Search results for " Microbial"
showing 10 items of 340 documents
Prevalence of bacteria and absence of anisakid parasites in raw and prepared fish and seafood dishes in Spanish restaurants
2015
This study evaluated the presence of bacteria and anisakid parasites in 45 samples of raw anchovies in vinegar, a dish widely eaten in Spain, and in 227 samples of cooked fish and cephalopods served in Spanish food service establishments. Our analysis showed that, according to European and Spanish regulation, 14 to 30% of the prepared fish and cephalopod dishes exceeded the maximum allowable level for mesophilic aerobic counts, and 10 to 40% of these samples exceeded the allowable levels for Enterobacteriaceae. None of the studied samples showed evidence of anisakid parasites, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, or Listeria monocyto genes. These results indicate that applic…
Photoactivated chlorophyllin-based gelatin films and coatings to prevent microbial contamination of food products
2008
[EN] The aim of this work was to develop antimicrobial photosensitizer-containing edible films and coatings based on gelatin as the polymer matrix. incorporating sodium magnesium chlorophyllin (E-140) and sodium copper chlorophyllin (E-141). Chlorophyllins were incorporated into the gelatin film-forming solution and the inhibiting effect of the cast films was tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. The results demonstrated that water soluble sodium magnesium chlorophyllin and water soluble sodium copper chlorophyllin reduced the growth of S. aureus and L monocytogenes by 5 log and 4 log respectively. Subsequently, the activity of self-standing films and coatings con…
A Silicone Ventricular Catheter Coated with a Combination of Rifampin and Trimethoprim for the Prevention of Catheter-related Infections
1998
So-called antiinfective catheters which are generated by incorporation of antimicrobial substances into polymers appear to be effectful devices in the prevention of catheter related infections. Such devices mainly act by prevention of bacterial colonization of the catheter surface rather than by inhibition of adherence. In a preceding study, we developed a rifampin-containing silicone catheter for the prevention of ventricular shunt infection. In the present study, this work was continued with a combination of antimicrobials incorporated in silicone ventricular catheters to reduce the risk of rifampin resistance and to expand the antimicrobial spectrum. We found that the drug release kineti…
Animal rennets as sources of dairy lactic acid bacteria
2014
ABSTRACT The microbial composition of artisan and industrial animal rennet pastes was studied by using both culture-dependent and -independent approaches. Pyrosequencing targeting the 16S rRNA gene allowed to identify 361 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) to the genus/species level. Among lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Streptococcus thermophilus and some lactobacilli, mainly Lactobacillus crispatus and Lactobacillus reuteri , were the most abundant species, with differences among the samples. Twelve groups of microorganisms were targeted by viable plate counts revealing a dominance of mesophilic cocci. All rennets were able to acidify ultrahigh-temperature-processed (UHT) milk as shown by pH …
Characterisation and detection of spoilage mould responsible for black spot in dry-cured fermented sausages.
2015
Moulds responsible for black spot spoilage of dry-cured fermented sausages were characterised. For this purpose, samples were taken from those dry-cured fermented sausages which showed black spot alteration. Most of the mould strains were first tentatively identified as Penicillium spp. due to their morphological characteristics in different culture conditions, with one strain as Cladosporium sp. The Cladosporium strain was the only one which provoked blackening in culture media. This strain was further characterised by sequencing of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rRNA and β-tubulin genes. This mould strain was able to reproduce black spot formation in dry-cured fermented sausage 'salchichon' throughout th…
A temperature-type model for describing the relationship between fungal growth and water activity
2001
Growth of Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus flavus, Cladosporium cladosporioides and Alternaria alternata at their respective optimum temperatures was studied in Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium at different water activities (a(w)) adjusted with glycerol. The growth rate (mu) was expressed as the increase in colony radius per unit of time. This paper extends the model that showed the relationship between temperature and bacterial growth rate developed by Rosso et al. [J. Theor. Biol. 162 (1993) 447] to describe the influence of a(w) on fungal development. An excellent correlation between the experimental data and the model predictions was obtained, the regression coefficients (r2) were …
Effect of the applied organic load rate on biodegradable polymer production by mixed microbial cultures in a Sequencing Batch Reactor
2006
This article studies the operation of a new process for the production of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs) at different applied organic load rates (OLRs). The process is based on the aerobic enrichment of activated sludge to obtain mixed cultures able to store PHAs at high rates and yields. A mixture of acetic, lactic, and propionic acids at different concentrations (in the range 8.5-31.25 gCOD/L) was fed every 2 h in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The resulting applied OLR was in the range 8.5-31.25 gCOD/L/day. Even though, as expected, the increase in the OLR caused an increase in biomass concentration (up to about 8.7 g COD/L), it also caused a relevant decrease of maximal po…
Unveiling distribution patterns of freshwater phytoplankton by a next generation sequencing based approach.
2012
The recognition and discrimination of phytoplankton species is one of the foundations of freshwater biodiversity research and environmental monitoring. This step is frequently a bottleneck in the analytical chain from sampling to data analysis and subsequent environmental status evaluation. Here we present phytoplankton diversity data from 49 lakes including three seasonal surveys assessed by next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S ribosomal RNA chloroplast and cyanobacterial gene amplicons and also compare part of these datasets with identification based on morphology. Direct comparison of NGS to microscopic data from three time-series showed that NGS was able to capture the seasonality in…
Effects of salinity and temperature on long-term survival of the eel pathogen Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 (serovar E)
1999
ABSTRACT Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 (serovar E) is a primary eel pathogen. In this study, we performed long-term survival experiments to investigate whether the aquatic ecosystem can be a reservoir for this bacterium. We have used microcosms containing water of different salinities (ranging from 0.3 to 3.8%) maintained at three temperatures (12, 25, and 30°C). Temperature and salinity significantly affected long-term survival: (i) the optimal salinity for survival was 1.5%; (ii) lower salinities reduced survival, although they were nonlethal; and (ii) the optimal temperature for survival was dependent on the salinity (25°C for microcosms at 0.3 and 0.5% and 12°C for microcosms at 1.5 to 3.…
Perturbation of spermine synthase Gene Expression and Transcript Profiling Provide New Insights on the Role of the Tetraamine Spermine in Arabidopsis…
2011
The role of the tetraamine spermine in plant defense against pathogens was investigated by using the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana)-Pseudomonas viridiflava pathosystem. The effects of perturbations of plant spermine levels on susceptibility to bacterial infection were evaluated in transgenic plants (35S::spermine synthase [SPMS]) that overexpressed the SPMS gene and accumulated spermine, as well as in spms mutants with low spermine levels. The former exhibited higher resistance to P. viridiflava than wild-type plants, while the latter were more susceptible. Exogenous supply of spermine to wild-type plants also increased disease resistance. Increased resistance provided by spermine was p…