Search

Aliarcobacterspp. have been isolated from numerous food products at retail and from animal carcasses and feces at slaughter. The objectives of this study were as follows: (i) to isolate Aliarcobacter species from different slaughterhouses’ samples and (ii) to detect genetic diversity, antibiotic resistance, biofilm ability, and putative virulence gene profiles of the isolates. A molecular investigation of antibiotic resistance and virulence factors was also conducted using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among 150 samples, a total of 22 (14.6%) Aliarcobacterspp. isolates were obtained, with varying levels of antibiotic resistance observed. The genes tetO, tetW, and gyrAwere detected in 0%, 31.8%, and 27.2% of the isolates, respectively. All isolates were resistant to ampicillin, rifampin, and erythromycin, while tetracycline was found to be the most effective antibiotic, with 81.8% of the isolates showing susceptibility to it. All isolates (100%) harbored more than one of the nine putative virulence genes tested, with 18.1% of isolates carrying more than three. Regarding biofilm formation, 7 (31.8%) and 4 (18.1%) isolates were found to form strong and moderate biofilms, respectively, while one (4.5%) isolate was classified as a weak biofilm producer. ERIC-PCR band patterns suggested that the isolated Aliarcobacterspp. from slaughterhouses had different sources of contamination. These findings highlight the potential risk posed by pathogenic and multidrug-resistant Aliarcobacterspp. in food and the need for control measures throughout the food chain to prevent the spread of these strains. The results indicate that foods of animal origin and cattle slaughterhouses are significant sources of antimicrobial resistant Aliarcobacter.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) in meat processing lines for their pathogenic potential associated with biofilm formation, staphylococcal toxin genes, and antibiotic resistance in obtained isolates. Out of 270 samples, 56 isolates were identified as staphylococcal with their species level, and their antimicrobial resistance profiles were also determined with the BD Phoenix™ system. Among these, CoNS were found in 32 isolates, including S. epidermidis(22%), S. warneri(22%), S. cohnii(9%), S. schleiferi(9%), S. capitis(6%), S. haemolyticus(6%), S. lugdunensis(6%), S. chromogenes(6%), S. kloosii(3%), S. sciuri(3%), S. lentus(3%), and S. caprae(3%). Biofilm formation was observed in 78.1% of CoNS isolates, with 56% being strong biofilm producers; and the frequency of the icaA, fnbA, and fnbBgenes were 43.7% and 34.3%, and 9.3% in isolates, respectively. Twenty-five (78.1%) of these strains were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent, 20 (80%) of which exhibited multidrug resistance (MDR). Regarding genotypic analyses, 15.6%, 22.2%, 87.5%, and 9% of isolates, were positive for blaZ, ermC, tetK, and aacA-aphD, respectively. In 8 (25%) of all isolates had one or more staphylococcal toxin genes: the sedgene was the most frequent (12.5%), followed by eta(9.3%), tst-1 (6.25%), and sea(3.1%). In conclusion, this study highlights meat; and meat products might be reservoirs for the biofilm-producing MDR-CoNS, which harbored several toxin genes. Hence, it should not be ignored that CoNS may be related to foodborne outbreaks.

Biogenic production of silver nanoparticles (sn-AgNPs) was accomplished by Sambucus nigra. The identification of structures was performed by a wide spectroscopic study. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopic study indicated the maximum absorption of nanoparticles at 480 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) presented the nanoparticles as spherical shapes. X-ray diffraction (XRD) signals (2θ) at the degrees of 38.20°, 44.40°, 64.61°, 77.61°, and 81.76° corresponded to [111, 020, 202, 131, and 222] facet, respectively, confirming the nanostructure as face-centered cubic structure. The size of the nanoparticles was determined as 28.6 nm and 27.4 nm by SEM and TEM images, respectively. Zeta potential presented the stability of the product (− 51.3 mV). Furthermore, the histogram of dynamic light scattering (DLS) displayed the particle size of the nanostructure as 31.01 nm. HPLC analysis was used to determine the phenolics in S. nigraaerial part quantitatively and chlorogenic acid was the main product (10.76 mg/g extract). sn-AgNPs showed the substantial antioxidant effect as 12.1 ± 0.19 (µg/mL, lC50) and 3.1 ± 0.1 (lC50) for DPPH•and ABTS•+assays, respectively. Antibacterial activity of extract and sn-AgNPs was executed. Both extract and Sn-AgNPs exhibited considerable activity.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and diversity of Enterococcusspp. and antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus faecalisand Enterococcus faeciumisolates in different foods worldwide. This study used meta-analytical methods. Besides, Web of Science (n= 705), Medline (n= 6), and Scopus (n= 1338) were searched for studies in the years 1995–2021 using related keywords. Results showed that the pooled prevalence for Enterococcusspp. and antibiotic-resistance of E. faecalisand E. faeciumisolates were 0.41 (95% C.I. 0.34–0.47), 0.25 (95% C.I. 0.13–0.38), respectively. According to the results of the subgroup analysis, the lowest and highest prevalence of Enterococcusspp. in food types were calculated for red meat (0.56), and fermented foods (0.29). Also, as a result of subgroup analyses by country the highest prevalence of Enterococcusspp. was calculated in studies conducted in Slovakia (0.74). In contrast, the lowest prevalence was calculated in studies conducted in Georgia (0.07). The meta-analyses improved our understanding of the prevalence of Enterococcusspp. and the antibiotic resistance of E. faecalisand E. faeciumisolates in different foods and provided results that can be useful as input for quantitative microbiological risk evaluation modeling.

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of Arcobacterspecies in water sources and raw milk from healthy animals in Kayseri, Turkey. A total of 175 samples of drinking water (n= 100), spring water (n= 25), and raw milk (n= 50) were examined. Arcobacterspecies were isolated using the membrane filtration technique. Overall, 7 (4%) of the 175 samples yielded Arcobacterspp.: 3 (3%) drinking water samples, 1 (4%) spring water sample, and 3 (6%) raw milk samples. Two species of Arcobacterwere recovered from the seven positive samples: Arcobacter butzleri, Arcobacter skirrowii,and A. butzleriplus A. skirrowiifound in 3 (1.7%), 2 (1.1%), and 2 (1.1%) samples, respectively. Our study is the first to report the isolation of both A. butzleriand A. skirrowiitogether from drinking water and is the first report of Arcobacterin milk from healthy cows in Turkey. Based on these findings, the presence of Arcobacterspecies in environmental waters and raw milk may pose a potential hazard for human health.