Research Publications (Food Safety)

by Denisse Fuentes-López, Daniel Ortega-Zambrano, María Antonieta Fernández-Herrera, Hilda Mercado-Uribe Growing concern of antibiotic resistance has increased research efforts to find nonspecific treatments to inhibit pathogenic microorganisms. In this regard, photodynamic inactivation is a promising method. It is based on the excitation of a photosensitizer molecule (PS) with UV-Vis radiation to produce reactive oxygen species.

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and tungsten disulfide nanosheets (WS2 NTs) have been widely studied in photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry as representative electron donor–acceptor pairs but rarely in fluorescence sensing. In this study, we investigated the effect of WS2 NTs on the fluorescence signal of cadmium telluride (CdTe) QDs by grafting an aptamer as a bridge between them.

Globally, healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are the most frequent adverse outcome in healthcare delivery. Although bacterial biofilms contribute significantly to the incidence of HAI, few studies have investigated the efficacy of common disinfectants against dry-surface biofilms (DSB).

Over the years, scaffold hopping has proven to be a powerful tool in the agrochemical optimization process. It offers the opportunity to modify known molecular lead structures to improve a range of parameters, including biological efficacy and spectrum, physicochemical properties, toxicity, stability, and to secure new intellectual property.

Pyruvate kinase (PK) has been considered as a promising fungicide target discovered in our previous studies. Natural compounds are important sources for discovery and development of new pesticides. To continue our ongoing studies on the discovery of novel PK-targeted fungicides, a series of novel psoralen derivatives including a 1,3,4-oxadiazole moiety were designed by a computer-aided pesticide molecular design method, synthesized, and evaluated for their fungicidal activity.

The residue levels and risk assessment of imidacloprid (IMI) and chlorantraniliprole (CAP) in celery grown under open field and greenhouse cultivation were investigated. Both pesticides were used through foliar application and soil drench application at the recommended dose (RD) and 10-fold recommended dose (10xRD).

Vibrio alginolyticus is a devastating bacterial pathogen of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), which often causes acute hepatopancreatic necrosis syndrome (AHPNS) and early mortality syndrome (EMS). Elucidation of molecular mechanisms of L. vannamei in responding to infection is essential for controlling the epidemic. In the present study, transcriptomic profiles of L.

Listeriosis is a foodborne disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes (LM) and has been linked to the consumption of sliced mozzarella cheese.

This work reports a sensitive and accurate multimode detection method to detect Salmonella typhimurium using inherent color, photothermal and catalytic properties of Prussian blue@gold nanoparticles (PB@Au). The inherent color of PB@Au can realize direct visual detection while the temperature increase (ΔT) of it can realize sensitive and quantitative photothermal detection. Moreover, catalytic coloration detection is applied to further amplify detection signal.

Autophagy is a conserved degradation pathway in plants, which plays an important role in plant cellular homeostasis during abiotic stress. Although various abiotic stressors have been reported to induce autophagic activity in plants, the specific role of autophagy in plant cadmium (Cd) tolerance remains undiscovered.

Nitric oxide (NO) is tightly associated with plant response against cadmium (Cd) stress in rice since NO impacts Cd accumulation via modulating cell wall components. In the present study, we investigated that whether and how NO regulates Cd accumulation in root in two rice lines with different Cd accumulation ability.

Arsenic (As) contamination in agricultural soils has become a great threat to the sustainable development of agriculture and food safety. Although a lot of approaches have been proposed for dealing with soil As contamination, they are not practical in crop production due to high cost, time-taking, or operational complexity. The rapid development of nanotechnology appears to provide a novel solution to soil As contamination.

The study was to evaluate the antimicrobial impacts on Melissa officinalis L. essential oil (MOEO) against Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of MOEO on Vibrio parahaemolyticus was 1 μL⋅mL–1. The kill-time curve exhibited that MOEO had good antimicrobial activity. The analysis of cellular ingredients leakage and cell viability illustrated that MOEO has destruction to the morphology of the cell membrane.

Arsenic is a ubiquitous constituent in geothermal fluids. Thermophiles represented by Thermus play vital roles in its transformation in geothermal fluids. In this study, two Thermus tengchongensis strains, named as 15Y and 15W, were isolated from arsenic-rich geothermal springs and found different arsenite oxidation behaviors with different oxidation strategies.

Escherichia coli O157 (E. coli O157) is one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogens worldwide. A convenient, sensitive, and specific method for the E. coli O157 detection is necessary. The present study developed an isothermal real-time recombinase polymerase amplification (real-time RPA) assay and an RPA combined with lateral flow strip (LFS-RPA) to detect E. coli O157 targeting the conserved region of the rfbE gene.

Breast milk is considered the ideal form of nutrition for newborns and infants. However, it can carry over contaminants, namely mycotoxins, with biological effects to which this population is particularly vulnerable. Human biomonitoring and surveillance programs are particularly scarce in low-income countries, where food security is a more urgent priority in comparison with food safety.

The common non-synonymous mutation of the glucokinase regulator (GCKR) gene, namely rs1260326, is widely reported to have pleiotropic effects on cardio-metabolic traits and hematological parameters. Objective: This study aimed to identify whether other GCKR variants may have pleiotropic effects independent of the rs1260326 genotypes.

Donkeys (Equus asinus) are in decline in Europe. Occupational exposure to farm animals has been associated with increased staphylococci carriage. We aimed to isolate S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) from donkeys and handlers and characterize the antimicrobial resistance profiles and genetic lineages of S. aureus strains. Oral and nasal swab samples were collected from 49 Miranda donkeys and 23 handlers from 15 different farms.

International Journal of Dairy Technology, EarlyView. The concentrations of six non–dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCBs) were measured using the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with triple-quadrupole (QqQ) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method in cream and ice cream offered in Tehran (Iran).

Journal of Separation Science, Accepted Article. In this study, an efficient screening method based on a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was established for the determination of 90 pesticides residues in Panax Ginseng.

Letters in Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. This is the first report of acute deaths in five European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) attributed to mucoid and necrotizing typhlocolitis caused by genetically different Cronobacter (C.) turicensis strains in northeastern Austria.

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Volume 102, Issue 5, Page 2061-2069, 30 March 2022.

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Volume 102, Issue 5, Page 1782-1811, 30 March 2022. Until now, there is no method available for analysis of pesticide residues in complex matrices like spices. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop and validate a QuEChERS-based method for the estimation of 104 pesticides in cumin seed. Samples were spiked for 109 pesticides at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mg kg−1. Of these 104 pesticides were recovered.

Cadmium pollution in river sediment is serious and single remediation method is difficult to deal with. Thus, it is extremely urgent to remediate Cd contaminated river sediments. A new remediation system with phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSBs) and biochar supported nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAP@BC) was provided to enhance the immobilization efficiency of Cd in this research. The passivation effect of PSB + nHAP@BC under different conditions and its mechanism were investigated.

Effectively removing heavy metals from the wastewater using a green low-cost natural polymer-based adsorbent received a great deal of attention. In this study, natural γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) and ε-poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) functionalized lignin (DLGS and DLLS) were synthesized through demethylation/phenolation and amination to increase its intrinsic reactivity and adsorption sites, which were used to remove heavy metals from aqueous solutions.