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Toxins
Special Issues
Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research
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Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 17296

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alicia Rodríguez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Production and Food Science, Food Quality and Microbiology, University Institute for the Research in Agrifood Resources-INURA, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
Interests: food microbiology and safety; food mycology; foodborne pathogens; mycotoxins; gene expression; molecular ecology and biology; food science and technology; biocontrol and analytical methods; plant pathology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. María G. Córdoba

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Quality and Microbiology, University Institute for the Research in Agrifood Resources-INURA, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
Interests: food safety; food microbiology; toxigenic molds; biocontrol; prevention research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Alberto Martín

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Science and Nutrition Area, University Institute for the Research in Agri-food Resources-INURA, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Interests: food chemnistry; food analysis; bioactive compounds; prebiotic; probiotic; food microbiology and safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The enhancement of food safety and biosecurity by developing new methods for the analysis of toxins and pathogens (bacteria and molds) in foods and new strategies to reduce or eliminate toxin contamination either plant or animal origin commodities is of great importance. This ensures the protection of consumer health and avoidance of economic losses to farmers, manufacturers, and retailers. Both the short-term and sometimes fateful consequences of toxins produced by the growth of foodborne bacterium including Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium botulinum, etc. and the long-term and chronic effects of mycotoxins synthesized by filamentous fungi in foods, create the necessity to design new and effective methods for detection and prevention of such undesirable compounds.

This Special Issue of Toxins looks forward to receiving contributions, either research papers or reviews, about the novel and original foodborne toxin detection methods and studies focused on finding prevention strategies of different types (chemical, physical, or biological).

Dr. Alicia Rodríguez
Prof. Dr. María G. Córdoba
Prof. Dr. Alberto Martín
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Bacterium
  • Molds
  • Toxins
  • Mycotoxins
  • Detection techniques
  • Prevention strategies

