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Pathogens
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Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens
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Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 21561

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mohamed K. Fakhr

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Science, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
Interests: molecular microbiology of foodborne bacterial pathogens; molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial and heavy metals resistance; molecular characterization of bacterial plasmids; bacterial genomics and transcriptomics; secondary metabolites and diversity of actinomycetes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Foodborne pathogens continue to cause illnesses and/or intoxications all over the world. Meat and dairy products are often contaminated with bacterial foodborne pathogens. In recent years, fresh produce became an additional source of these foodborne pathogens and a risk factor for consumers. Source tracking of foodborne pathogens using molecular typing methods such as Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST), and other techniques is becoming a routine practice at times of outbreaks. With the recent advances in Next Generation Sequencing, Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is becoming one of the excellent tools to investigate not only the detection but also the pathogenesis of foodborne pathogens. This special issue aims to focus on the latest research related to the molecular microbiology of foodborne pathogens including their detection, molecular typing, antimicrobial resistance, ecology, and pathogenesis. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  1. Detection, prevalence, and diversity of foodborne pathogens.
  2. Prevalence, management, and molecular basis of multidrug resistance in foodborne pathogens.
  3. Molecular typing and source tracking of foodborne pathogens.
  4. Microbiology and microbial food safety of retail meats, dairy products, seafood, and fresh produce.
  5. Ecology of foodborne pathogens.
  6. Genomic and transcriptomic studies related to the characterization of the virulence and/or survival mechanisms of foodborne pathogens.

Dr. Mohamed K. Fakhr
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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14 pages, 1413 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial Resistance, Genetic Diversity and Multilocus Sequence Typing of Escherichia coli from Humans, Retail Chicken and Ground Beef in Egypt
by Hazem Ramadan, Charlene R. Jackson, Jonathan G. Frye, Lari M. Hiott, Mohamed Samir, Amal Awad and Tiffanie A. Woodley
Pathogens 2020, 9(5), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9050357 - 8 May 2020
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 5928
Abstract
Contamination of retail foods with foodborne pathogens, particularly the antimicrobial resistant ones, poses a persistent threat to human health. There is a dearth of information about the overlapping Escherichia coli (E. coli) lineages circulating among retail foods and humans in Egypt. [...] Read more.
Contamination of retail foods with foodborne pathogens, particularly the antimicrobial resistant ones, poses a persistent threat to human health. There is a dearth of information about the overlapping Escherichia coli (E. coli) lineages circulating among retail foods and humans in Egypt. This study aimed to determine the clonal diversity of 120 E. coli isolates from diarrheic patients (n = 32), retail chicken carcasses (n = 61) and ground beef (n = 27) from Mansoura, Egypt using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Simpson’s index of diversity was calculated to compare the results of both typing methods. Antimicrobial resistance phenotypes, genotypes and phylogrouping of the isolates were also determined. Higher frequencies of antimicrobial resistance were found among chicken isolates compared to beef and human isolates; regardless of isolate source, the predominant antimicrobial resistances were found against ampicillin (87/120, 72.5%), tetracycline and sulfisoxazole (82/120, 68.3%, each), and streptomycin (79/120, 65.8%). None of the isolates displayed resistance to meropenem. The prevalent genes detected were tetA (64.2%), blaTEM (62.5%), sul1 (56.7%), floR (53.3%), sul2 (50%), strB (48.3%) and strA (47.5%) corresponding with resistance phenotypes. Alarmingly, blaCTX was detected in 63.9% (39/61) of chicken isolates. The majority of E. coli isolates from humans (90.6%), beef (81.5%) and chicken (70.5%) belonged to commensal phylogroups (A, B1, C). Using PFGE analysis, 16 out of 24 clusters (66.7%) contained isolates from different sources at a similarity level ≥75%. MLST results assigned E. coli isolates into 25, 19 and 13 sequence types (STs) from chicken, human and beef isolates, respectively. Six shared STs were identified including ST1011, ST156, ST48, ST224 (chicken and beef), ST10 (human and chicken) and ST226 (human and beef). Simpson’s index of diversity was higher for MLST (0.98) than PFGE (0.94). In conclusion, the existence of common genetic determinants among isolates from retail foods and humans in Egypt as well as the circulation of shared STs indicates a possible epidemiological link with potential zoonotic hazards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens)
