Viability and gene transcription of Campylobacter jejuni in infant milk formulas

This study simulated the contamination of two varieties of infant milk formulas (homemade and commercial) with 103 and 104 CFU/mL of Campylobacter jejuni, that were kept under refrigeration (4-7ºC) for up to 48 hours. The aim of this study was to verify the maintenance of the viability and ability of Campylobacter jejuni to produce transcripts of virulence and resistance to stress conditions during periods of 0 (after preparation), 24 and 48 hours. C. jejuni remained viable during all analyzed stages and the presence of coliforms was not detected. In general, the counts reduced 1 log cycle after 48 hours for all samples, except the 104 CFU/mL inoculum of commercial formula, which reduced 2 log cycles, indicating greater injury of C. jejuni in this food matrix. C. jejuni showed to be more adapted to homemade matrix, due to high transcription of the gene related to cell invasion, ciaB, and more susceptible in the commercial matrix, due to the high transcription  of genes related to conditions of stress tolerance (dnaJ, p19, sodB). The low infective dose of C. jejuni coupled with greater vulnerability of children less than five years indicate the need for care in the preparation and maintenance of infant formulas, to prevent the use of contaminated raw material and cross-contamination, especially in homemade formulations

Replication and effects of M13 phage from the phage display library in broilers

Phage display (PD) is a tool for developing new molecules to control pathogens. Peptides selected by PD are commonly synthesised and tested, but the use of phage M13 displaying the selected peptides as a direct biding in the intestinal tract has not yet been tested. This study evaluated whether phage M13 can remain viable in the chicken gastrointestinal tract and whether it causes injury or humoral immune response. We inoculated phage M13 or E. coli ER2738 (ECR) infected with M13 into birds at different ages. We found the virus in faeces at 5 or 13 days after inoculation, just when it infected the ECR. The presence of phage M13 or ECR did not result in gut injuries and had no impacts on weight gain and bird health. Furthermore, the levels of IgY were similar in all treatments, which indicates that the virus can be used in chicken until 42 days without being recognised by the immune system. This work provides a scientific basis for the use of PD as a tool in numerous applications to control different pathogens.FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas GeraisDissertação (Mestrado)O phage display (PD) é uma tecnologia para seleção de peptídeos miméticos e ligantes com objetivos terapêuticos, vacinais e diagnósticos. Após a seleção via PD, os peptídeos são sequenciados e caracterizados para serem usados de acordo com o objetivo. Nesse trabalho se propõe uma nova abordagem em que o fago M13 apresentando os peptídeos selecionados poderão ser utilizados diretamente como ligante ou mimético em aves. Frangos de corte foram inoculados com o fago M13 e a Escherichia coli E R2738 (ECR) infectada com o fago M13 via oral nas idades de 2, 8 e 15 dias de vida. Nas idades de 7, 14, 21, 28 dias de vida as fezes das aves foram coletadas e o fago M13 foi quantificado. Os fagos foram encontrados nas fezes em todas as idades avaliadas no grupo inoculado apenas com ECR infectada com o fago M13. A presença do fago M13 ou da ECR não resultou em alterações na saúde das aves, alterações macroscópicas no intestino ou outros órgãos ou no ganho de peso das aves. O ensaio de ELISA mostrou que os níveis de IgY foi similar em todos os tratamentos o que indica que o vírus pode ser usado em aves até 42 dias sem uma resposta imune humoral contra o fago. Esse trabalho mostra que quando a ave é inoculada com ECR infectada com o fago M13, o vírus pode replicar no trato intestinal da ave sem alterar a saúde do animal ou estimular a resposta imune humoral. Essa abordagem permite o uso dos fagos da biblioteca do PD expressando peptídeos selecionados para controle de patógenos no trato intestinal das aves

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data