Cloning, sequencing, and identification of Phage 16, an unknown salmonella or EHEC (enterohemorrhagic E. coli) bacteriophage

Bacteriophage are viruses that infect, replicate and kill bacteria. Salmonella and EHEC food poisoning are caused by Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. Bacteriophage can be used to prevent food poisoning by application to food products or processing machinery. Bacteriophage P16 specifically infects Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. We cloned fragments of the P16 genome, sequence the DNA and used bioinformatics to identify P16. Phage P16 is a Salmonella phage similar to Stitch. A phylogenetic tree inferring relationships of P16 and other bacteriophage was created

Cloning and sequencing of the depolymerase-like gene from Bacteriophage J25

Bacteriophage are viruses that infect, replicate and kill bacteria. Salmonella and EHEC food poisoning are caused by Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. Bacteriophage can be used to prevent food poisoning by application to food products or processing machinery. Bacteriophage J25 specifically infects Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. We cloned fragments of the J25 genome, sequence the DNA and used bioinformatics to identify J25. We used genome data from similar bacteriophage in Genbank to design primers to amplify the depolymerase-like gene. We amplified and cloned this gene. When expressed, the gene product will be test with bacteriophage food treatment where it should augment bacteriophage killing

Evaluating the Efficacy of Olive, Apple and Grape Seed Extracts in Reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Contamination on Organic Leafy Greens during the Wash Process

Powdered extracts of apple, olive, and grape seed were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 during processing and subsequent short-term storage of organic leafy greens. The leafy greens tested were, baby spinach, mature bunched spinach, romaine lettuce, and iceberg lettuce. The organic leafy greens were thoroughly washed and inoculated with a three-strain cocktail of E. coli O157:H7 (6 log CFU ml-1). Antimicrobial treatments of the extracts, prepared in phosphate buffered saline, at 1, 3, and 5% concentrations were used to wash contaminated leafy greens which were then stored for 3 days at 4ºC. Surviving E. coli O157:H7 populations were enumerated on days 0, 1, and 3 of storage. Significant reductions (P<0.05) in pathogen populations were observed in all the leafy greens following treatment with the plant extracts. Between 2.9-5.3 log CFUg-1 reductions in E. coli O157:H7 population were observed with all three concentrations (1%, 3% and 5%) of olive extract by day 3, for all the leafy greens. The 5% olive extract treatment reduced the pathogen to undetectable levels by day 0 for romaine lettuce and by day 1 for iceberg lettuce and baby spinach. Apple extract at 5% concentration showed reductions of 3.4 and 3.9 log CFUg-1 in iceberg and romaine lettuce, respectively. The 5% grape seed extract reduced E. coli O157:H7 populations by 4.4 logsCFUg-1 in romaine lettuce. This study demonstrates the potential of olive, apple and grape seed extracts as antimicrobial wash treatments against E. coli O157:H7 during the processing of organic leafy greens