Influence of Gaseous Atmosphere on Morphology and Cellular Fatty Acid Composition of Campylobacter jejuni

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the effect of growth environment on morphology and fatty acid (FA) profiles of 2 strains of C ampylobacter jejuni (ATCC 29428 and 33560) grown under various gaseous conditions. Viable counts were determined by plate count and percentages of coccoid cells. FA profiles were measured by gas chromatography. Plate counts were lowest when cultures were grown in air and highest in CO₂ (10%), O₂ (5%), and N₂ (85%). For 29428, percentages of coccoid cells did not differ among treatments. For 33560, percentages of coccoid cells were greater than for 29428 and varied among treatments (13% to 87%). There were no significant ( P > 0.05) relationships between percentages of coccoid cells and amounts of individual or combinations of FA either between or within strains.     

辽宁省鸡源空肠弯曲菌耐药性监测与分析

目的了解辽宁省内鸡源空肠弯曲杆菌耐药性情况。方法采用特异性选择培养基分离出空肠弯曲菌,并使用生化反应和分子生物学方法双重方法进行鉴定,并进行耐药性分析。结果采集的辽宁省某屠宰场的鸡盲肠共198份样品,分离鉴定得到60株空肠弯曲菌,分离率为30.3%。同时对60株空肠弯曲菌进行了药物敏感性检测。结论 60株空肠弯曲菌几乎均对红霉素、庆大霉素、克林霉素和萘啶酸耐药,其MIC90值均高于所测试的最高药物浓度。空肠弯曲杆菌氟苯尼考和泰利霉素的敏感性最强。     

Resistance of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter jejuni after exposure to repetitive cycles of mild bactericidal treatments

While maintaining nutritional and sensorial attributes of fresh foods mild processing technologies generally deliver microbiologically perishable food products. Currently little information exists on possible increase in the resistance of pathogens after repetitive exposure to mild (sub-lethal) treatments. Multiple strain-cocktails of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter jejuni were exposed to 20 consecutive cycles of sub-lethal inactivation by three different techniques. Used techniques comprised inactivation with lactic acid (LA), chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) and intense light pulses (ILP). Results showed that the selection of resistant cells was both species and technique dependent. While repetitive cycles of ClO₂ treatment did not result in increased resistance, repetitive inactivation with LA yielded L. monocytogenes culture of higher resistance in comparison to the parental culture. The increased resistance, expressed as decreased level of reduction in bacterial counts in subsequent inactivation cycles, was also observed with ILP for both L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 strains. Visual trend observations were confirmed through statistical linear regression analysis. No such effects were noted for C. jejuni which became undetectable after first 2–5 cycles. Current findings indicate the ability of foodborne pathogens to adapt to mild bactericidal treatments creating new challenges in risk assessment and more specifically in hazard analysis.     

福建省2003-2005年食品中空肠和结肠弯曲菌的监测与分析

目的系统分析福建省食品中空肠和结肠弯曲菌的污染现状、分布特征,建立和完善食源性致病菌监测网络,为制定相关的食品卫生干预措施提供可靠的基础数据。方法2003-2005年选择福建省的8个地级市和南北2个贫困县的农贸市场为监测点,采集生畜禽肉类、生牛奶、生食蔬菜、鸡蛋、水产品5大类共730份食品样品。按照WHO推荐并作为《全国食品污染物监测相关实验室操作手册(食源性致病菌部分)》的弯曲菌检验方法,用加有生长促进剂和特定配方抗生素的布氏肉汤增菌,将增菌液划线接种至弯曲菌选择性琼脂CCDA平板,挑取可疑菌落转种在哥伦比亚血琼脂平板上纯化。纯化的可疑菌落做革兰染色镜检,湿片观察动力,同时做过氧化氢酶试验、氧化酶试验、马尿酸盐水解试验、吲哚乙酸酯试验等生化鉴定。结果检出弯曲菌阳性的样品39件,总的阳性率为5·34%。分离到空肠和结肠弯曲菌47株,其中空肠弯曲菌34株、结肠弯曲菌13株。不同种类的食品阳性率不同,阳性率最高的为生肉6·72%(36/536),其次为生食蔬菜5·88%(2/34),水产品0·95%(1/105),生牛奶与鸡蛋中均未检出。生肉类中阳性率最高的为鸡肉7·31%(19/260)。结论福建省市售食品中存在着不同程度的弯曲菌污染,应加强食品中空肠和结肠弯曲菌的监测,加强禽畜养殖、屠宰、运输和加工过程的卫生管理,防止交叉污染,有效地预防和控制弯曲菌感染的暴发和流行。     

空肠弯曲菌在环境压力条件下的生存机制和可培养性研究进展

空肠弯曲菌是一种重要的革兰氏阴性致病菌,可以产生几种肠毒素能侵袭小肠和大肠黏膜引起急性肠炎,据统计其导致肠炎比例是沙门氏菌的3倍。该菌污染肉类食品后,经冷冻等环境的变化会进入活的非可培养状态(viable but non-culturable state,VBNC),不能用常规方法检测到。空肠弯曲菌在pH值、湿度、温度、营养成分等条件发生极端改变的情况下可以进入VBNC状态。本研究更深入地了解空肠弯曲菌是如何抵御外力影响的,防范食品安全的潜在危害。     

