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Antimicrobial paints were based on the aqueous acrylic dispersion and various nanoparticles of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Antimicrobial ability and photoactivity were assumed in these paints. It was possible to observe the photoactivity thanks to change of organic dyes due to oxidative-reductive reaction. The best photocatalytic effect showed the coating containing the mixture of the first type of TiO2and nano-ZnO despite the fact that the first type of TiO2was not better in the photocatalytic test than the other types of TiO2. The agar dilution method was used to test antimicrobial ability. TheEscherichia coli,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,andStaphylococcus aureuswere chosen as test bacteria andPenicillium chrysogenumandAspergillus nigeras test molds. The antimicrobial effect of coatings with the mixture of the first type of TiO2and nano-ZnO was the best of all the tested samples.

The aim of this study was to examine 634 samples of chicken, lamb, pork, beef, fish, samples from the intensive animal industry and from poultry for slaughter, as well as from the domestic breeding of poultry, horses, pigs, and lambs, from surface water, and from clinical samples for the presence of Arcobacter. All the samples were examined with a cultivation method, followed by confirmation by multiplex PCR. The method of multiplex PCR applied directly to a liquid medium after enrichment was applied only to the samples with the highest probability of the presence of arcobacters. Arcobacter spp. were detected in 11.8% of the samples, of which A. butzleri, A. cryaerophilus, and A. skirrowii were found in 6.6, 5.1, and 0.2% of the samples, respectively. The sources of the arcobacters were chicken meat from the retail market, intensive animal production facilities, domestic chicken breeding facilities, lamb raising environments, surface water and wastewater, and beef swabs taken in a meat processing factory. No occurrence of arcobacters was identified in the swabs from slaughter turkeys, ducks, and wild poultry. No arcobacters were found in horse and pig breeding environments, on pork, or on the swabs of fish. Forty-two rectal swabs taken from humans were also free of Arcobacter. Seventeen isolates of Arcobacter were further identified by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. Varied genotypes were observed among A. butzleri from chicken meat and chicken breeds, and A. cryaerophilus from wastewater and chicken breeds. They were similar to the genotypes present in wastewater, porcine feces, human stool, and human blood obtained from databases. Our results revealed that the chicken meat from the retail market is an important source of arcobacters. Cross-contamination during handling of chicken carcass practices could play a key role in the spread of Arcobacter.

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Moťková P., Vytřasová J. (2011): Comparison of methods for isolating fungal DNA. Czech J. Food Sci., 29 (Special Issue): S76-S85.In this study methods of fungal DNA isolation were optimised and compared. The aim of the isolation processes was to obtain DNA of sufficient quality and quantity necessary for its amplification, as most detection techniques require DNA amplification before the proper DNA detection itself. For this purpose, classic methods of DNA extraction were compared and optimised while isolations using commercial kits were also done. The methods were evaluated from several perspectives, with focus especially laid on the isolated DNA not contain PCR inhibitors which would prevent DNA amplification, thus inhibiting the detection itself. For optimising the individual methods, collection strains of the genus Aspergillus were used. After the evaluation, two most suitable methods were selected and chosen for isolating potentially aflatoxigenic moulds taken from food samples. These methods were the commercially supplied kit for isolating DNA from plant leaves from Sigma and a classic method according Cenis in combination with the cell wall disruption by means of liquid nitrogen.