Research Publications (Food Safety)

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human commensal bacteria colonizing the human body, especially the nasal cavity. The nasal carriage can be a source of S. aureus bacteremia. However, the bacterial factors contributing to nasal colonization are not completely understood. By analysing S.

Invasive Salmonella infection, which can cause typhoid/paratyphoid fever and invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis, is a public health burden in Africa. Accurate diagnosis and etiological characterization are required to conduct prevalence and risk estimations for Salmonella infection; however, the utilization of optimal techniques and surveillance data are still insufficient.

Short-term assessment of adverse effects is essential for populations exposed to higher risk of environmental pollution. This study presents the time course of physiological and morphological changes attributed to cadmium, emphasizing age-linked differences in the susceptibility of photosynthetic apparatus of Spirodela polyrhiza fronds exposed to different cadmium concentrations.

Postharvest deterioration can result in qualitative and quantitative changes in the marketability of horticultural commodities, as well as considerable economic loss to the industry. Low temperature and controlled atmosphere conditions (low O2 and elevated CO2) are extensively employed to prolong the postharvest life of these commodities. Nevertheless, they may suffer from chilling injury and other physiological disorders, as well as excessive water loss and bacterial/fungal decay.

The increasing occurrence of multidrug-resistant strains of the gastric carcinogenic bacterium Helicobacter pylori threatens the efficacy of current eradication therapies. In a previous work, we found that several 1,4-dihydropyridine (DHP)-based antihypertensive drugs exhibited strong bactericidal activities against H. pylori by targeting the essential response regulator HsrA. To further evaluate the potential of 1,4-DHP as a scaffold for novel antimicrobials against H.

Bacteria in the Desulfovibrionaceae family, which contribute to S element turnover as sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and disproportionation of partially oxidized sulfoxy anions, have been extensively investigated since the importance of the sulfur cycle emerged. Novel species belonging to this taxon are frequently reported, because they exist in various environments and are easy to culture using established methods.

Cross-adaptation phenomena in bacterial populations, induced by sublethal doses of antibacterial solutions, are a major problem in the field of food safety. In this regard, essential oils and their major compounds appear as an effective alternative to common sanitizers in food industry environments.

The persistence of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes in the bloodstream is closely related to the modulation of their mechanical properties. New drugs that increase the stiffness of infected erythrocytes may thus represent a novel approach to block malaria parasite transmission. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor tadalafil has been shown to impair the ability of infected erythrocytes to circulate in an in vitro model for splenic retention.

Recent reports of resistance to artemisinin-based combination drugs necessitate the need to discover novel antimalarial compounds. The present study was aimed at identifying novel antimalarial compounds from natural product libraries using computational methods. Plasmodium falciparum is highly dependent on the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway, a de novo pathway responsible for the production of pyrimidines, and the parasite lacks the pyrimidine salvage enzymes. The P.

Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium tetani are Gram-positive, spore-forming, and anaerobic bacteria that produce the most potent neurotoxins, botulinum toxin (BoNT) and tetanus toxin (TeNT), responsible for flaccid and spastic paralysis, respectively. The main habitat of these toxigenic bacteria is the environment (soil, sediments, cadavers, decayed plants, intestinal content of healthy carrier animals). C.

Vancomycin or daptomycin is administered to hemodialysis patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus and Enterococcus species. Although serious concerns regarding nephrotoxicity due to vancomycin have been raised, it might not be a critical issue in hemodialysis patients. Moreover, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of vancomycin versus daptomycin in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

International Journal of Dairy Technology, EarlyView. The aim of the present study was to assess Aflatoxin-M1 (AFM1) contamination in cheese samples from the West Asia region. Furthermore, AFM1 contamination was investigated based on the texture type (hard, semi-soft/semi-hard and soft) and the maturation process (matured and fresh) of the cheese sampled. Our results indicated that AFM1 contamination occurs in more than 50% of the cheese samples from all included countries.

by Maren Rudolph, Alexander Carsten, Susanne Kulnik, Martin Aepfelbacher, Manuel Wolters Yersinia enterocolitica employs a type three secretion system (T3SS) to translocate immunosuppressive effector proteins into host cells. To this end, the T3SS assembles a translocon/pore complex composed of the translocator proteins YopB and YopD in host cell membranes serving as an entry port for the effectors.