Emergence of variants with altered survival properties in stationary phase cultures of Campylobacter jejuni

During the stationary phase of Campylobacter jejuni NCTC 11351 viable numbers fluctuate in a characteristic fashion. After reaching the maximum cell count (ca. 2×10⁹ CFU/ml) in early stationary phase (denoted phase 1), viable numbers subsequently decrease to about 10⁶ CFU/ml after 48 h and then increase again to about 10⁸ CFU/ml (denoted phase 2) before decreasing once more to a value intermediate between the previous maximum and minimum values. To investigate whether the increase in viable numbers following the initial decline was due to the emergence of a new strain with a growth advantage in stationary phase analogous to the ‘GASP’ phenotype described in Escherichia coli [Science 259 (1993) 1757], we conducted mixed culture experiments with cells from the original culture and antibiotic-resistant marked organisms isolated from the re-growth phase. In many experiments of this type, strains isolated from phase 2 failed to out-compete the original strain and we have thus been unable to demonstrate a convincing GASP phenotype. However, strains isolated from phase 2 showed a much lower rate of viability loss in early stationary phase and a small increase in resistance to aeration, peroxide challenge and heat, indicating that the emergent strain was different from the parent. These results support the view that dynamic population changes occur during the stationary phase of C. jejuni that may play a role in the survival of this organism.     

The Antimicrobial Effect of Spice‐Based Marinades against Campylobacter jejuni on Contaminated Fresh Broiler Wings

The antimicrobial effect of spice‐based marinades against Campylobacter jejuni on inoculated fresh broiler wings was investigated. Experiments were carried out with 1 strain of C. jejuni and 6 marinades. Four experimental marinades were composed for the study and contained spices (thyme, rosemary, basil, marjoram, and so on) and different combination of bioactive compounds. Two marinades were commercial and contained spices (black pepper, sweet red pepper, and so on) and chemical additives (monosodium glutamate, sodium diacetate, calcium lactate), 1 commercial marinade was also enriched with bioactive compounds (linalool, cinnamaldehyde, lactic acid). Total aerobic bacterial count was examined to estimate the possible effect of tested marinades on the shelf‐life of marinated broiler wings. Study revealed that thyme‐based marinade was the most effective against C. jejuni on broiler wings and reduced the numbers of campylobacters by 1.04 log colony forming unit (CFU)/g (P ≤ 0.05) during storage for 168 h at 4 °C temperature. Moreover, it was more effective against C. jejuni than commercial marinade with 0.47 log CFU/g (P ≤ 0.05) reduction effect. Both experimental and commercial marinades had very similar effect on the total aerobic bacterial count. Although experimental and commercial marinades had different effect on pH of broiler wings, this parameter did not show a major impact on the antimicrobial effect of tested marinades (P ≥ 0.05). Our study shows that experimental natural thyme‐based marinade can reduce numbers of C. jejuni more effectively than tested commercial marinades.     

Development and application of a heterologous internal standard for polymerase-chain-reaction-based detection of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in foods

 A heterologous internal standard, termed "mimic", was developed for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in food. Mimic was designed to contain a heterologous DNA fragment of plasmid pUC18, flanked by a primer binding site, identical to the bacterial target DNA. Application of mimic in the PCR permitted its co-amplification together with the bacterial DNA with similar efficiency. As the length of the amplified products differed, they were easily detectable by agarose gel electrophoresis. The presence or absence of the mimic PCR product was indicative of the efficacy of the PCR. The use of approximately 60 mimic molecules per reaction was optimal for determining the reliability of the diagnostic PCR assays without decreasing the detection limit. This system for the detection of the two species of Campylobacter was successfully applied in routine food surveillance. Received: 4 January 1999     

Analysis for selected pathogens in water used during rinsing of broiler carcasses in small processing operations in Trinidad

The study was undertaken to quantitatively and/or qualitatively determine the level of selected bacterial pathogens in the water used during the rinsing stage at small retail broiler processing operations utilizing a stagnant rinsing system in Trinidad. Water samples (n=6) were collected weekly from thirteen “pluck shops”, across Trinidad, over a 6-week period. Standard media and procedures were used for isolation, detection and quantification of bacterial pathogens. A significant difference was noted for the prevalence (P=0.004) and mean counts (P=0.03) of Campylobacter spp. across counties. Total aerobic plate count ranged from log₁₀ mean±SD, 4.0±1.3 in Caroni to 5.4±1.0 in St. Andrew/St. David and was significantly different (P=0.01). The differences in the prevalence of Campylobacter for tub-style plucking (83.3%) and drum plucking (58.3%) and mean counts for medium sale log₁₀ mean±SD (2.6±0.8) and low sale shops (2.2±0.9), as well as for tub-style plucking (2.5±0.8) and drum plucking (1.8±0.9) were statistically significant (P<0.05). The prevalence of E. coli, the prevalence and mean count of staphylococci were significantly higher (P<0.05) in operations where tub-style plucking was used compared with drum plucking. Since the quality of the in-process rinse water would affect the quality of the final product, it is recommended that the use of running water or a high frequency of changing the rinse water be implemented in these shops.