Microbial Adhesion to Processing Lines for Fish Fillets and Cooked Shrimp: Influence of Stainless Steel Surface Finish and Presence of Gram-Negative Bacteria on the Attachment of Listeria monocytogenes

Microflora adhering to surfaces of processing lines in a shrimp factory and a fish processing plant was identified in situ and adhesion of mixed culture of Listeria monocytogenes and Gram-negative bacteria on stainless steel surfaces (untreated, polished and glass beaded) was studied ex situ. The predominant genus attached to the surfaces was Pseudomonas spp. (66 %) in the shrimp factory and Enterobacteriaceae (27 %) in the fish factory. Shrimp juice was used as an enrichment broth during the study of adhered bacteria. Three different Gram-negative strains and a mixture of Pseudomonas spp. were selected to study their attachment together with L. monocytogenes to stainless steel surfaces. Highest numbers of the attached bacteria were obtained after the contamination with a mixed culture of L. monocytogenes and Serratia liquefaciens. A lower number of bacteria adhered to stainless steel surfaces when mixed cultures of L. monocytogenes and Pseudomonas fluorescens or Aeromonas spp. were tested. No significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in the bacteria attached to differently treated steel surfaces with different roughness (Ra=0.1–0.8 m). Bacterial adhesion increased with longer contact time. Colonisation of L. monocytogenes on stainless steel surfaces was significantly enhanced only in the presence of mixed Pseudomonas spp. These results indicate that smooth surfaces do not necessarily provide hygiene benefits over rougher surfaces

Isolation, characterization and biotechnological potentials of Thraustochytrids from Icelandic waters

The following study reports on the first thraustochytrid isolates identified from Iceland. They were collected from three different locations off the northern coast of the country (Location A, Skagaströnd; Location B, Hveravík; and Location C, Eyjafjörður). Using 18S rDNA sequence analysis, isolates from Locations A and B were identified within the Thraustochytrium kinnei species while other isolates within the Sicyoidochytrium minutum species when compared to other known strains. Cells isolated from Locations A ( 2.10±0.70 g/L) and B ( 1.54±0.17 g/L) produced more biomass than the ones isolated from Location C ( 0.43±0.02 g/L). This study offers the first-time examination of the utility of byproducts from fisheries as a nitrogen source in media formulation for thraustochytrids. Experiments showed that isolates produced more biomass (per unit of substrate) when cultured on nitrogen of marine ( 2.55±0.74 g/L) as compared to of commercial origin ( 1.06±0.57 g/L). Glycerol ( 2.43±0.56 g/L) was a better carbon source than glucose ( 1.84±0.57 g/L) in growth studies. Fatty acid (FA) profiles showed that the isolates from Location C (S. minutum) had low ratios of monounsaturated ( 4.21±2.96% ) and omega-6 ( 0.68±0.59% ) FAs. However, the isolates also had high ratios of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 35.65±1.73% ) and total omega-3 FAs ( 40.39±2.39% ), indicating that they could serve as a source of marine oils for human consumption and in aquaculture feeds. The T. kinnei isolates from Location A could be used in biodiesel production due to their high ratios of monounsaturated ( 18.38±6.27% ) long chain ( 57.43±8.27% ) FAs.The research reported here was partly funded by the AVS R&D Fund of the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in Iceland, grant number AVS: R 047-10.Peer Reviewe

The essentials of marine biotechnology.

