Genomics and microscopic assessment of collective biofilm dynamics in meat processing facilities for prevention of foodborne pathogen dispersal

The overall objective is to disentangle the complex interactions between the foodborne pathogens and environmental multispecies biofilms in response to their abiotic surrounding and commonly used sanitizers and determine the patterns of pathogen dissemination to the food products.Specific aims:Compare and characterize diversity, stability and resilience of food pathogen and drain mixed-species biofilm in response to commonly used meat processing sanitizers.Determine the impact of spatial organization and location of food-pathogens within the multispecies biofilm impacts sanitizer tolerance.Evaluate the biophysical factors that govern biofilm detachment and dispersal, natively in the food processing facility and reconstituted in microfluidics.The holistic understanding of food-borne pathogen dispersal processes from hotspots in food processing facilities and their underlying microbiological mechanisms is highly significant, as it will lead to powerful new approaches that will reduce the contamination of food with pathogens.