Research Publications (Food Safety)

Pathogenic microorganisms use various mechanisms to conserve energy in host tissues and environmental reservoirs. One widespread but often overlooked means of energy conservation is through the consumption or production of molecular hydrogen (H2). Here, we comprehensively review the distribution, biochemistry, and physiology of H2 metabolism in pathogens. Over 200 pathogens and pathobionts carry genes for hydrogenases, the enzymes responsible for H2 oxidation and/or production.

Author(s): Hani El Kadri, Teyfik Celen, Alaa Alaizoki, Madeleine Smith, Helen Onyeaka

Author(s): Padmanabha Reddy Velugoti, Saurabh Kumar, Lalit Kumar Bohra, Vijay K. Juneja, Harshavardhan Thippareddi

Clostridium perfringens causes severe gastrointestinal diseases, which include necrotic enteritis (NE) in chickens, a deadly disease worldwide. We report here the draft genome sequence of Clostridium perfringens strain TAMU, which was used in developing an NE chicken challenge model. This C. perfringens TAMU genome sequence will aid in advancing potential intervention strategies to reduce NE pathogenesis.

Author(s): Jackie K. Cheung, Vicki Adams, Danielle D’Souza, Meagan James, Christopher J. Day, Michael P. Jennings, Dena Lyras, Julian I. Rood

Author(s): L. Grau-Roma, S. Blatter, C. Wenker, K. Sonja, M. Navarro, F. Uzal, H. Posthaus

Introduction: Clostridium perfringens is the cause of necrotic enteritis (NE) in chickens. A similar disease has occasionally been reported in psittacines. We diagnosed several outbreaks of NE in lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus).

Clostridium perfringens is an important human and animal pathogen that is the primary causative agent of necrotizing enteritis and enterotoxemia in many types of animals; it causes traumatic gas gangrene in humans and animals and is associated with cases of food poisoning in humans. C. perfringens produces a variety of toxins as well as many enzymes, including three sialidases, NanH, NanI, and NanJ. Sialidases could be important virulence factors that promote the pathogenesis of C.

Author(s): Yaodi Zhu, Jiaye Zhang, Miaoyun Li, Lijun Zhao, Hongrong Ren, Longgnag Yan, Gaiming Zhao, Chaozhi Zhu

Author(s): Simon Packer, Jane Day, Peter Hardman, Julia Cameron, Michael Kennedy, Jonathan Turner, Caroline Willis, Corinne Amar, Bayad Nozad, Maya Gobin

Author(s): Zhen Jia, Yanhong Liu, Chang-An Hwang, Lihan Huang

Epsilon toxin (ETX), produced by Clostridium perfringens types B and D, causes serious neurological disorders in animals. ETX can bind to the white matter of the brain and the oligodendrocytes, which are the cells forming the myelin sheath around neuron axons in the white matter of the central nervous system. After binding to oligodendrocytes, ETX causes demyelination in rat cerebellar slices.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Poultry meats can become contaminated with pathogenic bacteria through digesta leakage during processing. Reducing the bacteria load in digesta of market-aged broilers prior to processing reduces the incidence of fecal contamination at the processing plant. A lysozyme product was incorporated in a maltodextrin-based feed offered during the pre-shipping feed withdrawal period to reduce bacteria in ileal contents of market-aged broilers.

ABSTRACT Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a pervasive enteric disease responsible for large scale economic losses within the global poultry industry. The etiologic agent of NE is Clostridium perfringens (CP), an opportunistic pathogen that utilizes numerous extracellular toxins and glycoside hydrolases (GH) as key virulence and nutrient acquisition factors.

ABSTRACT Subclinical necrotic enteritis (NE) is primarily caused by the gram-positive bacterium, Clostridium perfringens (Cp). The trend towards removal of in-feed antimicrobials and subsequent increased emergence of infection in poultry has resulted in a wide interest in better understanding of the mechanism behind this disease. The virulence of NE, to a large extent, depends on the virulence of Cp strains.

by Jennifer R. Linden, Claudia Flores, Eric F. Schmidt, Francisco A. Uzal, Adam O. Michel, Marissa Valenzuela, Sebastian Dobrow, Timothy K. Vartanian

Clostridium perfringens is a bacterial pathogen that causes necrotic enteritis in poultry and livestock, and is a source of food poisoning and gas gangrene in humans. As the agriculture industry eliminates the use of antibiotics in animal feed, alternatives to antibiotics will be needed. Bacteriophage endolysins are enzymes used by the virus to burst their bacterial host, releasing bacteriophage particles. This type of enzyme represents a potential replacement for antibiotics controlling C.

This study aimed to assess the microbial contamination associated with the traditional processing of fresh pork into grilled pork in Benin. Sixty meat samples (fresh and processed pork) were randomly collected from different processing/selling sites, and the main foodborne microorganisms were sought. About 16.7% of samples exceeded the acceptable limit of <7.0 Log10 CFU g−1 recommended by the Health Protection Agency for AMB.

SUMMARY In a global context of increased antibiotic resistance, feed additives with enhanced antimicrobial properties are a useful and increasingly needed strategy. Organic acids (OA) and botanical molecules such as nature identical compounds (NIC) have been shown to be effective against bacterial infections based on their antimicrobial activity.

Author(s): Yaodi Zhu, Yangyang Ma, Jiaye Zhang, Miaoyun Li, Longgang Yan, Gaiming Zhao, Yanxia Liu, Yanyan Zhang

Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) is Gram-positive anaerobic, spore-forming rod-shaped bacterial pathogen that is widely distributed in nature. This bacterium is known as the causative agent of a foodborne illness and of gas gangrene. While the major virulence factors are the α-toxin and perfringolysin O (PFO) produced by type A strains of C. perfringens, the precise mechanisms of how these toxins induce the development of gas gangrene are still not well understood.

Besides the major nutrients, phosphorus (P) is an essential mineral for both the host animal and the porcine gut microbiota. Different strategies including phytase supplementation and more recently lactic acid (LA) are used to enhance the P availability from cereals in pig diets; however, their impact on the gut microbiota has been rarely related to fecal shedding of opportunistic pathogens.

Both nosocomial pathogens, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae and food-borne pathogens, such as Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens are known to be detrimental to human and animal health. The effectiveness of currently used treatments for these pathogens becomes limited as resistant strains emerge. Therefore, new methods for eliminating bacterial pathogens must be developed continuously.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) causes huge economic losses to the poultry industry. Probiotics are used as potential alternatives to antibiotics to prevent NE. It is known that Clostridium butyricum can act as a probiotic that can prevent infection. However, whether or not it exerts a beneficial effect on NE in chickens remains elusive. Therefore, we investigated the impact of C.