Coastal countries have traditionally relied on the existing marine resources (e.g., fishing, food, transport, recreation, and tourism) as well as tried to support new economic endeavors (ocean energy, desalination for water supply, and seabed mining). Modern societies and lifestyle resulted in an increased demand for dietary diversity, better health and well-being, new biomedicines, natural cosmeceuticals, environmental conservation, and sustainable energy sources. These societal needs stimulated the interest of researchers on the diverse and underexplored marine environments as promising and sustainable sources of biomolecules and biomass, and they are addressed by the emerging field of marine (blue) biotechnology. Blue biotechnology provides opportunities for a wide range of initiatives of commercial interest for the pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetic, nutraceutical, food, feed, agricultural, and related industries. This article synthesizes the essence, opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges encountered in marine biotechnology and outlines the attainment and valorization of directly derived or bio-inspired products from marine organisms. First, the concept of bioeconomy is introduced. Then, the diversity of marine bioresources including an overview of the most prominent marine organisms and their potential for biotechnological uses are described. This is followed by introducing methodologies for exploration of these resources and the main use case scenarios in energy, food and feed, agronomy, bioremediation and climate change, cosmeceuticals, bio-inspired materials, healthcare, and well-being sectors. The key aspects in the fields of legislation and funding are provided, with the emphasis on the importance of communication and stakeholder engagement at all levels of biotechnology development. Finally, vital overarching concepts, such as the quadruple helix and Responsible Research and Innovation principle are highlighted as important to follow within the marine biotechnology field. The authors of this review are collaborating under the European Commission-funded Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Ocean4Biotech – European transdisciplinary networking platform for marine biotechnology and focus the study on the European state of affairs

Leit að samrunagenum í brjóstakrabbameinum sem bera mögnun

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and genomic aberrations are common in the tumors. Amplifications of chromosomes and chromosomal translocations are examples of such aberrations which can affect tumor development by upregulating gene expression and through the formation of fusion genes. The aim of this assignment is to search for fusion genes in breast cancer tumors with emphasis on known amplified regions. Special focus is on the 8p11-12 region which is amplified in 10-15% of all breast cancers and only one gene in the region has been linked to tumor development. To predict possible fusion genes we ran paired-end RNA sequencing data for chosen breast cancer cell lines and breast cancer tumors through SOAPfuse, an algorithm that detects fusion genes. Chosen fusion gene predictions were further analyzed using Sanger sequencing for validation. With these methods we were able to find and verify fusion genes that were previously known in the MCF7 breast cancer cell line. SOAPfuse analysis for the samples revealed fusion genes which were formed due to translocations, chromosomal inversions and deletions. Some of these fusions were recurrent while others were special for each sample. A NOTCH2NL fusion was detected by SOAPfuse in the T-47D breast cancer cell line and in 5/8 ER+ breast cancer tumors. We verified the fusion in T-47D using Sanger sequencing. NOTCH family genes have previously been found in fusion genes which affect tumor development in breast cancers. Other interesting fusion genes await verification and chosen verified fusion genes will be further studied in Icelandic breast cancer tumors.Brjóstakrabbamein er algengasta krabbamein í konum og eru erfðabrenglanir algengar í æxlunum. Magnanir á litningasvæðum og litningayfirfærslur eru dæmi um slíkar brenglanir sem geta leitt til æxlismyndunar vegna yfirtjáningar gena eða myndunar samrunagena. Markmið þessa verkefnis er að leita að samrunagenum í brjóstakrabbameinum með áherslu á þekkt mögnunarsvæði. Sérstök áhersla er á 8p11-12 svæðið en það er magnað i 10-15% brjóstaæxla og aðeins eitt áhrifagen æxlismyndunar hefur verið skilgreint á þessu svæði. Til að finna möguleg samrunagen keyrðum við háhraðaraðgreiningargögn fyrir valin brjóstakrabbameinsæxli og brjóstakrabbameins frumulínur í gegnum SOAPfuse forritið sem finnur (leitar eftir) samrunagenum. Af þessum mögulegu samrunagenum voru nokkur valin til frekari greiningar með Sanger raðgreiningu til að staðfesta að þau væru til staðar. Með þessum aðferðum tókst okkur að finna og staðfesta fyrirfram þekkt samrunagen í MCF7 brjóstakrabbameinsfrumulínunni. Könnun á greiningu úr SOAPfuse leiddi í ljós samrunagen sem hafa orðið til vegna litningayfirfærslu, viðsnúninga litningabúta og samruna litningasvæða á sama litningi. Sum samrunagenin koma fyrir í mörgum sýnum, meðan önnur eru einstök fyrir hvert sýni. NOTCH2NL samruni var fundinn af SOAPfuse í T-47D brjóstakrabbameinsfrumulínunni og í 5/8 ER+ brjóstakrabbameinum. NOTCH2NL samruninn var staðfestur í T-47D með Sanger raðgreiningu. NOTCH genafjölskyldan hefur áður verið fundin í samrunagenum sem hafa áhrif á æxlismyndun í brjóstakrabbameinum. Unnið er að því að staðfesta fleiri áhugaverð samrunagen og fylgt verður eftir völdum staðfestum samrunagenum í íslenskum brjóstaæxlum

