Effects of Intensive Agricultural Management Practices on Soil Microbial Assembly and Recruitment

Soil microbial communities play an important role in ecosystems in various ways to promote healthy and fertile soil. However, intensive agricultural practices with excessive tillage and fertilizer applications can affect the abundance and community structure of microbial communities in soil as well as their assembly and recruitment by plant roots. Using amplicon sequencing and microscopy, we have examined bacterial and fungal communities under different tillage and fertilizer treatments in a 34-year-old field-trial at the Carrington Research Extension Center of NDSU. We observed that fertilizer application has a significantly stronger effect than tillage on soil properties, as well as the overall soil microbial abundance and community structure. Significantly higher mycorrhizal colonization was found under organic manure application. Overall, the results of this study can improve our understanding of the effects of fertilizer application on soil microbial communities and how management practices can be optimized to reduce the imprints of intensive agriculture

The speciation and genotyping of Cronobacter isolates from hospitalised patients

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised all Cronobacter species as human pathogens. Among premature neonates and immunocompromised infants, these infections can be life-threatening, with clinical presentations of septicaemia, meningitis and necrotising enterocolitis. The neurological sequelae can be permanent and the mortality rate as high as 40 – 80 %. Despite the highlighted issues of neonatal infections, the majority of Cronobacter infections are in the elderly population suffering from serious underlying disease or malignancy and include wound and urinary tract infections, osteomyelitis, bacteraemia and septicaemia. However, no age profiling studies have speciated or genotyped the Cronobacter isolates. A clinical collection of 51 Cronobacter strains from two hospitals were speciated and genotyped using 7-loci multilocus sequence typing (MLST), rpoB gene sequence analysis, O-antigen typing and pulsed- field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The isolates were predominated by C. sakazakii sequence type 4 (63 %, 32/51) and C. malonaticus sequence type 7 (33 %, 17/51). These had been isolated from throat and sputum samples of all age groups, as well as recal and faecal swabs. There was no apparent relatedness between the age of the patient and the Cronobacter species isolated. Despite the high clonality of Cronobacter , PFGE profiles differentiated strains across the sequence types into 15 pulsotypes. There was almost complete agreement between O-antigen typing and rpoB gene sequence analysis and MLST profiling. This study shows the value of applying MLST to bacterial population studies with strains from two patient cohorts, combined with PFGE for further discrimination of strains

Estimation of the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease using a capture– recapture model based on two independent surveillance systems in Catalonia, Spain

Microbiologia de diagnòstic; Epidemiologia; Control d'infecció; Diagnòstic molecularMicrobiología de diagnóstico; Epidemiología; Control de infección; Diagnóstico molecularDiagnostic microbiology; Epidemiology; Infection control; Molecular diagnosticsObjectives: Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is an urgent notifiable disease and its early notification is essential to prevent cases. The objective of the study was to assess the sensitivity of two independent surveillance systems and to estimate the incidence of IMD. Design: We used capture-recapture model based on two independent surveillance systems, the statutory disease reporting (SDR) system and the microbiological reporting system (MRS) of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, between 2011 and 2015. The capture-recapture analysis and 95% CIs were calculated using the Chapman formula. Multivariate vector generalised linear model was performed for adjusted estimation. Measures: The variables collected were age, sex, year of report, size of municipality (<10 000 and ≥10 000), clinical form, death, serogroup, country of birth and type of reporting centre (private and public). Results: The sensitivity of the two combined surveillance systems was 88.5% (85.0-92.0). SDR had greater sensitivity than the MRS (67.9%; 62.7-73.1 vs 64.7%; 59.4-70.0). In 2014-2015, the sensitivity of both systems was higher (80.6%; 73.2-87.9 vs 73.4%; 65.2-81.6) than in 2011-2013 (59.3%; 52.6-66.0 vs 58.3%; 51.6-65.1). In private centres, the sensitivity was higher for SDR than for MRS (100%; 100-100 vs 4.8%; -4.4-13.9). The adjusted estimate of IMD cases was lower than that obtained using the Chapman formula (279; 266-296 vs 313; 295-330). The estimated adjusted incidence of IMD was 0.7/100 000 persons-year. Conclusions: The sensitivity of enhanced surveillance through the combination of two complementary sources was higher than for the sources individually. Factors associated with under-reporting in different systems should be analysed to improve IMD surveillance.This work was supported partially by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Carlos III Health Institute and the Catalan Agency for the Management of Grants for University Research (AGAUR grant number 2017/SGR 1342). The funding sources played no part in the design of the study and collection, analysis and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript

