gompertz, log-logistic and Weibull models) were applied to examine the performance of thermosonication (TS) and formic acid (FA), individually and in combination, at three temperatures (40, 50, and 60°C) for the inactivation of pathogens inoculated on persimmon. Results indicated that all nonlinear kinetic models provided a good fit to data; however, the Baranyi showed the best performance in fitting data.

by Patricia Bartsch, Christoph Kilian, Malte Hellmig, Hans-Joachim Paust, Alina Borchers, Amirrtavarshni Sivayoganathan, Leon Enk, Yu Zhao, Nikhat Shaikh, Henning Büttner, Milagros N. Wong, Victor G. Puelles, Thorsten Wiech, Richard Flavell, Tobias B. Huber, Jan-Eric Turner, Stefan Bonn, Samuel Huber, Nicola Gagliani, Hans-Willi Mittrücker, Holger Rohde, Ulf Panzer, Christian F. Krebs

by Jordan O. Hampton, Heath Dunstan, Simon D. Toop, Jason S. Flesch, Alessandro Andreotti, Deborah J. Pain Scavenging and predatory wildlife can ingest lead (Pb) from lead-based ammunition and become poisoned when feeding on shot game animals. Humans can similarly be exposed to ammunition-derived lead when consuming wild-shot game animals. Studies have assessed the degree of lead contamination in the carcasses of game animals but this scrutiny has not so far extended to Australia.

In the present study, we assessed the bactericidal effect of a combination of blue light (BL) and riboflavin (Rb) and elucidated the bacterial inactivation mechanism. Higher Rb concentrations (0.005–50 μM) resulted in greater inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium suspended in phosphate buffer saline (PBS).

This study assessed the survival/growth behavior of Listeria monocytogenes in 14 different types of ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetable salads stored at 4, 8, 12 and 16 °C for up to 144 h. The growth potential of L. monocytogenes in respective salad products was determined and the growth behavior over post-inoculation storage was studied.

Staphylococcus aureus (Sau) plays an important role in human infections occurring in both the community and hospital settings.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica are important pathogens worldwide. Bacteriophages can be effectively used to reduce the incidence of foodborne pathogens. The host recognition systems of phages are highly specific, with the host range of a common phage being limited to the species or strain level. Here, we characterized a novel broad-host-range phage, EscoHU1, that infects several bacterial species, including E.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most toxic fungal secondary metabolites associated with Aspergillus flavus contaminated food products. Although a range of synthetic chemicals has been used to control molds contamination, most of them possess a risk to the health and environment.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is routinely used for bacterial identification in clinical laboratories. Bacterial protein expression may differ according to their growth conditions, especially the culture medium composition.

Toxoplasma gondii, as other apicomplexa, employs adhesins transmembrane proteins for binding and invasion to host cells. Search and characterization of adhesins is pivotal in understanding Apicomplexa invasion mechanisms and targeting new druggable candidates. This work developed a machine learning software called ApiPredictor UniQE V2.0, based on two approaches: support vector machines and multilayer perceptron, to predict adhesins proteins from amino acid sequences.

Fosfomycin has gained attention as a combination therapy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. Hence, the detection of novel fosfomycin-resistance mechanisms in S. aureus is important. Here, the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of fosfomycin in CC1 methicillin-resistant S. aureus were determined. The pangenome analysis and comparative genomics were used to analyse CC1 MRSA.

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of gastroenteritis that has been causally linked with development of the autoimmune peripheral neuropathy Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS). Previously, we showed that C.

Characterization of transcriptional networks is one of the main strategies used to understand how bacteria interact with their environment.

Biomonitoring of mycotoxins and their metabolites in biological fluids is increasingly used to assess human exposure. In this study, biomarkers of ochratoxin A (OTA) and citrinin (CIT) exposure were determined in a large number of serum samples from healthy blood donors in Switzerland. In 2019, 700 samples from different regions were obtained. From 240 donors, a second sample (taken 2–9 months later) was available for analysis.

The Staphylococcus aureus SdrG protein is glycosylated by SdgA and SdgB for protection against its degradation by the neutrophil cathepsin G. So far, there is no information about the role of Staphylococcus epidermidis SdgA or SdgB in biofilm-forming; therefore, the focus of this work was to determine the distribution and expression of the sdrG, sdgA and sdgB genes in S. epidermidis under in vitro and in vivo biofilm conditions.

Five populations of Typha domingensis Pers. were evaluated for their tolerance to different regimes of cadmium (Cd). Plants were collected from different sites in Punjab province of Pakistan viz. Jaranwala (S1), Farooq Abad (S2), Chiniot (S3), Khurianwala (S4), and Sidhnai (S5). Collected plants were established for three months and then subjected to Cd levels, i.e., 0, 50, 100, and 150 µM L−1.

Widespread multidrug-resistant (MDR) and multi-virulent diarrheagenic E. coli create several crises among human and animal populations worldwide. For this reason, we looked forward to a breakthrough with this issue and tried to highlight these emerging threats. A total of 140 diarrheagenic E. coli isolates were recovered from animal and human sources. The O26 serotype, alongside the ampicillin/cefoxitin resistance phenotype, was predominant among both human and animal isolates.

In recent years, a number of bacterial detection methods have been developed to replace time-consuming culture methods. One interesting approach is to mobilize the ability of phage tail proteins to recognize and bind to bacterial hosts. In this paper, the authors provide an overview of the current methodologies in which phage proteins play major roles in detecting pathogenic bacteria.

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Cronobacter sakazakii in goat milk-based infant formula (GIF) collected from Shaanxi Province, China, and reveal the molecular characterization and antibiotic resistance profile of these isolates. A total of 750 GIF samples were collected from the retail markets in 5 cities in Shaanxi Province from February 2019 to February 2021.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. The health benefits of whole wheat consumption can be partially attributed to wheat's phytochemicals, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkylresorcinols, carotenoids, phytosterols, tocopherols, and tocotrienols. It is of increasing interest to produce whole wheat products that are rich in bioactive phytochemicals.

Background Staphylococcus aureus is a notorious human pathogen that causes often lethal systemic conditions that are mostly medical device associated biofilm infections. Similarly, coagulase negative staphylococci are emerging as leading pathogen for nosocomial infections owing to their ability to form biofilm on implanted medical equipment. Chronic in nature, these infections are difficult to treat.

by An-Emmie Nieman, Wouter Rozemeijer, Paul H. M. Savelkoul, Rogier P. Schade Objectives Determination of pathogen-specific bacterial DNA load (BDL) in blood has been shown to be directly correlated with severity of infection in patients with bacteremia. In the diagnostic work-up of patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB), determination of the primary focus is imperative, because of implications for treatment duration, and ultimately prognosis.

Toxoplasmosis is an important zoonotic disease worldwide caused by the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Cats, being hosts, act as a good sentinel for this disease. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in cats by examining serum from seven districts of Metropolitan Lima, Peru.