Research Publications (Food Safety)

Many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with industry cause adverse health effects, but less is known about the physiological effects of biologically produced volatiles. This review focuses on the VOCs emitted by fungi, which often have characteristic moldy or “mushroomy” odors. One of the most common fungal VOCs, 1-octen-3-ol, is a semiochemical for many arthropod species and also serves as a developmental hormone for several fungal groups.

L. Byrne et al. Signs and symptoms of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroup O157:H7 infection range from mild gastrointestinal to bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). We assessed the association between Shiga toxin gene (stx) subtype and disease severity for »3,000 patients with STEC O157:H7 in England during 2009–2019.

Author(s): Xingning Xiao, Wen Wang, Jianmin Zhang, Ming Liao, Chase Rainwater, Hua Yang, Yanbin Li

Author(s): Yeben Ma, Xuebin Xu, Yuan Gao, Zeqiang Zhan, Chenggang Xu, Xiaoyun Qu, Zhengquan Chen, Jie Bai, Ming Liao, Jianmin Zhang

Author(s): Aleksandra Duda-Chodak, Marcin Lukasiewicz, Gabriela Zięć, Adam Florkiewicz, Agnieszka Filipiak-Florkiewicz

COVID-19 is a pandemic disease that has paralyzed social life and the economy around the world since the end of 2019, and which has so far killed nearly 300,000 people. The rapidity of its spread and the lack of detailed research on the course and methods of transmission significantly impede both its eradication and prevention.

Author(s): Nail Altunay, Konstantin P. Katin, Nevcihan Gürsoy, Adil Elik, Selçuk Şimşek, Savaş Kaya

Author(s): Yinjie Niu, Baihan Liu, Chang Sun, Lili Zhao, Hongyan Chen

Author(s): Bihong He, Wei Wang, Rongyue Geng, Zhe Ding, Dongxia Luo, Junli Qiu, Guodong Zheng, Qiaohui Fan

Author(s): Xianlei Jiang, Xupeng Xing, Yingbing Zhang, Chengtu Zhang, Ying Wu, Yongzhong Chen, Ru Meng, Huiqun Jia, Yuyao Cheng, Yong Zhang, Jianmin Su

In view of the potential harm caused by illegal feeding of clenbuterol (CLB) in the livestock industry, herein, a novel ratiometric fluorescent probe based on graphene quantum dots (GQDs)@[Ru(bpy)3]2+ was elaborately constructed for CLB detection. In this probe, GQDs acted as response signals, and their fluorescence was remarkably quenched by CLB through the diazotization-coupling reaction. As for [Ru(bpy)3]2+ as a reference signal, its fluorescence was hardly affected.

In the food supply chain, quality control has a very important role in maintaining customer confidence. In the EU, food safety aspects are strictly regulated; however, composition requirements and standard control methods are generally undefined. The rapidly increasing wild boar population has a growing market share in venison or game meat production.

Gibberella ear rot (GER) caused by Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph Gibberella zeae), is one of the most devastating diseases in maize that not only severely reduces grain yield but also contaminates the kernels with potent mycotoxins which is harmful to livestock and humans. Identification of stable quantitative trait loci (QTL) and candidate genes conferring resistance is a promising strategy in resistance breeding programs for the disease.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of sodium sulfite (SoS) treatment of maize and its impact on the porcine immune system in the presence of an LPS-induced systemic inflammation.

Multilamellar bodies (MLBs), structures composed of concentric membrane layers, are known to be produced by different protozoa, including species of ciliates, free-living amoebae, and Dictyostelium discoideum social amoebae. Initially believed to be metabolic waste, potential roles like cell communication and food storage have been suggested for D. discoideum MLBs, which could be useful for the multicellular development of social amoebae and as a food source.

The feed supplementation of probiotic microorganisms is a promising method for detoxification of ochratoxin A (OTA) in poultry. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of newly elaborated synbiotics on the turkey performance, the intestinal microbiota and its enzymatic activity in turkeys (0–15 weeks) fed OTA contaminated feed (198.6–462.0 µg/kg) compared to control group (OTA-free feed).

Background Soybean meal (SBM) is the most common protein source used in the poultry and livestock industries. It has high‐quality protein, an excellent amino acid (AA) profile, and positive isoflavone properties. However, the antigen proteins in SBM are unsuitable for young animals. The objective of this study was to identify a Bacillus strain that can degrade soybean antigen proteins and evaluate the feasibility of its application in SBM fermentation.

Aeromonas hydrophila is an aquatic pathogen of freshwater fish. The emergence of widespread antimicrobial-resistance strains of this pathogen has caused increasing rates of fish infections. Our previous research reported that A. hydrophila yeeY, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator (LTTR), negatively regulated furazolidone (FZ) resistance. Although, it’s intrinsic regulatory mechanism is still unclear.

It has been previously shown that RskA, the anti-Sigma factor K of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, inhibits SigK and that mutations in RskA promote high expression of the SigK regulon. The latter observation led us to hypothesize that RskA mutations lead to loss of the anti-Sigma factor function. In this report, we used natural and artificial mutations in RskA to determine the basis of the SigK-RskA partnership.

Genomic reassortment of segmented RNA virus strains is an important evolutionary mechanism that can generate novel viruses with profound effects on human and animal health, such as the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009 arising from reassortment of two swine influenza viruses. Reassortment is not restricted to influenza virus and has been shown to occur in members of the order Bunyavirales.

The food-borne pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) causes self-limiting gastroenteritis in humans and is not easily eradicated because it often attaches to suitable surfaces to form biofilms that have high resistance to disinfectants and antimicrobials. To develop an alternative strategy for the treatment of biofilms, it is necessary to further explore the effects of flagellar motility on the development process of Salmonella biofilms.

Chelator-assisted phytoremediation is an economical, sustainable, and ecologically friendly method of extracting heavy metals and metalloids from the soil. Organic chelators are thought to enhance metal availability and mobility in contaminated media, thereby improving phytoextraction. The aim of the present study was to examine whether exogenous application of glutamic acid (GA) could improve chromium (Cr) phytoextraction by sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus L.).

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Pathogenic Vibrios use many different approaches to subvert, attack, and undermine the host response. The toxins they produce are often responsible for the devastating effects associated with their diseases. These toxins target a variety of host proteins, which leads to deleterious effects including dissolution of cell organelle integrity and inhibition of protein secretion. Becoming increasingly prevalent as co-factors for Vibrio toxins are proteins of the small GTPase families.

YggS (COG0325) is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-binding protein proposed to be involved in homeostasis of B6 vitamers. In Salmonella enterica, lack of yggS resulted in phenotypes that were distinct, and others that were similar, to those of a yggS mutant of Escherichia coli. Like other organisms, yggS mutants of S. enterica accumulate endogenous pyridoxine 5'-phosphate (PNP). Data herein show that strains lacking YggS accumulated ~10-fold more PLP in growth medium than a parental strain.