Research Publications (Food Safety)

The extent to which the full diversity of the subsurface microbiome can be captured via cultivation is likely hindered by the inevitable loss of cellular viability from decompression during sampling, enrichment, and isolation. Furthermore, the pressure tolerance of previously isolated strains that span surface and subsurface ecosystems can shed light into microbial activity and pressure adaptation in these transition zones.

Background

Recent data indicate the importance of gut-kidney axis in the pathogenesis of Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). Growing evidence suggests the alterations of diversity and composition of gut microbiome among patients with IgAN, however, the details are not yet fully understood.

Methods

Accumulating evidence has denoted the danger of resistance in tenacious organisms like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA, a supple bacterium that adopts a variety of antibiotic resistance mechanisms, is the cause of multiple life-threatening conditions. Approaching a post-antibiotic era, bacteria-specific natural predators, bacteriophages, are now given the chance to prove eligible for joining the antibacterial weaponry.

Cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL), a non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is thought to arise from mature tissue-resident memory T cells. The most common subtypes include Mycosis Fungoides and Sezary Syndrome. The role of skin microbiota remains unclear in the symptom manifestation of MF.

Nanotechnology is emerging as a new technology with encouraging innovations. Global antibiotic use has grown enormously, with antibiotic resistance increasing by about 80 percent. In view of this alarming situation, intensive research has been carried out into biogenic nanoparticles and their antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor activities.

Letters in Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. In order to develop a mechanistic bacterial dose-response model, based on the concept of Key Events Dose-Response Framework (KEDRF), this study aimed to investigate the invasion of intestinal model cells (Caco-2) by Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes and described the behavior of both pathogens as a mathematical model using Bayesian inference.

Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) in children remains a growing burden on public health and often causes children to be hospitalized with diarrheic symptoms. In this work, 260 strains of human Salmonella isolated from Jilin, China were characterized by serotypes and antimicrobial resistance using whole genome sequencing (WGS). The most prevalent serotype was Salmonella enteritidis (47.3%), followed by S. I 4,[5],12:i:- (33.1%), and Salmonella Typhimurium (7.3%).

Biofilm-associated implant infections represent a major challenge for healthcare systems around the world due to high patient burden and enormous costs incurred. Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is the most prevalent enterococcal species identified in biofilm-associated infections. The steadily growing areas of application of implants demand a solution for the control of bacterial infections.

Several strains of lactic acid bacteria are potent probiotics and can cure a variety of diseases using different modes of actions. These bacteria produce antimicrobial peptides, bacteriocins, which inhibit or kill generally closely related bacterial strains and other pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria, Clostridium, and Salmonella. Bacteriocins are cationic peptides that kill the target cells by pore formation and the dissipation of cytosolic contents, leading to cell death.

Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) is one of the major food and waterborne bacteria that causes several health outbreaks in the world. Although there are few antibiotics against this bacterium, some of these drugs are challenged with resistance and toxicity. To mitigate this challenge, our group explored the ethnomedicinal/herbalism knowledge about a certain spice used in Northern Ghana in West Africa against bacterial and viral infection. This plant is Capsicum chinense (C. chinense).

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Accepted Article. Background Soil dwelling human pathogens like Salmonella are transmitted by fresh produce like tomato, spinach, onion, cabbage etc. With >2600 serovars, it is difficult to classify the good plant colonizers from the non-colonizers. Generally, soil microbiota is classified as autochthonous or zymogenous organisms, based on their ability to survive in soil.

Campylobacteriosis is a significant public health concern with Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli as main causative agents. Moreover, there is an increasing recognition of other pathogenic Campylobacter species and Campylobacter-like organisms as Arcobacter.

Environmental pH is a critical parameter for maintenance of the gut microbiota. Here, the impact of pH on the gut microbiota luminal and mucosal community structure and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production was evaluated in vitro, and data compiled to reveal a donor-independent response to an increase or decrease in environmental pH. The results found that raising environmental pH significantly increased luminal community richness and decreased mucosal community evenness.

As a pathogenic microorganism, Listeria monocytogenes is widely used in the research of bacterial pathogenesis and host defense. The phagosomal escape of Listeria monocytogenes is essential for its replication in the cytoplasm of the host.

This study was aimed to examine the membrane damage mechanism of gallic acid (GA) on Yersinia enterocolitica BNCC 108930, and to explore whether GA can prolong the shelf life of pork. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of GA against Y. enterocolitica was determined by adopting the broth microdilution method. Second, an investigation was conducted on the morphological and physiological variations of Y.

Duck salmonellosis is a common acute septic infectious disease that spreads rapidly, with serious harm to the duck breeding industry and public health. To date, there are few reports about the epidemiological characteristics of drug resistance in Salmonella from ducks.

In 2020, a new serotype of Vibrio parahaemolyticus O10:K4 emerged and caused several outbreaks and sporadic cases in Guangxi, China. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that those strains are new variants of the sequence type 3 pandemic clone. The new serotype may become dominant, warranting enhanced investigations and surveillance.

Partition systems are widespread among bacterial chromosomes. They are composed of two effectors, ParA and ParB, and cis acting sites, parS, located close to the replication origin of the chromosome (oriC). ParABS participate in chromosome segregation, at least in part because they serve to properly position sister copies of oriC. A fourth element, located at cell poles, is also involved in some cases, such as HubP for the ParABS1 system of Vibrio cholerae chromosome 1 (ch1).

New strategies are needed to fight the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria caused by an overuse of antibiotics in medical and veterinary fields. Due to the importance of biofilms in clinical infections, antibiofilm peptides have a great potential to treat infections. In recent years, an increased interest has emerged in antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). One of the richest sources of AMPs is represented by amphibian skin.

Skin and soft tissue inflammatory diseases of bacterial origin occupy a significant part of hospitalizations to emergency departments. One of the most common causes of sepsis is soft tissue infection, which accounts for about a quarter of all nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in microbial landscape and antibiotic susceptibility of soft tissue infection pathogens among adults and children during the period 2018–2020.

Listeria monocytogenes is an infectious foodborne pathogen that greatly threatens the public health worldwide. A simple and sensitive detection of L. monocytogenes is extremely important in food safety industry. In this study, we developed an all-in-one platform, which consists of nucleic acid extraction, amplification and visual detection in a single tube.

Endophytic bacteria isolated from medicinal plants are crucial for the production of antimicrobial agents since they are capable of possessing bioactive compounds with diverse structures and activities. Cordia dichotoma, a plant of medicinal importance native to the Jammu region of India, was selected for the isolation and characterization of culturable endophytic bacteria and evaluation of their antimicrobial activities.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the main pathogens in different raw milk and dairy products, which may lead to economic losses. Staphylococcus aureus is a significant and costly public health concern because it may enter the human food chain and contaminate milk causing foodborne illness. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence genes of S. aureus in raw milks.

To evaluate in vitro antibacterial activity of MRX-8 against gram-negative bacteria recently isolated from China, 765 clinical isolates were collected randomly from 2017 to 2020, including Enterobacterales and P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii, S. maltophilia, B. cepacia, Alcaligenes app. and Haemophilus spp. isolates. All strains were performed with antimicrobial susceptibility testing by broth microdilution method according to the CLSI 2021.

As natural biopolymers, chitosan and lignin are characterized by their good biocompatibility, high biodegradability and satisfactory biosafety. The active polymers’ functional groups are responsible for the potential of these biomaterials for use as carrier matrices in the construction of polymer–drug conjugates with prospective applicability in the fields of medicine, food and agriculture—subjects that have attracted attention in recent years.