Functional and safety aspects of Enterococci isolated from different Spanish foods

The incidence and diversity of enterococci in retail food samples of meat, dairy and vegetable origin was investigated. Enterococci were present, at concentrations of 10(1) to 10(4) CFU/g. Fifty selected isolates from food samples grouped in two separate clusters by RAPD analysis. Cluster G1 (72% of the isolates) contained the E. faecium CECT 410T type strain, and also showed a high degree of genetic diversity. Cluster G2 (28% of the isolates) contained the E. faecalis CECT 481T type strain and was genetically more homogeneous. Virulence traits (haemolysin, gelatinase or DNAse activities, or the presence of structural genes cylL, ace, asal and esp) were not detected. All isolates were sensitive to the antibiotics ampicillin, penicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin and chloramphenicol. A high pecentage of isolates were resistant to erythromycin and rifampicin. Many isolates showed intermediate sensitivity to several antibiotics (tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, or quinupristin/dalfopristin). Vancomycin and teicoplanin resistance was detected in one strain, but vanA, vanB, vanC1, vanC2 or vanC3 genes were not detected. Many of the isolates showed functional properties of food or health relevance. Production of antimicrobial substances was detected in 17 of the isolates, and 14 of them carried structural genes for enterocins A, B and/or P.     

耐万古霉素肠球菌与定植肠球菌的致病基因检测

目的 通过对耐万古霉素肠球菌（Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci,VRE）及分离非耐万古霉素肠球菌（Vancomycin-sensitive Enterococci,VSE）致病基因的筛查,了解致病基因分布情况,探索肠球菌致病机制,为日后致病机制的研究提供基线资料。方法 收集浙江省人民医院的部分临床患者标本中分离出的VRE,与ICU采集的患者肛周和手臂标本分离的肠球菌属细菌。以PCR方法筛查出ace、asa1、cylA、efaA、esp、gelE和hyl七种致病基因。结果 VRE组esp总体阳性率最高,约占71.4%,其中屎肠球菌中esp最高,约占73.5%,其致病基因携带谱以“esp-hyl”基因组合为主;粪肠球菌全部菌株均携带efaA基因,其致病基因均为三种以上基因组合,以“esp-cylA-gelE-asa1-efaA”多见。VSE组总体阳性率同样esp最高,约占40.0%;其中屎肠球菌以esp、hyl单个基因携带为主;粪肠球菌以“esp-ace-cylA-gelE-asa1-efaA”最多见。结论 两种肠球菌各种致病基因携带率差异较大,两种肠球菌致病机制存在差异,本地区致病基因发挥作用的以esp、hyl为主。     

从微生物指标中看我国肉类食品安全问题及解决措施

本研究从食品微生物指标人手,对我国肉类食品的微生物指标检测情况及其产品质量进行分析,在相关政府部门的有力的监管下,肉类产品质量与安全有了较大幅度提高.最后分析了我国肉类食品行业的现存问题,并提出改进的建议,最后对其发展进行展望.     

Expression of virulence-related genes by Enterococcus faecalis in response to different environments

Enterococci are ubiquitous organisms used to both improve the flavor and texture of fermented foods, and provide protective mechanisms as either a probiotic or antimicrobial additive. However, two species, E. faecalis and E. faecium, are also associated with 10% of nosocomial infections of the bloodstream, wounds, urinary tract and heart. While the genes involved in the pathogenicity of these organisms are slowly identified along with the mechanisms behind their regulation, the environmental signals involved in the conversion to pathogenicity remain unclear. The distribution of virulence genes was determined in 13 E. faecalis isolates from medical, food and animal sources. Regardless of their source of isolation, all isolates harbored between eight and thirteen virulence genes. Relative differences in expression of the virulence associated genes clpP, clpX, gls24, agg, efaA, gelE, and cylBL(L) were examined in E. faecalis TMW 2.63 and TMW 2.622 exposed to different environments (LB, BHI, respective supernatants, pig fecal extract, LB+6.5% NaCl, LB+pH5, LB+6.5% NaCl+pH5, and sausage medium) using RT-PCR and Lightcycler technology. Significant differences in expression were influenced by growth phase, environment, and isolate, which suggests that these three factors be taken into consideration during the selection of enterococci for use in foods or as probiotics rather than their source of isolation or set of virulence genes.     

