Listeria monocytogenes in Milk Products

peer-reviewedMilk and milk products are frequently identified as vectors for transmission of Listeria monocytogenes. Milk can be contaminated at farm level either by indirect external contamination from the farm environment or less frequently by direct contamination of the milk from infection in the animal. Pasteurisation of milk will kill L. monocytogenes, but post-pasteurisation contamination, consumption of unpasteurised milk and manufacture of unpasteurised milk products can lead to milk being the cause of outbreaks of listeriosis. Therefore, there is a concern that L. monocytogenes in milk could lead to a public health risk. To protect against this risk, there is a need for awareness surrounding the issues, hygienic practices to reduce the risk and adequate sampling and analysis to verify that the risk is controlled. This review will highlight the issues surrounding L. monocytogenes in milk and milk products, including possible control measures. It will therefore create awareness about L. monocytogenes, contributing to protection of public health

Pseudo-affinity capture of K. phaffii host cell proteins in flow-through mode: Purification of protein therapeutics and proteomic study

K. phaffii is a versatile expression system that is increasingly utilized to produce biological therapeutics – including enzymes, engineered antibodies, and gene-editing tools – that feature multiple subunits and complex post-translational modifications. Two major roadblocks limit the adoption of K. phaffii in industrial biomanufacturing: its proteome, while known, has not been linked to downstream process operations and detailed knowledge is missing on problematic host cell proteins (HCPs) that endanger patient safety or product stability. Furthermore, the purification toolbox has not evolved beyond the capture of monospecific antibodies, and few solutions are available for engineered antibody fragments and other protein therapeutics. To unlock the potential of yeast-based biopharmaceutical manufacturing, this study presents the development and performance validation of a novel adsorbent – PichiaGuard – functionalized with peptide ligands that target the whole spectrum of K. phaffii HCPs and designed for protein purification in flow-through mode. The PichiaGuard adsorbent features high HCP binding capacity (~25 g per liter of resin) and successfully purified a monoclonal antibody and an ScFv fragment from clarified K. phaffii harvests, affording > 300-fold removal of HCPs and high product yields (70–80%). Notably, PichiaGuard outperformed commercial ion exchange and mixed-mode resins without salt gradients or optimization in removing high-risk HCPs – including aspartic proteases, ribosomal subunits, and other peptidases – thus demonstrating its value in modern biopharmaceutical processing

Optimization of Reverse Transcriptase PCR To Detect Viable Shiga-Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli

The ability of reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) to detect viable Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) was investigated. Four primer sets, each targeting a specific region in the slt-II operon, were evaluated for their stringency and specificity for slt-II mRNA. STEC were evaluated for toxin expression under various conditions, including cell growth phase, growth medium, incubation temperature, and aeration. Following primer optimization, STEC were inoculated into Trypticase soy broth and cooked ground beef enrichments. Cells were harvested and RNA or DNA was extracted at 4, 8, 12, and 24 h. RT-PCR or PCR was conducted, and the products were visualized by gel electrophoresis and by Southern blots. mRNA targets were detected in 12-h cooked ground meat enrichments with an initial inoculum of 1 CFU/g. These results indicate that RT-PCR of E. coli slt-II mRNA is useful for detection of viable STEC in ground beef

Hydrodynamic performance of single-chamber and dual-chamber offshore-stationary Oscillating Water Column devices using CFD

The Oscillating Water Column (OWC) is considered to be one of the most promising Wave Energy Converter (WEC) concepts in terms of practicality, survivability and efficiency. To date, most research has focussed on single–chamber devices, but it is suggested that significant increases in energy extraction can be achieved from dual–chamber devices. This paper investigates, using well–validated 2D and 3D CFD models based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method, the hydrodynamic performance of various dual–chamber offshore–stationary OWC–WECs and compares the results to single–chamber OWC devices. The effect of chamber lip draught, chamber length in wave propagation direction and the power take–off (PTO) damping on the capture width ratio (power extraction efficiency) of each OWC device was studied over a wide range of wave periods for a constant regular wave height. It was found that all the parameters tested were important for the design of efficient OWC devices, and the dual–chamber device provided superior results to the single–chamber device, especially over the intermediate and long wave periods where the capture width ratio could be improved by a maximum of about 140%; hence extracting significantly more energy. The effectiveness of using the dual–chamber system was more obvious when 3D effects were considered. The findings of this paper contribute towards the design and operation of practical OWC devices for efficiently utilizing ocean waves to produce electricity

Validation of a Green Fluorescent Protein-Labeled Strain of Vibrio vulnificus for Use in the Evaluation of Postharvest Strategies for Handling of Raw Oysters

In this paper we describe a biological indicator which can be used to study the behavior of Vibrio vulnificus, an important molluscan shellfish-associated human pathogen. A V. vulnificus ATCC 27562 derivative that expresses green fluorescent protein (GFP) and kanamycin resistance was constructed using conjugation. Strain validation was performed by comparing the GFP-expressing strain (Vv-GFP) and the wild-type strain (Vv-WT) with respect to growth characteristics, heat tolerance (45°C), freeze-thaw tolerance (−20(o) and −80°C), acid tolerance (pH 5.0, 4.0, and 3.5), cold storage tolerance (5°C), cold adaptation (15°C), and response to starvation. Levels of recovery were evaluated using nonselective medium (tryptic soy agar containing 2% NaCl) with and without sodium pyruvate. The indicator strain was subsequently used to evaluate the survival of V. vulnificus in oysters exposed to organic acids (citric and acetic acids) and various cooling regimens. In most cases, Vv-GFP was comparable to Vv-WT with respect to growth and survival upon exposure to various biological stressors; when differences between the GFP-expressing and parent strains occurred, they usually disappeared when sodium pyruvate was added to media. When V. vulnificus was inoculated into shellstock oysters, the counts dropped 2 log(10) after 11 to 12 days of refrigerated storage, regardless of the way in which the oysters were initially cooled. Steeper population declines after 12 days of refrigerated storage were observed for both iced and refrigerated products than for slowly cooled product and product held under conservative harvest conditions. By the end of the refrigeration storage study (22 days), the counts of Vv-GFP in iced and refrigerated oysters had reached the limit of detection (10(2) CFU/oyster), but slowly cooled oysters and oysters stored under conservative harvest conditions still contained approximately 10(3) and >10(4) CFU V. vulnificus/oyster by day 22, respectively. The Vv-GFP levels in the oyster meat remained stable for up to 24 h when the meat was exposed to acidic conditions at various pH values. Ease of detection and comparability to the wild-type parent make Vv-GFP a good candidate for use in studying the behavior of V. vulnificus upon exposure to sublethal stressors that might be encountered during postharvest handling of molluscan shellfish