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13 pages, 3943 KiB  
Article
A GntR Family Transcription Factor (VPA1701) for Swarming Motility and Colonization of Vibrio parahaemolyticus
by Dan Gu, Hongmei Meng, Yang Li, Haojie Ge and Xinan Jiao
Pathogens 2019, 8(4), 235; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8040235 - 13 Nov 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4137
Abstract
Motility is important for virulence, biofilm formation, and the environmental adaptation of many bacteria. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) contains two flagellar systems that are responsible for motility, and are tightly regulated by transcription regulators and sigma factors. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Motility is important for virulence, biofilm formation, and the environmental adaptation of many bacteria. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) contains two flagellar systems that are responsible for motility, and are tightly regulated by transcription regulators and sigma factors. In this study, we identified a novel transcription factor, VPA1701, which regulates the swarming motility of V. parahaemolyticus. The VPA1701 deletion mutant (ΔVPA1701) eliminated the swarming motility on the surface of BHI agar plates and reduced colonization in infant rabbits. RNA-seq assays, confirmed by qRT-PCR, indicated that VPA1701 regulated the expression of lateral flagellar cluster genes. Further analyses revealed that VPA1701 directly binds to the promoter region of the flgBCDEFGHIJKL cluster to regulate the expression of lateral flagellar genes. CalR was originally identified as a repressor for the swarming motility of V. parahaemolyticus, and it was inhibited by calcium. In this study, we found that VPA1701 could inhibit the expression of the calR gene to increase the swarming motility of V. parahaemolyticus. Calcium downregulated the expression of calR, indicating that calcium could increase swarming motility of ΔVPA1701 by inhibiting calR. Thus, this study illustrates how the transcription factor VPA1701 regulates the expression of lateral flagellar genes and calR to control the swarming motility of V. parahaemolyticus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens)
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10 pages, 857 KiB  
Article
Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Diversity of Salmonella along the Pig Production Chain in Southern Brazil
by Luciano dos Santos Bersot, Valéria Quintana Cavicchioli, Cibeli Viana, Raquel Cristina Konrad Burin, Anderson Carlos Camargo, José Paes de Almeida Nogueira Pinto, Luís Augusto Nero and Maria Teresa Destro
Pathogens 2019, 8(4), 204; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8040204 - 24 Oct 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3760
Abstract
Control of Salmonella spp. in food production chains is very important to ensure safe foods and minimize the risks of foodborne disease occurrence. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and main contamination sources of Salmonella spp. in a pig production chain in [...] Read more.
Control of Salmonella spp. in food production chains is very important to ensure safe foods and minimize the risks of foodborne disease occurrence. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and main contamination sources of Salmonella spp. in a pig production chain in southern Brazil. Six lots of piglets produced at different farms were tracked until their slaughter, and samples were subjected to Salmonella spp. detection. The obtained isolates were serotyped, subjected to antimicrobial resistance testing, and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Salmonella spp. was detected in 160 (10.2%) samples, and not detected in pig carcasses after final washing or chilling. Among the 210 Salmonella spp. isolates, S. Typhimurium was the most prevalent (n = 101) and resistant to at least one antimicrobial. High resistance rates were detected against tetracycline (83.8%), chloramphenicol (54.3%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (33.3%). The isolates that were non-susceptible to three or more classes of antimicrobials (n = 60) were considered multidrug-resistant (MDR), and isolates resistant to up to six of the tested antimicrobials were found. PFGE allowed the identification of genetic diversity and demonstrated that farm environment and feed supply may be sources for the dissemination of Salmonella spp. along the production chain. The results revealed the sources of Salmonella contamination in the pig production chain and highlighted the risks of antimicrobial resistance spread. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens)