Zearalenone (ZEN) is an estrogen-like mycotoxin posing a great threat to human and animal health. The present study showed that the induction of spore CotA laccase production of Bacillus licheniformis by ions Mn2+ and Cu2+ promoted the ZEN-degrading ability of the strain.

Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) is an important cause of severe malabsorption, weight loss, physical and mental retardation especially in infants and children throughout the world. Metronidazole (MTZ) is the standard drug used for their treatment which possesses several drawbacks with low efficacy. Gold nanoparticles possess a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and could be considered as a future alternative to many microbial agents.

The threat of antibiotic resistance warrants the discovery of agents with novel antimicrobial mechanisms. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) directly disrupting bacterial membranes may overcome resistance to traditional antibiotics. AMP development for clinical use has been mostly limited to topical application to date.

While planktonic microbes play key roles in the coastal oceans, our understanding of heterotrophic microeukaryotes’ ecology, particularly their spatiotemporal patterns, drivers, and functions, remains incomplete. In this study, we focus on a ubiquitous marine fungus-like protistan group, the Labyrinthulomycetes, whose biomass can exceed that of bacterioplankton in coastal oceans but whose ecology is largely unknown.

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of an aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-contaminated diet treated with ammonia on the diet detoxification and growth performance, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen utilization, and blood metabolites in sheep.

The aim of this study was to show our therapeutic outcome of botulinum injection to the facial muscles and thereby to find the best therapeutic concept which should be embraced. The decision to treat the lower eyelid with 1-point or 2-points injection was randomly taken as there is no consensus regarding this debate.

Bacteria produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during growth, which can be detected by colorimetric sensor arrays (CSAs). The SpecifAST® system (Specific Diagnostics) employs this technique to enable antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) directly from blood cultures without prior subculture of isolates. The aim of this study was to compare the SpecifAST® AST results and analysis time to the VITEK®2 (bioMérieux) system.

Aims:This study aimed to compare the concentrations of heavy metals in reindeer and cow meat and offal originating from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Northwestern Russia, and to assess the risk to the health of the indigenous population associated with heavy metal intake due to the consumption of reindeer and cow.Methods:Lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic concentrations were measured in 39 muscle, 15 liver, and 14 kidney samples from reindeer and 33, 18, and 12 corresponding samples from cow

Journal of Food Science, EarlyView. Propidium monoazide coupled to real time PCR (PMA-qPCR) is a novel methodology proposed for the quantification of viable bacteria in food after microbial inactivation treatments. The aim of this work was to assess the effectiveness of different pressure levels on the lethality of a pool of Escherichia coli O157 strains in beef burgers by plate count and PMA-qPCR using uidA as target gene.

Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, EarlyView. Natural plant extracts (NPEs) may offer an effective alternative to minimize the consequences caused by antibiotic resistance in the marine industry. In this study, the anti-Vibrio parahaemolyticus activities of several antibiotics and NPEs alone and in combinations were evaluated.

Letters in Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. The Curtobacterium genus is a member of the family Microbacteriaceae, and Curtobacterium species are recognized as plant pathogens. The aim of this study was to investigate a dubious result of species identification for an infection located on a catheter tip of a patient with Covid-19.

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Accepted Article. Background Arsenic (As) may represent a risk for crop yield quality and human health since it may accumulate in the edible plant organs with the potential of determining acute or chronic toxic effects in varied segments of the population. Management of soil fertility through compost has proven to be a valuable practice for increasing and maintaining soil organic matter, with nutritional benefits for crops.