Interventions aimed at reducing the risk of acquiring Campylobacter from poultry products

Food safety is one of the main priorities of the Nordic ministers for agriculture, fisheries and food and has been underlined by the ministers Greenland declaration. One of the hazards associated with food consumption is Campylobacter. In many countries the incidence of human campylobacteriosis has increased considerably and even extended salmonellosis in recent years. In some countries this increase has mainly been traced to the consumption and cross contamination from poultry products. Campylobacter has been the topic of several projects under the auspice of the Nordic Council of Ministers. This is the third workshop specifically on Campylobacter. The aim of the workshop presented in this report was to collect information and to exchange views on policies and interventions used in the Nordic countries to reduce the risk of acquiring Campylobacter from poultry products by bringing together experts from all Nordic countries in the field of food borne pathogens, risk analysis and production of poultry products.The expected outcome was comprehensive information on the Campylobacter situation in each of the Nordic countries concerning current or planned interventions and recommendations for future measures at lowering the risk of acquiring campylobacteriosis.The outcome of the workshop could underpin a Nordic position (Nordic arguments) in coming discussions regarding food safety issues in international forums

Development of growth media from agricultural by-products for cultivation of PUFA-producing sicyoidochytrium minutum

Funding Information: This research was funded by: AVS-Fisheries research fund. Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in Iceland. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.The demand for novel sources of marine oils, which contain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), has increased due to the realization of the importance of PUFAs, e.g., docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in the human diet. However, the natural supply is limited. By-product peptones (BYPP) intended as a growth medium for the PUFA-producing strain Sicyoidochytrium minutum of family Thraustochytriaceae were produced after several experiments on the pancreatic digestion of bovine lungs and spleens. S. minutum was able to grow in a medium containing BYPP made from the pancreatic digestion of lung and spleen with glycerol, resulting in 1.14 ± 0.03 g cell dry weight (CDW)/L and 1.44 ± 0.24 g CDW/L, respectively, after 5 days of incubation at 25 °C, compared to 1.92 ± 0.25 g CDW/L in Basal Medium (BM) containing tryptone, peptone, and glycerol. The lipid content, obtained after growth in lung BYPP media with glycerol as a carbon source, was significantly higher (28.17% ± 1.33 of dry weight) than in the control basal medium (BM) (21.72% ± 2.45); however, DHA as a percentage of total fatty acids was lower in BYPP than in the control BM (25.24% ± 1.56 and 33.02% ± 2.37, respectively). It is concluded that low-value by-products from abattoirs can be used as ingredients for the cultivation of oligogenic Thraustochytriaceae.The demand for novel sources of marine oils, which contain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), has increased due to the realization of the importance of PUFAs, e.g., docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in the human diet. However, the natural supply is limited. By-product peptones (BYPP) intended as a growth medium for the PUFA-producing strain Sicyoidochytrium minutum of family Thraustochytriaceae were produced after several experiments on the pancreatic digestion of bovine lungs and spleens. S. minutum was able to grow in a medium containing BYPP made from the pancreatic digestion of lung and spleen with glycerol, resulting in 1.14 ± 0.03 g cell dry weight (CDW)/L and 1.44 ± 0.24 g CDW/L, respectively, after 5 days of incubation at 25◦ C, compared to 1.92 ± 0.25 g CDW/L in Basal Medium (BM) containing tryptone, peptone, and glycerol. The lipid content, obtained after growth in lung BYPP media with glycerol as a carbon source, was significantly higher (28.17% ± 1.33 of dry weight) than in the control basal medium (BM) (21.72% ± 2.45); however, DHA as a percentage of total fatty acids was lower in BYPP than in the control BM (25.24% ± 1.56 and 33.02% ± 2.37, respectively). It is concluded that low-value by-products from abattoirs can be used as ingredients for the cultivation of oligogenic Thraustochytriaceae.Peer reviewe

