Research Publications (Food Safety)

Tree foliage sequesters gaseous elemental mercury (Hg) through stomatal uptake, when the foliage senesces and falls into the water, Hg from leaf litter can be released into the water and/or microbially methylated into a highly toxic form, methylmercury. The dominant groups of microbial communities that can methylate Hg during litter decomposition are, however, less certain.

This study investigated the effect of persistent heavy metal exposure on the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) of the freshwater snail, Lymnaea natalensis. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were also measured as an index of lipid peroxidation. The snails were exposed to cadmium, copper, lead and mercury for a total of 28 days at 0.1 mg/L, 0.1 mg/L, 0.2 mg/L and 0.1 mg/L respectively.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the toxicity of trace elements to earthworms (Eisenia fetida) in recreational and military shooting range soils. The earthworms were exposed to soils; then mortality, growth, and reproduction endpoints were determined. In the recreational shooting range, the total Pb concentration was 6151 mg kg−1 and in the soil of the impact berm of the military shooting range, it was 653 mg kg−1.

by Aung B. Bo, Jae D. Kim, Young S. Kim, Hun T. Sin, Hye J. Kim, Botir Khaitov, Young K. Ko, Kee W. Park, Jung S. Choi

Carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D carbapenemases (CHDLs) are enzymes that produce resistance to the last-resort carbapenem antibiotics, severely compromising the available therapeutic options for the treatment of life-threatening infections. A broad variety of CHDLs, including OXA-23, OXA-24/40, and OXA-58, circulate in Acinetobacter baumannii, while the OXA-48 CHDL is predominant in Enterobacteriaceae. Extensive structural studies of A.

Glutamate amidation, a secondary modification of the peptidoglycan, was first identified in Staphylococcus aureus. It is catalyzed by the protein products of the murT and gatD genes, which are conserved and colocalized in the genomes of most sequenced Gram-positive bacterial species. The MurT-GatD complex is required for cell viability, full resistance to β-lactam antibiotics, and resistance to human lysozyme and is recognized as an attractive target for new antimicrobials.

Oral candidiasis (OC) caused by the fungal pathogen Candida albicans is the most common opportunistic infection in immunocompromised populations. The dramatic increase in resistance to common antifungal agents has emphasized the importance of identifying alternative therapeutic options.

Author(s): Herbert Musarurwa, Luke Chimuka, Vusumzi Emmanuel Pakade, Nikita Tawanda Tavengwa

Author(s): Lanlan Peng, Jiwang Chen, Lu Chen, Jie Cai, Wenping Ding, Yonggui Gao, Yongning Wu, Shuiyuan Cheng

Author(s): Rui Weng, Shengting Lou, Xu Pang, Yue Song, Xin Su, Zhiyong Xiao, Jing Qiu

Author(s): Mingdi Jiang, Chen Chen, Jingbo He, Hongyan Zhang, Zhixiang Xu

Author(s): Tianze Wang, Dawei Zhen, Jia Tan, Jianchun Xie, Jie Cheng, Jian Zhao

Author(s): Büşra Yilmaz Durak, Dotse Selali Chormey, Merve Firat, Sezgin Bakirdere

Author(s): Marco Genchi, Alice Vismarra, Chiara Lucchetti, Antonio Viglietti, Serena Crosara, Giacomo Gnudi, Cecilia Quintavalla, Roland Schaper, Laura Kramer

Author(s): A.M. Api, D. Belsito, D. Botelho, M. Bruze, G.A. Burton, J. Buschmann, M.L. Dagli, M. Date, W. Dekant, C. Deodhar, M. Francis, A.D. Fryer, L. Jones, K. Joshi, S. La Cava, A. Lapczynski, D.C. Liebler, D. O'Brien, A. Patel, T.M. Penning

Author(s): Wei Yang, Zhi-Kai Tian, Hui-Xin Yang, Zhao-Jun Feng, Jian-Mei Sun, Hong Jiang, Chao Cheng, Qing-Lei Ming, Chan-Min Liu

Author(s): Shuyuan Zhang, Shuailin Hao, Zhiyu Qiu, Ya Wang, Yuqin Zhao, Youhang Li, Wen Gao, Yan Wu, Chang Liu, Xingzhi Xu, Hailong Wang

Author(s): Grazia Barone, Arianna Storelli, Nicoletta C. Quaglia, Angela Dambrosio, Rita Garofalo, Roberta Chiumarulo, Maria M. Storelli In order to investigate PCB and PCDD/F concentrations and potential human health risk a study has been conducted in meat samples (beef, pork, chicken and turkey) purchased from Italian supermarkets. PCBs were dominant (41.8–77.7 ng g−1 l.w.) with respect to PCDD/Fs (20.1–91.1 pg g−1 l.w.).

Author(s): Yanwen Xue, Fang Huang, Rongxue Tang, Qingsheng Fan, Bing Zhang, Zhenjiang Xu, Xiaoming Sun, Zheng Ruan

Author(s): Keuri Eleutério Rodrigues, Fábio Rodrigues de Oliveira, Benilson Ramos Cassunde Barbosa, Ricardo S. Oliveira Paraense, Cahy Manoel Bannwart, Bruno Gonçalves Pinheiro, Anderson de Santana Botelho, Nilton Akio Muto, Cristine Bastos do Amarante, Moises Hamoy, Barbarella de Matos Macchi, Cristiane do Socorro Ferraz Maia, Alejandro Ferraz do Prado, José Luiz Martins do Nascimento

Author(s): Chuang Ma, Fu-Yong Liu, Bin Hu, Ming-Bao Wei, Ji-Hong Zhao, Ke Zhang, Hong-Zhong Zhang

A multidisciplinary approach was carried out in order to study the biodeterioration and the associated microbiome of a XVIII Century wax seal coloured with minium. A small wax seal fragment was observed by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy in non‐destructive mode. The same object was analysed by Raman and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy.

Author(s): Ruth Vanderschueren, Daniela Montalvo, Bart De Ketelaere, Jan A. Delcour, Erik Smolders

Author(s): Krešimir Mastanjević, Brankica Kartalović, Jelena Petrović, Nikolina Novakov, Leona Puljić, Dragan Kovačević, Marko Jukić, Jasmina Lukinac, Kristina Mastanjević