Genetic diversity and safety aspects of enterococci from slightly fermented sausages

AIMS: To determine the biodiversity of enterococci from slightly fermented sausages (chorizo and fuet) at species and strain level by molecular typing, while considering their safety aspects. METHODS AND RESULTS: Species-specific PCR and partial sequencing of 16S rRNA and sodA genes were used to identify enterococcal population. Enterococcus faecium was the most frequently isolated species followed by E. faecalis, E. hirae and E. durans. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR revealed species-specific clusters and allowed strain typing. Sixty strains of 106 isolates exhibited different RAPD profiles indicating a high genetic variability. All the E. faecalis strains carried virulence genes (efaAfs, esp, agg and gelE) and all E. faecium isolates carried efaAfm gene. Enterococcus faecalis showed higher antibiotic resistance than the other species. Only one E. faecium strain showed vanA genotype (high-level resistance to glycopeptides) and E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus/flavescens isolates showed vanC1 and vanC2/C3 genotypes (low-level resistance only to vancomycin) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: E. faecalis has been mainly associated with virulence factors and antimicrobial multi-resistance and, although potential risk for human health is low, the presence of this species in slightly fermented sausages should be avoided to obtain high quality products. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The enterococcal population of slightly fermented sausages has been thoroughly characterized. Several relevant safety aspects have been revealed.     

正常人肠道肠球菌耐药性与生物膜形成关系的初探

目的了解正常人肠道肠球菌对临床常用抗生素的耐药水平和其生物膜的形成情况,并初步探讨肠球菌的耐药性与其生物膜形成之间的关系。方法用K-B法测定正常人肠道肠球菌对15种抗生素的敏感性,用96孔聚苯乙烯板进行生物膜形成试验。结果生物膜形成阳性菌株对高浓度链霉素、四环素和红霉素的耐药性(耐药率分别为42.9%、90.5%、71.4%)显著高于生物膜形成阴性的菌株(耐药率分别为4.8%、38.1%、42.8%),对其余12种抗生素的耐药性与生物膜形成阴性株差异无统计学意义。结论生物膜形成对肠球菌耐药性增强有一定作用,但还与其本身耐药性和抗生素的性质有关。     

Prevalence, distribution and antibiotic resistance pattern among enterococci species in two traditional fermented dairy foods

The prevalence, distributions and antibiotic resistance pattern among enterococci species were determined. A total of 30 samples of Nigerian traditional fermented dairy food were positive to presence of enterococci, with viable counts of 4.17 log CFU/g in nunu, lower than 4.55 log CFU/g observed in wara samples. Twenty-five representative strains were characterized by a combination of phenotypic and genomic typing based on 16S rRNA gene and multi-locus sequencing analysis (MLSA) of RNA polymerase A (rpoA) and phenylanaline synthase (pheS) genes sequencing; these strains were identified as Enterococcus faecium (84 %) and Enterococcus faecalis (16 %). All the 95 enterococci isolated from wara and nunu samples were alpha haemolytic with multi-drug resistance to 10 antimicrobials regardless of class. Four strains were sensitive to chloramphenicol (30 μg) while 33.7 % of the total isolates were resistant to vancomycin from 5 μg. This information will enhance understanding of Enterococcus drug resistance and distribution in traditional fermented foods to support safety and guarantee quality of traditional foods in West Africa.     

