Detoxification of zearalenone by Lactobacillus pentosus strains

Zearalenone (ZEA) contamination in food samples plays a critical role in food safety, since it causes serious health problems. Usage of microorganisms, such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB), is a promising new approach for detoxification. Eight Lactobacillus pentosus strains were evaluated for their ability to remove ZEA from a sodium acetate buffer solution with initial ZEA concentrations of 5.51–74.70 μg/mL. The adsorption capacity increased with increasing ZEA concentrations. The strain JM0812 showed the highest adsorption capability, at 83.17%, in solution containing 74.70 μg/mL ZEA, followed by UM054 (82.78%) and UM055 (81.69%), respectively. Three adsorption isotherms were applied to predict the removal efficiency of ZEA and the Freundlich isotherm appeared to have the best-fit for ZEA sorption onto bacterial cells. Our results indicate that Lb. pentosus strains are novel promising strains to reduce mycotoxin contamination in food products.     

Thermal markers arising from changes in the protein component of milk

Classification of heat load applied to milk requires the detection of parameters appropriately related to the intensity of the heat treatment. Current analytical methods based on heat-induced changes in the protein component of milk have been directed either to determine the amount of protein-derived products arised from heat treatments or to evaluate the extent of thermal denaturation of milk proteins. Lately, a new analytical strategy has been developed according to the occurrence of three major whey proteins, namely bovine serum albumin (BSA), beta-lactoglobulin (βlg) and alfa-lactalbumin (αla), normally soluble at pH 4.6 in raw milk, in the pH 4.6 insoluble protein fraction recovered from heat-treated milk. The results have shown that pH 4.6 insoluble BSA, βlg and αla, as detected by ELISA in milk, can be regarded as thermal markers suited for either dairy process control or regulation purposes.     

基于巴克夏和杜洛克猪选育猪肉风味物质的HS/SPME-GC/MS对比分析

通过对以巴克夏和杜洛克猪为父本选育的猪肉中挥发性风味物质进行研究,了解不同品种猪肉之间挥发性 风味物质的差异,通过对猪肉中挥发性风味物质的评价为选育优质猪种提供参考。采用顶空固相萃取提取猪肉的 挥发性风味物质,并用气相色谱-质谱法检测风味物质,应用Origin 8.0软件和Xcalibur软件对实验数据进行分析,对 比猪肉中风味物质的含量差异及稳定性。结果表明：DLY系猪肉样品中共检测出38 种挥发性风味物质,其中醛类 13 种、呋喃类1 种、醇类6 种、酮类3 种、含硫化合物1 种、酸类14 种,DLY933猪肉样品中的正己醛相对含量最 高,达45.895%;SH451系猪肉样品中共检测出50 种挥发性风味物质,其中醛类25 种、呋喃类1 种、醇类9 种、酮 类2 种、含硫化合物1 种、酸类11 种,SH451-2猪肉样品中的正己醛相对含量最高,达75.986%;DLY和SH451系猪 肉样品共有的风味物质占15 种,SH451系猪肉样品的挥发性风味物质种类多于DLY系猪肉;SH451系猪肉样品的醛 类物质平均相对含量为74.68%,显著高于DLY系猪肉的57.47%,但DLY系猪肉样品的含硫化合物含量高于SH451系 猪肉,2 个猪种的风味各有特点。     

Role of Akirin in Skeletal Myogenesis

Akirin is a recently discovered nuclear factor that plays an important role in innate immune responses. Beyond its role in innate immune responses, Akirin has recently been shown to play an important role in skeletal myogenesis. In this article, we will briefly review the structure and tissue distribution of Akirin and discuss recent advances in our understanding of its role and signal pathway in skeletal myogenesis.     

Management of oil producing Jatropha curcas silvopastoral systems: Risk of herbivory by indigenous goats and competition with planted pastures

There is potential for Jatropha curcas production in South Africa especially in silvopastoral systems where the co-occurrence of oil production and grazing results in the optimal use of increasingly limited land. However, in South Africa there is a moratorium on J. curcas cultivation due to insufficient information on this species. The aim of this study was to assess the potential growth and suitability of J. curcas in silvopastoral systems. For such systems to succeed there needs to be limited competition between J. curcas and the forage component and the former must not be at risk to defoliation by livestock. The effect on the growth of 15-month old J. curcas trees by neighbouring forage species was addressed by removing planted pastures at 0, 60, 120 and 300 cm from the base of J. curcas individuals. Final height, basal diameter and percentage leaf abscission of trees with pasture removed up to 60 and 120 cm away did not differ significantly from treatments with the greatest and least amount of competition. Therefore, removing up to 60 cm will allow for growth similar to that of trees with 300 cm of pastures removal while still providing sufficient pasture for grazing. The palatability of J. curcas was determined through two two–choice and three-choice trials. Since goats spent <3.77% of their time browsing J. curcas it is a suitable candidate for silvopastoral systems provided that surrounding vegetation is removed at a recommended distance of 60 cm from the base of the tree.     