Campylobacter infection of broiler chickens in a free-range environment

Campylobacter jejuni is the most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, with contaminated chicken meat considered to represent a major source of human infection. Biosecurity measures can reduce C. jejuni shedding rates of housed chickens, but the increasing popularity of free-range and organic meat raises the question of whether the welfare benefits of extensive production are compatible with food safety. The widespread assumption that the free-range environment contaminates extensively reared chickens has not been rigorously tested. A year-long survey of 64 free-range broiler flocks reared on two sites in Oxfordshire, UK, combining high-resolution genotyping with behavioural and environmental observations revealed: (i) no evidence of colonization of succeeding flocks by the C. jejuni genotypes shed by preceding flocks, (ii) a high degree of similarity between C. jejuni genotypes from both farm sites, (iii) no association of ranging behaviour with likelihood of Campylobacter shedding, and (iv) higher genetic differentiation between C. jejuni populations from chickens and wild birds on the same farm than between the chicken samples, human disease isolates from the same region and national samples of C. jejuni from chicken meat

Effect of cut-type on quality of minimally processed papaya

BACKGROUND: This research was undertaken to study the effects of different cut-types (cube, parallelepiped, cylinder and sphere) on the quality and shelf-life of papaya cv. Sunrise Solo. Physicochemical analyses were carried out during 10 days of storage at 4 ◦C to determine colour, firmness, pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, weight loss and vitamin C content. Microbiological analysis and sensory evaluation were also performed. RESULTS: Papaya spheres (1.55cm radius) presented the most favourable physicochemical and microbiological properties (smaller changes in colour parameters L∗, a∗, b∗, chroma and hue angle, firmer texture, lower increase in pH, higher titratable acidity, almost constant total soluble solids, reduced weight loss, high vitamin C content and lower microbial loads) and sensory characteristics on day 10, while papaya cubes (1.4cm side) proved to be the least acceptable. CONCLUSION: The results of physicochemical,microbiological and sensory analyses performed on different cuttypes of papaya indicated acceptable fresh-cut produce during 10 days of storage at 4 ◦C. The potential shelf-life at 4 ◦C is therefore 10 days, provided that no contamination occurs in the postharvest period and during minimal processing operations

Development of a novel smoke-flavoured salmon product by sodium replacement using water vapour permeable bags

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Rizo Parraga, Arancha Maria, Fuentes López, Ana, Barat Baviera, José Manuel, Fernández Segovia, Isabel. (2018). Development of a novel smoke-flavoured salmon product by sodium replacement using water vapour permeable bags.Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 98, 7, 2721-2728. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.8767, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/ 10.1002/jsfa.8767. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.[EN] BACKGROUND: Food manufacturers need to reduce sodium contents to meet consumer and public health demands. In this study the use of sodium-free (SF) salt and KCl to develop a novel smoke-flavoured salmon product with reduced sodium content was evaluated. Fifty percent of NaCl was replaced with 50% of SF salt or 50% KCl in the salmon smoke-flavouring process carried out using water vapour permeable bags. RESULTS: Triangle tests showed that samples with either SF salt or KCl were statistically similar to the control samples (100% NaCl). Since no sensorial advantage in using SF salt was found compared with KCl and given the lower price of KCl, the KCl-NaCl samples were selected for the next phase. The changes of physicochemical and microbial parameters in smoke-flavoured salmon during 42 days showed that partial replacement of NaCl with KCl did not significantly affect the quality and shelf-life of smoke-flavoured salmon, which was over 42 days. CONCLUSION: Smoke-flavoured salmon with 37% sodium reduction was developed without affecting sensory features and shelf-life. This is an interesting option for reducing sodium content in such products to help meet the needs set by both health authorities and consumers.We gratefully acknowledge the support of Tub-Ex Aps (Taars, Denmark) for suppling the water vapour permeable bags and for providing all of the necessary technical information. Arantxa Rizo thanks the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the FPI grant.Rizo Parraga, AM.; Fuentes López, A.; Barat Baviera, JM.; Fernández Segovia, I. (2018). Development of a novel smoke-flavoured salmon product by sodium replacement using water vapour permeable bags. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 98(7):2721-2728. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.8767S2721272898