Development of in vitro assays for the detection of botulinum toxins in foods

Currently the only accepted method for the detection of botulinum neurotoxin in contaminated samples is the mouse bioassay. Although highly sensitive this test has a number of drawbacks: it is expensive to perform, lacks specificity and involves the use of animals. With increasing resistance to such animal tests there is a need to replace the bioassay with a reliable in vitro test. Over the past six years it has been demonstrated that all the botulinum neurotoxins act intracellularly as highly specific zinc endoproteases, cleaving proteins involved in the control of secretion of neurotransmitters. In the work described, this enzymatic activity has been utilised in assay formats for the detection in foods of neurotoxin of the serotypes involved in food-borne outbreaks in man. These assays have been shown to have a greater sensitivity, speed and specificity than the mouse bioassay. It is envisaged that such assays will prove realistic alternatives to animal-based tests.     

Probability models to assess the safety of foods with respect toClostridium botulinum

Summary The effectiveness of a preservative system to prevent the growth ofClostridium botulinum can be expressed as the probability (P) that not even a single spore will be able to grow and produce toxin. Commerical canning processes for foods have been based upon this principle since the early 1920s. The safety of many current food marketing concepts depends on product formulation, processing, packaging and distribution variables. Direct measurement ofC. botulinum growth in a food system is difficult. Researchers have relied upon bioassay for botulinum toxin detection and Most Probable Number (MPN) techniques to quantifyC. botulinum growth in experimental food systems. The methods used to estimateP for a single spore to initiate growth will lead to a discussion on the use ofP as a dependent variable in predictive models. Modeling the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic processing variables on food safety will be presented.     

2016年辽宁省婴幼儿配方食品及谷类辅助食品中蜡样芽胞杆菌毒力基因的鉴定

目的 了解婴幼儿配方食品和谷类辅助食品中蜡样芽胞杆菌的毒力基因携带特点,对辽宁省婴幼儿配方食品和谷类辅助食品中蜡样芽胞杆菌的污染状况进行调查。方法 依据GB4789.14‒2014《食品安全国家标准 食品微生物学检验 蜡样芽胞杆菌检验》及采用PCR扩增技术和血平板检测的方法对2016年采自辽宁省15个监测点,收集的176份乳源性食品中检出的22株蜡样芽胞杆菌进行10种毒力基因检测。结果 婴幼儿配方食品和谷类辅助食品蜡样芽胞杆菌检出率为12.5%（22/176）,非溶血性的肠毒素Nhe基因、溶血素BL基因、肠毒素T基因和细胞毒素K基因是辽宁省乳源性蜡样芽胞杆菌的主要毒力基因,至少携带2种毒力基因的菌株达到检出菌总数的100.0%。结论 研究结果证实辽宁省婴幼儿配方食品及谷类辅助食品存在蜡样芽胞杆菌污染情况,严格监控婴幼儿配方食品及谷类辅助食品的蜡样芽胞杆菌污染,对于生产出优质婴幼儿配方食品及谷类辅助食品具有重要意义,以期提高婴幼儿食品的质量安全。     

TEMPO/TVC法与国标方法测定食品中菌落总数的比较研究

【目的】确证TEMPO/TVC计数食品中菌落总数的检测性能。【方法】使用TEMPO/TVC法和国标方法GB4789.2对熟肉制品、方便食品、速冻食品、膨化食品、糖果、糕点、调味品7类食品进行菌落总数测定。【结果】TEMPO/TVC法和国标方法检测食品中菌落总数的检测结果一致性较好(符合率95.4%);且两种方法检测7类食品样品的检测结果P值均大于0.05,无显著性差异。【结论】TEMPO/TVC法具有操作简便、快速、高效和人为误差小的特点,在日常检测中值得推广应用。     