Contamination of cooked peeled shrimp (Pandalus borealis) by Listeria monocytogenes during processing at two processing plants

To access Publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldListeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes contamination was evaluated in cooked peeled shrimp (final or semifinal product, 82 samples) and the shrimp-processing environment (two plants, 613 samples) in eight surveys conducted from 1998 through 2001. Listeria was detected in 12.5% (78) of the 695 samples (11.2% of the samples were positive for L. monocytogenes), but none of the samples of final product contained Listeria. One hundred seventy-two L. monocytogenes isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Cleavage with macrorestriction enzymes AscI and ApaI yielded 14 different pulsotypes in the plants; two types were dominant, one in each plant. Sixty-three of the 106 isolates in plant A and 43 of the 66 isolates in plant B were of the dominant types. Certain strains, mainly of serotypes 1/2c and 4b and pulsotypes 1A and 2H, were persistent for long periods in both plants. Adaptation of good hygienic practices in the processing plants, including strict rules concerning traffic of staff and equipment, and existing hygienic requirements appeared to be effective in preventing contamination between areas within plants and in the final product. The persistence of Listeria strains in these two processing plants indicates the importance of detecting the places in the processing environment (e.g., transporters, equipment, floors, and drains) where L. monocytogenes can survive so that cleaning and disinfection efforts can be directed to such niches

Contamination of cooked peeled shrimp (Pandalus borealis) by Listeria monocytogenes during processing at two processing plants

To access Publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldListeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes contamination was evaluated in cooked peeled shrimp (final or semifinal product, 82 samples) and the shrimp-processing environment (two plants, 613 samples) in eight surveys conducted from 1998 through 2001. Listeria was detected in 12.5% (78) of the 695 samples (11.2% of the samples were positive for L. monocytogenes), but none of the samples of final product contained Listeria. One hundred seventy-two L. monocytogenes isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Cleavage with macrorestriction enzymes AscI and ApaI yielded 14 different pulsotypes in the plants; two types were dominant, one in each plant. Sixty-three of the 106 isolates in plant A and 43 of the 66 isolates in plant B were of the dominant types. Certain strains, mainly of serotypes 1/2c and 4b and pulsotypes 1A and 2H, were persistent for long periods in both plants. Adaptation of good hygienic practices in the processing plants, including strict rules concerning traffic of staff and equipment, and existing hygienic requirements appeared to be effective in preventing contamination between areas within plants and in the final product. The persistence of Listeria strains in these two processing plants indicates the importance of detecting the places in the processing environment (e.g., transporters, equipment, floors, and drains) where L. monocytogenes can survive so that cleaning and disinfection efforts can be directed to such niches

Promoter sequence and architecture determine expression variability and confer robustness to genetic variants

Genetic and environmental exposures cause variability in gene expression. Although most genes are affected in a population, their effect sizes vary greatly, indicating the existence of regulatory mechanisms that could amplify or attenuate expression variability. Here, we investigate the relationship between the sequence and transcription start site architectures of promoters and their expression variability across human individuals. We find that expression variability can be largely explained by a promoter’s DNA sequence and its binding sites for specific transcription factors. We show that promoter expression variability reflects the biological process of a gene, demonstrating a selective trade-off between stability for metabolic genes and plasticity for responsive genes and those involved in signaling. Promoters with a rigid transcription start site architecture are more prone to have variable expression and to be associated with genetic variants with large effect sizes, while a flexible usage of transcription start sites within a promoter attenuates expression variability and limits genotypic effects. Our work provides insights into the variable nature of responsive genes and reveals a novel mechanism for supplying transcriptional and mutational robustness to essential genes through multiple transcription start site regions within a promoter