Poly(ethylene glycol)-oligodeoxyribonucleotide block copolymers for affinity capillary electrophoretic separation of single-stranded DNAs with a single-base difference

An affinity capillary electrophoretic method was developed to detect a single-base difference of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). Poly(ethylene glycol)-oligodeoxyribonucleotide block copolymers (PEG-b-ODN) were prepared for use as a novel affinity ligand. We introduced a running buffer solution of PEG-b-ODN into a capillary tube, and electrophoretically separated a mixture of chemically synthesized 20 mer ssDNA (normal ssDNA) and a single-base-substituted 20 mer ssDNA (mutant ssDNA). When the base sequence of PEG-b-ODN was designed to be complementary to part of the normal ssDNA, the migration rate of the normal ssDNA was significantly decreased by reversible hybridization with PEG-b-ODN, depending on the base number of PEG-b-ODN, the salt concentration of the running buffer, and the capillary temperature. In contrast, the mobility of mutant ssDNA did not change because the interaction with PEG-b-ODN was negligible. Optimization of the analytical conditions gave two distinct peaks, one for normal and the other for mutant ssDNA, on the electropherogram, allowing for facile discrimination of the single-base difference. The results indicate that PEG-b-ODN is a promising affinity ligand for the capillary electrophoretic separation of normal and single-base mutated ssDNA.     

Plasma metabolite changes in dairy cows during parturition identified using untargeted metabolomics

The metabolic responses of cows undergo substantial changes during the transition from late pregnancy to early lactation. However, the molecular mechanisms associated with these changes in physiological metabolism have not been clearly elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate metabolic changes in transition cows from the perspective of plasma metabolites. Plasma samples collected from 24 multiparous dairy cows on approximately d 21 prepartum and immediately postpartum were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry in positive and negative ion modes. In conjunction with multidimensional statistical methods (principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis), differences in plasma metabolites were identified using the t-test and fold change analysis. Sixty-seven differential metabolites were identified consisting of AA, lipids, saccharides, and nucleotides. The levels of 32 plasma metabolites were significantly higher and those of 35 metabolites significantly lower after parturition than on d 21 prepartum. Pathway analysis indicated that the metabolites that increased from late pregnancy to early lactation were primarily involved in lipid metabolism and energy metabolism, whereas decreased metabolites were related to AA metabolism.     

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolated from an integrated broiler chicken supply chain in Qingdao,China

The present study analyzed the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella along an integrated broiler chicken supply chain. A total of 172 Salmonella isolates were recovered from 1148 samples collected from four sample sources (breeder farms, broiler farms, abattoir, and retail markets), representing nine production stages. These Salmonella isolates were examined for antimicrobial susceptibility to 12 different antimicrobial agents using a disk diffusion assay. Among them, 168 were identified as six different serotypes of Salmonella enterica. The predominant serotype was S. Enteritidis (n = 116), followed by S. Infantis (n = 18), S. Gueuletapee (n = 16), S. Derby (n = 12), S. Meleagridis (n = 4), and S. London (n = 2). The remaining four isolates were serogroup-untypeable. A majority of the 172 isolates (96.51%) was resistant to one or more antibiotics and 61.05% of the Salmonella isolates showed a multidrug resistance phenotype. Statistical analysis indicated the one risk product stage for Salmonella contamination occurred in the sample source at the abattoir, specifically the stage of Carcasses after chilling. The majority of S. Enteritidis isolates shared the same pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) cluster, suggesting that the S. Enteritidis strain might spread along the broiler chicken supply chain. The prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in different production stages suggest the importance of controlling Salmonella in the broiler chicken supply chain for public health, underlying the need for improved measures of reducing carcass contamination in abattoirs and the appropriate use of antimicrobials in broiler flocks.     

Suitability ofLactococcus lactissubsp.lactisATCC 11454 as a protective culture for lightly preserved fish products

This study is part of strategy to control the human pathogenListeria monocytogenesin lightly preserved fish products by using food-grade lactic acid bacteria. When the nisin- producingLactococcus lactissubsp.lactisATCC 11454 was cultured in the same vessel asL. monocytogenesScott A in brain–heart infusion broth (BHI) at 30°C, the pathogen declined from 5×10⁵to fewer than 5 cfu ml⁻¹within 31 h. The effect was not due to lactic acid inhibition. Growth and nisin production byL. lactisATCC 11454 were investigated under the conditions of temperature and salt used for light preservation. At 5°C in M17 broth, the organism grew well and produced nisin. In an infusion of cold-smoked salmon the organism did not grow at 5°C, although it did at 10°C. NaCl up to 4% allowed for efficient growth and nisin production, while 5% NaCl resulted in very slow growth and no detectable nisin. On slices of commercial cold-smoked salmon at 10°C, no net propagation ofL. lactisATCC 11454 could be detected within 21 days. However, when salmon slices were inoculated withL. monocytogenesat 10⁴cfu g⁻¹and a 300-fold excess of washed lactococcus cells, the pathogen's population declined a half log the first 1.5 days, then increased at a rate slightly lower than that of the control not inoculated with the lactococcus.