Postharvest quality of refrigerated tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum, cv. Zinac) at two maturity stages following heat treatment

This study evaluated the effect of water heat treatment (WHT, immersion in a water bath at 40C - 30 min) application in alternative to the conventional decontamination treatment of chlorinated water (150 ppm at 5C, pH 6.5 during 2 min) on tomato (cv. Zinac) at two maturity stages (turning and pink). Physiochemical attributes, enzymatic activities and microbial load were evaluated after treatments and during 14 days of storage at 10C. The WHT applied was very effective on microbial reduction and delayed physiochemical changes of tomato, namely firmness loss and red color development during storage period, especially at turning maturity stage. Based on the firmness parameter, shelf-life of control and WHT samples were determined. Our results provide strong evidence that postharvest WHT (40C - 30 min) for tomato fruits at turning maturity stage guarantees the overall quality at 10C twice as long of fruits washed with chlorinated water.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

HPV infections among young MSM visiting sexual health centers in the Netherlands: opportunities for targeted HPV vaccination

Introduction: In 2009, girls-only HPV16/18 vaccination was introduced in the Netherlands which has achieved 46-61% uptake. Heterosexual men have benefitted from herd protection, but it is unknown whether men who have sex with men (MSM) also benefit from herd effects of the girls-only HPV16/18 vaccination program. Because MSM bear a high HPV-related disease burden, countries might consider targeted vaccination for MSM. To study possible herd effects and prior HPV exposure at a potential moment of vaccination, we assessed trends in the HPV prevalence and proportions (sero)negative for the various vaccine types among young MSM visiting sexual health centers (SHCs).Methods: We used data from MSM included in PASSYON study years 2009-2017. In this biennial cross-sectional study among visitors of SHCs aged 16-24 years, MSM provided a penile and anal swab for HPV DNA testing (including vaccine types HPV6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58) and blood for HPV antibody testing (HPV16/18/31/33/45/52/58).Results: In total 575 MSM were included, with a median of 22 years of age and 15 lifetime sex partners and 3.5% HIV positive. Trends in penile or anal HPV prevalence during 2009-2017 were statistically non-significant for all vaccine types. Of the 455 MSM with a penile and anal swab, 360 (79%), 283 (62%) and 242 (53%) were HPV DNA negative at both anatomical sites for HPV16/18, HPV6/11/16/18 and HPV6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58 respectively. Among MSM who were HPV16/18 and HPV16/18/31/33/45/52/58 DNA negative and were tested for serology (n = 335 and 279 respectively), 82% and 71% were also seronegative for the respective types.Discussion: There were no significant declines in the HPV prevalence among MSM up to eight years after introduction of girls-only HPV16/18 vaccination, indicating that MSM are unlikely to benefit largely from herd effects from girls-only vaccination. Most MSM were vaccine-type DNA negative and seronegative, suggesting that vaccination of young MSM visiting SHCs could still be beneficial. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

Predictive models for bacterial growth in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) 1 stored on ice

The final publication is available at Springer."The purpose of this paper was to estimate microbial growth through predictive modelling as a key element in determining the quantitative microbiological contamination of sea bass stored on ice and cultivated in different seasons of the year. In the present study, two different statistical models were used to analyse changes in microbial growth in whole, ungutted sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) stored on ice. The total counts of aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria, Pseudomonas sp., Aeromonas sp., Shewanella putrefaciens, Enterobacteriaceae, sulphide-reducing Clostridium and Photobacterium phosphoreum were determined in muscle, skin and gills over an 18-day period using traditional methods and evaluating the seasonal effect. The results showed that specific spoilage bacteria (SSB) were dominant in all tissues analysed but were mainly found in the gills. Predictive modelling showed a seasonal effect among the fish analysed. The application of these models can contribute to the improvement of food safety control by improving knowledge of the microorganisms responsible for the spoilage and deterioration of sea bass.