Functional markers in wheat: technical and economic aspects

Speed and cost–effective techniques for evaluation of plant materials to provide information before entering the next cycle of selection are critical for success in plant breeding. Whether or not a ‘new’ technique realizes its potential depends on technical and economic considerations. Biotechnology-based research tools such as doubled haploid technology and molecular markers have already demonstrated their value for application in plant breeding. In the area of genomics, implementation of functional markers (FMs) is currently of particular interest. The pipeline from plant materials to FM data points for any application includes maceration of plant material, DNA isolation and sample preparation. For each step of this pipeline, a number of techniques are available, and no single method is ideally suited for all applications. The challenge is to meet the needs of many different scenarios which are present in a modern breeding programme such as the use of (1) few markers for genotyping hundreds of samples (e.g., marker assisted backcrossing (MAB)), (2) few markers in thousands of samples (e.g., screening for GMO), (3) hundreds to thousands of markers for hundreds to thousands of samples (e.g., genetic characterization of breeding materials (fingerprinting)). This paper compares different techniques for each of the steps from plant material to FM data point, with the main emphasis on SNP detection platforms, assuming that multiple FMs will become available in the near future. We focus on technical and economic aspects and discuss which techniques are most suitable for each of the scenarios using wheat as a model.     

Streptogramin resistance patterns and virulence determinants in vancomycin-susceptible enterococci isolated from multi-component deli salads

Aims: This study examined vancomycin-susceptible Enterococcus (VSE) from deli salads for streptogramin resistance and presence of cpd, agg and gelE genes. Methods and Results: Fifteen VSE from retail salads were isolated for identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing by MicroScan, Etest and agar diffusion. Clinical vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (n = 32) and animal VSE (n = 17) were included for comparative purposes. Multiplex PCR was used to detect the following genes: agg, gelE, cpd, vatD, vatE and sodA. Results showed fewer streptogramin-susceptible Enterococcus faecium isolated from salad (1/6, 17%) and animals (6/10, 60%) than from clinical (26/29, 90%) sources. A low level of erythromycin susceptibility was detected among salad (2/6, 33%) and animal (3/10, 30%) Ent. faecium isolates. Food and animal VSE demonstrated similarities in antimicrobial resistance profiles. All Enterococcus faecalis carried one or more of the selected genes cpd (40%), gelE (33%) and agg (27%). The vatD or vatE genes were not detected in any of the isolates. Conclusions: Experiments demonstrated that streptogramin resistance and virulence genes agg, cpd and gelE are present in enterococci isolated from deli salads. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study provides useful information regarding streptogramin resistance and virulence determinants in enterococci from foods associated with multi-component ingredients.     

Functional bacterial cultures for dairy applications: Towards improving safety,quality, nutritional and health benefit aspects

Traditionally, fermentation was used to preserve the shelf life of food. Currently, in addition to favouring food preservation, well standardized and controlled industrial processes are also aimed at improving the functional characteristics of the final product. In this regard, starter cultures have become an essential cornerstone of food production. The selection of robust microorganisms, well adapted to the food environment, has been followed by the development of microbial consortia that provide some functional characteristics, beyond their acidifying capacity, achieving safer, high-quality foods with improved nutritional and health-promoting properties. In addition to starters, adjunct cultures and probiotics, which normally do not have a relevant role in fermentation, are added to the food in order to provide some beneficial characteristics. This review focuses on highlighting the functional characteristics of food starters, as well as adjunct and probiotic cultures (mainly lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria), with a specific focus on the synthesis of metabolites for preservation and safety aspects (e.g. bacteriocins), organoleptic properties (e.g. exopolysaccharides), nutritional (e.g. vitamins) and health improvement (e.g. neuroactive molecules). Literature reporting the application of these functional cultures in the manufacture of foods, mainly those related to dairy production, such as cheeses and fermented milks, has also been updated.     