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12 pages, 914 KiB  
Article
Dual Transcriptional Profile of Aspergillus flavus during Co-Culture with Listeria monocytogenes and Aflatoxin B1 Production: A Pathogen–Pathogen Interaction
by Iliada K. Lappa, Angeliki Maria Dionysopoulou, Spiros Paramithiotis, Maria Georgiadou and Eleftherios H. Drosinos
Pathogens 2019, 8(4), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8040198 - 20 Oct 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3355
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of growth temperature and co-culture of Aspergillus flavus with Listeria monocytogenes on the production of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and the transcriptional profile of associated regulatory and biosynthetic genes. The transcription of virulence- and [...] Read more.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of growth temperature and co-culture of Aspergillus flavus with Listeria monocytogenes on the production of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and the transcriptional profile of associated regulatory and biosynthetic genes. The transcription of virulence- and homeostasis-associated genes of L. monocytogenes was also assessed. For this purpose, mono- and co-cultures of L. monocytogenes strain LQC 15257 and A. flavus strain 18.4 were inoculated into Malt Extract broth and allowed to grow for seven days at 25 °C and 30 °C. AFB1 quantification was performed by HPLC analysis and gene expression assessment by RT-qPCR. AFB1 production was lower at 30 °C compared to 25 °C during monoculture and also lower during co-cultures at both temperatures. This was accompanied by downregulation of aflM, aflR, aflP, and aflS during monoculture and aflM and aflS during co-culture at 30 °C. On the other hand, transcription of prfA, plcA, plcB, inlA, inlB, inlJ, murE, accA, acpP, as well as fapR, was not affected. sigB gene was downregulated after co-culture with the fungus at 25 °C and hly was downregulated after monoculture at 30 °C compared to 25 °C. In this work, the molecular interactions between A. flavus and L. monocytogenes were studied for the first time, offering a novel insight into their co-occurrence. Monitoring of their toxigenic and virulence potential at the molecular level revealed a complex dynamic in natural ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens)
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16 pages, 1834 KiB  
Article
Retrospective Study of Listeria monocytogenes Isolated in the Territory of Inner Eurasia from 1947 to 1999
by Ekaterina K. Psareva, Irina Yu. Egorova, Elena A. Liskova, Irina V. Razheva, Nadezda A. Gladkova, Elena V. Sokolova, Eugene A. Potemkin, Pavel A. Zhurilov, Tatyana V. Mikhaleva, Andrei A. Blokhin, Yaroslava M. Chalenko, Denis V. Kolbasov and Svetlana A. Ermolaeva
Pathogens 2019, 8(4), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens8040184 - 11 Oct 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3791
Abstract
Listeriosis is one of the most significant humans and animals foodborne infectious diseases. Here, we characterized 48 Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated in the territory of inner Eurasia during the second half of the 20th century. A total of 23 strains (52.3%) were susceptible [...] Read more.
Listeriosis is one of the most significant humans and animals foodborne infectious diseases. Here, we characterized 48 Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated in the territory of inner Eurasia during the second half of the 20th century. A total of 23 strains (52.3%) were susceptible to the nine antibiotics tested, 30.43%, 15.22%, and 8.7% were resistant penicillin G, ampicillin, and enrofloxacin, respectively. We applied the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme to determine the phylogenetic positions of the strains. All but one strain belonged to the II phylogenetic lineage, and the majority of the strains belonged to one of the previously described clonal complexes (CCs). More than 60% of the strains belonged to the clonal complex CC7 that prevailed among all sources, including cattle (58%), small ruminants (64%), rodents (71%), and humans (50%). Further, CC7, CC101, and CC124 were found among human isolates. The MLST scheme was supplemented with virulence gene analysis. In total, eight inlA, six inlB, and six inlC allelic variants were found, and all but one strain carried one of the two inlE alleles. Most strains (62.5%) belonged to the same multivirulence locus sequence typing (MvLST) type, which includes CC7, inlA allele 4, inlB allele 14, inlC allele 6, and inlE allele 8. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Microbiology of Foodborne Pathogens)
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