Research Publications (Food Safety)

The capacity of apple trees to produce fruit of a desired diameter, i.e., fruit-bearing capacity (FBC), was investigated by considering the inter-tree variability of leaf area (LA). The LA of 996 trees in a commercial apple orchard was measured by using a terrestrial two-dimensional (2D) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser scanner for two consecutive years.

Heavy metal contamination is an environmental issue on a global scale. Particularly, cadmium poses substantial threats to crop and human health. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the model organisms to study cadmium toxicity and was recently engineered as a cadmium hyperaccumulator. Therefore, it is desirable to overcome the cadmium sensitivity of S. cerevisiae via genetic engineering for bioremediation applications.

In nature, Listeria may interact competitively and cooperatively with other organisms, resulting in unique spatial organization and functions for cells within the community. This study was undertaken to characterize the biofilm architecture of binary biofilms of Listeria monocytogenes and Lactobacillus species and to assess their effect on the survival of Listeria during exposure to hypochlorite. Three L.

A novel virulent bacteriophage vB_EcoM_swi3 (swi3), isolated from swine feces, lyzed 9% (6/65) of Escherichia coli and isolates 54% (39/72) of Salmonella enteritidis isolates, which were all clinically pathogenic multidrug-resistant strains. Morphological observation showed that phage swi3 belonged to the Myoviridae family with an icosahedral head (80 nm in diameter) and a contractile sheathed tail (120 nm in length).

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus that has caused the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) all over the world. In the absence of appropriate antiviral drugs or vaccines, developing a simple, rapid, and reliable assay for SARS-CoV-2 is necessary for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 transmission.

Methods

by Kentaro Tohma, Cara J. Lepore, Magaly Martinez, Juan I. Degiuseppe, Pattara Khamrin, Mayuko Saito, Holger Mayta, Amy U. Amanda Nwaba, Lauren A. Ford-Siltz, Kim Y. Green, Maria E. Galeano, Mirko Zimic, Juan A. Stupka, Robert H. Gilman, Niwat Maneekarn, Hiroshi Ushijima, Gabriel I. Parra

Author(s): Limbikani Matumba, Sydney Namaumbo, Theresa Ngoma, Nyadani Meleke, Marthe De Boevre, Antonio F. Logrieco, Sarah De Saeger

Author(s): Mateja Potisek, Matevž Likar, Katarina Vogel-Mikuš, Iztok Arčon, Jože Grdadolnik, Marjana Regvar

Author(s): Jinsong Yang, Wei Chen, Yi Sun, Jin Liu, Wenchang Zhang

Author(s): Qifan Zhang, Jing Meng, Guijin Su, Zhelun Liu, Bin Shi, Tieyu Wang

The genus Alternaria is widely distributed in the environment. Numerous species of the genus Alternaria can produce a variety of toxic secondary metabolites, called Alternaria mycotoxins. In this review, natural occurrence, toxicity, metabolism, and analytical methods are introduced. The contamination of these toxins in foodstuffs is ubiquitous, and most of these metabolites present genotoxic and cytotoxic effects.

Some Vibrio species are important human pathogens owing to they cause infectious diseases such as gastroenteritis, wound infections, septicemia or even death. Many of these illnesses are associated with consumption of contaminated seafood. In the present study, we evaluated the presence of pathogenic Vibrio species, their virulence and antimicrobial susceptibility from 285 different kind of seafood samples from “La Nueva Viga” market in Mexico City.

Earlier investigations on biological methods of wastewater treatment have revealed that algal based wastewater treatment could be a green, cost effective and efficient approach for the removal of heavy metals. So, this study aimed to assess the potential of microalga Chlorella pyrenoidosa for remediation of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Mn, and Ni) from varying concentration (25%, 50%, 75 and 100%) of wastewater collected from Common Effluent Treatment Plant.

Plastics with particle sizes of 100 nm to 5 mm are known as microplastics. The contamination of seafood-based feeds by larger microplastics (20 μm to 5 mm) is a growing concern. Here, we analyzed fish and shrimp meals. Microplastics were extracted using density separation methods and characterized using scanning micro Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FT-IR). The average microplastic abundance in shrimp meal was 10.7 microplastics·100 g−1.

The aim of this study was to determine selected molecular biomarkers of iron ore contamination in Epinephelus marginatus. Molecular biomarkers were tested by checking the relative expression of genes involved in oxidative stress, trace element regulation, and cellular damage, by RT-qPCR. Iron ore exposure caused the downregulation of ferroportin (FP) gene expression and a significant upregulation in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) genes.

The Animas River provides irrigation water in northwestern New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. Concerns regarding the river water quality arose on August 5, 2015, when approximately 11.35 million liters of heavy metal contaminated water was accidentally released from the Gold King Mine into the Animas River.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites that are produced by molds during their development. According to fungal physiological particularities, mycotoxins can contaminate crops before harvest or during storage. Among toxins that represent a real public health issue, those produced by Fusarium genus in cereals before harvest are of great importance since they are the most frequent in European productions. Among them, deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FUM) frequently contaminate maize.

As the global urban populations increase with rapid migration from rural areas, ready-to-eat (RTE) street foods are posing food safety challenges where street foods are prepared with less structured food safety guidelines in small and roadside outlets. The increased presence of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria in street foods is a significant risk for human health because of its epidemiological significance.

Journal of Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. Aims
Molecular characterization of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) among Salmonella Kentucky and Typhimurium isolates: partial sequence analysis of the types of β-lactamases found in these isolates, clonality, resistance and supposed emergence of ESBL-producing strains.

Journal of Applied Toxicology, EarlyView. Polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/DFs) are byproducts of brominated flame retardants and can cause adverse health effects. Although exposure to polychlorinated (PC) DD/DFs induces toxic effects, including liver injury and neurobehavioral disorder, little is known about toxicities associated with PBDD/DF exposure. Thus, we examined effects of perinatal exposure to brominated congener on the infant mouse.

Listeria monocytogenes bacteria pose a particular risk to the food industry as the species is known to form biofilm and to survive in a wide range of challenging environmental conditions. L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious food-borne disease, and effective and safe antibiofilm materials and sanitary methods for food processing environments are intensively sought.

Campylobacter species are among the leading foodborne bacterial agents of human diarrheal illness. The majority of campylobacteriosis has been attributed to Campylobacter jejuni (85% or more), followed by Campylobacter coli (5–10%). The distribution of C. jejuni and C. coli varies by host organism, indicating that the contribution to human infection may differ between isolation sources. To address the relative contribution of each source to C.

Three cases of infant botulism were reported in a small Colorado town between 1981 and 1984. The first two cases occurred in 1981, 6 months apart, and the third case occurred in 1984. Clostridium botulinum type A was isolated from stool of all three case patients and from environmental samples of the patient’s homes. An epidemiological investigation and follow-up study were conducted from 1981 to 1986 and concluded the cases were likely related.

In this study, multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli isolates from retail food and humans assigned into similar Multilocus Sequence Types (MLST) were analyzed using whole genome sequencing (WGS). In silico analysis of assembled sequences revealed the existence of multiple resistance genes among the examined E. coli isolates. Of the six CTX-M-producing isolates from retail food, blaCTX-M-14 was the prevalent variant identified (83.3%, 5/6).