Functional and aggregative response of North Sea whiting

The functional response of whiting (Merlangius merlangus L.) to clupeid and gadoid prey was determined from estimates of food intake and prey density at five locations in the North Sea. The intake of most prey types was well described by a type II (decelerating) response, although in some cases a type III (sigmoid) response provided a slightly better fit. Though a saturation level was reached for all types of fish prey, none of the levels corresponded to the maximum digestive capacity of the predator. This was not caused by ingestion of other prey as the amount of other food and fish prey ingested were not negatively correlated. An investigation of the occurrence of fresh fish in the stomachs revealed that fish was ingested almost exclusively during dawn and dusk and the lack of negative correlation between the intake of fish and other prey may thus be a result of the limited time in which fish prey was vulnerable to predation. No aggregative response of the predators was detected towards any of the prey and catches of prey and predators were slightly negatively correlated. There was evidence of an increase in mortality with density at low clupeid densities, but mortality decreased to virtually zero at high densities. Whiting seem therefore unlikely to impose a regulatory effect on their fish prey outside a narrow range of prey densities.     

Evaluation of different PCR-based approaches for the identification and typing of environmental enterococci

The aim of the work was the evaluation of different PCR-based methods to found an appropriate identification and typing strategy for environmental enterococci. Environmental enterococci were isolated mainly from surface- and waste-waters. Species identification was provided by combination of phenotypic (Micronaut System, Merlin) and molecular detection methods (fluorescent ITS-PCR, ddl-PCR, REP-PCR, AFLP). Very similar results were observed among molecular methods, however several discrepancies were recognized during comparison of molecular and biochemical identification. Seven enterococcal species (E. faecium, E. hirae, E. casseliflavus, E. mundtii, E. faecalis, E. durans and E. gallinarum) were identified within 166 environmental isolates. The results obtained in this work attest the importance of PCR-based methods for identification and typing of environmental enterococci. The fluorescent ITS-PCR (fITS-PCR) showed the best results in order to identify the enterococci strains, the method used the automated capillary electrophoresis to separate the PCR products in a very rapid and precise way. The AFLP method was suitable to identify and characterize the isolates, while the REP-PCR can be used for species identification.     

医院防护用手术服的结构与功能设计

手术服的结构与功能设计决定了手术服的防护性和舒适性。本文基于穿着者在生理与心理上对手术服防护和舒适性的设计要求,从手术服设计要求、手术服结构设计(手术服材料选择、手术服总体结构设计、衣身设计、领口设计、衣袖和袖口设计、手术服缝合结构设计、色彩设计)、手术服尺寸规格等方面作了较全面深入的分析,可为手术服性能的进一步研究提供参考。     

噬菌体在食品安全中的应用和潜在风险

近年来,经食品传播的感染性疾病时有发生,有的国家甚至有增多趋势。噬菌体在早期被用来治疗细菌性疾病,现在人们已经意识到噬菌体在食品工业上的应用前景也非常广阔。已经有人提出把它作为食品添加剂使用以杀灭食源性致病菌。而噬菌体本身的特性也确实说明,噬菌体是保障食品安全的理想工具。因为噬菌体不仅安全可靠,而且有严格的宿主特异性,在杀灭食源性致病菌的同时不会杀死生产中的发酵菌株。噬菌体可以用在食品生产中的各个环节以杀灭或抑制病原菌,比如原料采集、生产、储藏等环节。探讨噬菌体杀灭食源性致病菌的应用前景和潜在风险。     

Anomalies in species identification of enterococci from veterinary sources using a commercial biochemical identification system

AIMS: A commercial biochemical panel ID kit was used to identify presumptive enterococci isolates of veterinary or agricultural origin obtained during different steps of culture. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty isolates identified as enterococci using a genus PCR assay were tested for genus and species identification using the BBL Crystal Identification Gram-Positive ID kit (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD, USA). Following sub-culture of the isolates three times, 59% agreement with the original panel ID was obtained. After four and six sub-cultures, percentage agreement increased to 61 and 64%, respectively. Nineteen of the 50 cultures were identified as both Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium. CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the variability between speciation of isolates following re-culture, additional methods for speciation are warranted. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study suggests that the identification of the genus and species of non-human enterococcal isolates can vary greatly during successive passages when using this kit.