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 1005 KiB  
Article
Human Leukemia T-Cell Lines as Alternatives to Animal Use for Detecting Biologically Active Staphylococcal Enterotoxin Type B
by Reuven Rasooly, Paula Do, Xiaohua He and Bradley Hernlem
Toxins 2021, 13(5), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13050300 - 23 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2984
Abstract
Staphylococcal enterotoxin type B (SEB) is associated with food poisoning. Current methods for the detection of biologically active SEB rely upon its ability to cause emesis when administered to live kittens or monkeys. This technique suffers from poor reproducibility and low sensitivity and [...] Read more.
Staphylococcal enterotoxin type B (SEB) is associated with food poisoning. Current methods for the detection of biologically active SEB rely upon its ability to cause emesis when administered to live kittens or monkeys. This technique suffers from poor reproducibility and low sensitivity and is ethically disfavored over concerns for the welfare of laboratory animals. The data presented here show the first successful implementation of an alternative method to live animal testing that utilizes SEB super-antigenic activity to induce cytokine production for specific novel cell-based assays for quantifiable detection of active SEB. Rather than using or sacrificing live animals, we found that SEB can bind to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules on Raji B-cells. We presented this SEB–MHC class II complex to specific Vβ5.3 regions of the human T-cell line HPB-ALL, which led to a dose-dependent secretion of IL-2 that is capable of being quantified and can further detect 10 pg/mL of SEB. This new assay is 100,000 times more sensitive than the ex vivo murine splenocyte method that achieved a detection limit of 1 µg/mL. The data presented here also demonstrate that SEB induced proliferation in a dose-dependent manner for cells obtained by three different selection methods: by splenocyte cells containing 22% of CD4+ T-cells, by CD4+ T-cells enriched to >90% purity by negative selection methods, and by CD4+ T-cells enriched to >95% purity by positive selection methods. The highly enriched and positively isolated CD4+ T-cells with the lowest concentration of antigen-presenting cells (APC) (below 5%) provided higher cell proliferation than the splenocyte cells containing the highest concentration of APC cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research)
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15 pages, 1305 KiB  
Article
Effect of Temperature during Drying and Storage of Dried Figs on Growth, Gene Expression and Aflatoxin Production
by Ana Isabel Galván, Alicia Rodríguez, Alberto Martín, Manuel Joaquín Serradilla, Ana Martínez-Dorado and María de Guía Córdoba
Toxins 2021, 13(2), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13020134 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3247
Abstract
Dried fig is susceptible to infection by Aspergillus flavus, the major producer of the carcinogenic mycotoxins. This fruit may be contaminated by the fungus throughout the entire chain production, especially during natural sun-drying, post-harvest, industrial processing, storage, and fruit retailing. Correct management [...] Read more.
Dried fig is susceptible to infection by Aspergillus flavus, the major producer of the carcinogenic mycotoxins. This fruit may be contaminated by the fungus throughout the entire chain production, especially during natural sun-drying, post-harvest, industrial processing, storage, and fruit retailing. Correct management of such critical stages is necessary to prevent mould growth and mycotoxin accumulation, with temperature being one of the main factors associated with these problems. The effect of different temperatures (5, 16, 25, 30, and 37 °C) related to dried-fig processing on growth, one of the regulatory genes of aflatoxin pathway (aflR) and mycotoxin production by A. flavus, was assessed. Firstly, growth and aflatoxin production of 11 A. flavus strains were checked before selecting two strains (M30 and M144) for in-depth studies. Findings showed that there were enormous differences in aflatoxin amounts and related-gene expression between the two selected strains. Based on the results, mild temperatures, and changes in temperature during drying and storage of dried figs should be avoided. Drying should be conducted at temperatures >30 °C and close to 37 °C, while industry processing, storage, and retailing of dried figs are advisable to perform at refrigeration temperatures (<10 °C) to avoid mycotoxin production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research)
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12 pages, 1248 KiB  
Article
Truncated Expression of a Carboxypeptidase A from Bovine Improves Its Enzymatic Properties and Detoxification Efficiency of Ochratoxin A
by Lu Xiong, Mengxue Peng, Meng Zhao and Zhihong Liang
Toxins 2020, 12(11), 680; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12110680 - 29 Oct 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3188
Abstract
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced mainly by Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus spp. and commonly found in foodstuffs and feedstuffs. Carboxypeptidase A (CPA) can hydrolyze OTA into the non-toxic product ochratoxin α, with great potential to realize industrialized production and [...] Read more.
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic secondary metabolite produced mainly by Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus spp. and commonly found in foodstuffs and feedstuffs. Carboxypeptidase A (CPA) can hydrolyze OTA into the non-toxic product ochratoxin α, with great potential to realize industrialized production and detoxify OTA in contaminated foods and feeds. This study constructed a P. pastoris expression vector of mature CPA (M-CPA) without propeptide and signal peptide. The results showed that the degradation rate of OTA by M-CPA was up to 93.36%. Its optimum pH was 8, the optimum temperature was 40 °C, the value of Km was 0.126 mmol/L, and the maximum reaction rate was 0.0219 mol/min. Compared with commercial CPA (S-CPA), the recombinant M-CPA had an improve stability, for which its optimum temperature increased by 10 °C and stability at a wide range pH, especially at pH 3–4 and pH 11. M-CPA could effectively degrade OTA in red wine. M-CPA has the potential for industrial applications, such as can be used as a detoxification additive for foods and feeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research)
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14 pages, 2290 KiB  
Article
Research on the Mechanism of Action of a Citrinin and Anti-Citrinin Antibody Based on Mimotope X27
by Yanping Li, Yucheng Hu, Zhui Tu, Zhenqiang Ning, Qinghua He and Jinheng Fu
Toxins 2020, 12(10), 655; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12100655 - 13 Oct 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2595
Abstract
Immunoassays are developed based on antigen–antibody interactions. A mimotope is an effective recognition receptor used to study the mechanism of action of antigens and antibodies, and is used for improving the sensitivity of the antibody. In this study, we built a 3D structure [...] Read more.
Immunoassays are developed based on antigen–antibody interactions. A mimotope is an effective recognition receptor used to study the mechanism of action of antigens and antibodies, and is used for improving the sensitivity of the antibody. In this study, we built a 3D structure of the citrinin (CIT) mimotope X27 and anti-CIT single-chain antibody fragment (ScFv) through a “homologous modeling” strategy. Then, CIT and X27 were respectively docked to anti-CIT ScFv by using the “molecular docking” program. Finally, T28, F29, N30, R31, and Y32 were confirmed as the key binding sites in X27. Furthermore, the result of the phage-ELISA showed that the mutational phage lost the binding activity to the anti-CIT ScFv when the five amino acids were mutated to “alanine”, thereby proving the correctness of the molecular docking model. Lastly, a site-directed saturation strategy was adopted for the sites (T28, F29, N30, R31, and Y32). Eighteen different amino acids were introduced to each site on average. The activities of all mutants were identified by indirect competitive ELISA. The sensitivities of mutants T28F, T28I, F29I, F29V, N30T, and N30V were 1.83-, 1.37-, 1.70-, 2.96-, 1.31-, and 2.01-fold higher than that of the wild-type, respectively. In conclusion, the binding model between the CIT and antibody was elaborated for the first time based on the mimotope method, thereby presenting another strategy for improving the sensitivity of citrinin detection in immunoassays. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research)
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Review

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18 pages, 674 KiB  
Review
Genomics of Maize Resistance to Fusarium Ear Rot and Fumonisin Contamination
by Rogelio Santiago, Ana Cao, Rosa Ana Malvar and Ana Butrón
Toxins 2020, 12(7), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12070431 - 30 Jun 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4549
Abstract
Food contamination with mycotoxins is a worldwide concern, because these toxins produced by several fungal species have detrimental effects on animal and/or human health. In maize, fumonisins are among the toxins with the highest threatening potential because they are mainly produced by Fusarium [...] Read more.
Food contamination with mycotoxins is a worldwide concern, because these toxins produced by several fungal species have detrimental effects on animal and/or human health. In maize, fumonisins are among the toxins with the highest threatening potential because they are mainly produced by Fusarium verticillioides, which is distributed worldwide. Plant breeding has emerged as an effective and environmentally safe method to reduce fumonisin levels in maize kernels, but although phenotypic selection has proved effective for improving resistance to fumonisin contamination, further resources should be mobilized to meet farmers’ needs. Selection based on molecular markers linked to quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to fumonisin contamination or/and genotype values obtained using prediction models with markers distributed across the whole genome could speed up breeding progress. Therefore, in the current paper, previously identified genomic regions, genes, and/or pathways implicated in resistance to fumonisin accumulation will be reviewed. Studies done until now have provide many markers to be used by breeders, but to get further insight on plant mechanisms to defend against fungal infection and to limit fumonisin contamination, the genes behind those QTLs should be identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Toxin Detection and Prevention Research)
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