Foodborne pathogens are a major public health threat and financial burden for the food industry, individuals, and society, with an estimated 76 million cases of food-related illness occurring in the United States alone each year. Three of the most important causative bacterial agents of foodborne diseases are pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli , Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes , due to the severity and frequency of illness and disproportionally high number of fatalities. Their continued persistence in food has dictated the ongoing need for faster, simpler, and less expensive analytical systems capable of live pathogen detection in complex samples. Culture techniques for detection and identification of foodborne pathogens require 5-7 days to complete. Major improvements to molecular detection techniques have been introduced recently, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These methods can be tedious; require complex, expensive instrumentation; necessitate highly trained personnel; and are not easily amenable to routine screening. Here, a paper-based analytical device (μPAD) has been developed for the detection of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and L. monocytogenes in food samples as a screening system. In this work, a paper-based microspot assay was created by use of wax printing on filter paper. Detection is achieved by measuring the color change when an enzyme associated with the pathogen of interest reacts with a chromogenic substrate. When combined with enrichment procedures, the method allows for an enrichment time of 12 h or less and is capable of detecting bacteria in concentrations in inoculated ready-to-eat (RTE) meat as low as 10(1) colony-forming units/cm(2).

c Coliforms, Escherichia coli, and various physicochemical water characteristics have been suggested as indicators of microbial water quality or index organisms for pathogen populations. The relationship between the presence and/or concentration of Salmonella and biological, physical, or chemical indicators in Central Florida surface water samples over 12 consecutive months was explored. Samples were taken monthly for 12 months from 18 locations throughout Central Florida (n ‫؍‬ 202). Air and water temperature, pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), turbidity, and conductivity were measured. Weather data were obtained from nearby weather stations. Aerobic plate counts and most probable numbers (MPN) for Salmonella, E. coli, and coliforms were performed. Weak linear relationships existed between biological indicators (E. coli/coliforms) and Salmonella levels (R 2 < 0.1) and between physicochemical indicators and Salmonella levels (R 2 < 0.1). The average rainfall (previous day, week, and month) before sampling did not correlate well with bacterial levels. Logistic regression analysis showed that E. coli concentration can predict the probability of enumerating selected Salmonella levels. The lack of good correlations between biological indicators and Salmonella levels and between physicochemical indicators and Salmonella levels shows that the relationship between pathogens and indicators is complex. However, Escherichia coli provides a reasonable way to predict Salmonella levels in Central Florida surface water through logistic regression.

Foodborne illnesses continue to have an economic impact on global health care systems. There is a growing concern regarding the increasing frequency of antibiotic resistance in foodborne bacterial pathogens and how such resistance may affect treatment outcomes. In an effort to better understand how to reduce the spread of resistance, many research studies have been conducted regarding the methods by which antibiotic resistance genes are mobilized and spread between bacteria. Transduction by bacteriophages (phages) is one of many horizontal gene transfer mechanisms, and recent findings have shown phage-mediated transduction to be a significant contributor to dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes. Here, we review the viability of transduction as a contributing factor to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes in foodborne pathogens of the Enterobacteriaceae family, including non-typhoidal Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, as well as environmental factors that increase transduction of antibiotic resistance genes.

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This article is a summary of the activities of the ICTV's Bacterial and Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee for the years 2018 and 2019. Highlights include the creation of a new order, 10 families, 22 subfamilies, 424 genera and 964 species. Some of our concerns about the ICTV's ability to adjust to and incorporate new DNA-and protein-based taxonomic tools are discussed.

Phage therapy is the application of phages to bodies, substances, or environments to effect the biocontrol of pathogenic or nuisance bacteria. To be effective, phages, minimally, must be capable of attaching to bacteria (adsorption), killing those bacteria (usually associated with phage infection), and otherwise surviving (resisting decay) until they achieve attachment and subsequent killing. While a strength of phage therapy is that phages that possess appropriate properties can be chosen from a large diversity of naturally occurring phages, a more rational approach to phage therapy also can include post-isolation manipulation of phages genetically, phenotypically, or in terms of combining different products into a single formulation. Genetic manipulation, especially in these modern times, can involve genetic engineering, though a more traditional approach involves the selection of spontaneously occurring phage mutants during serial transfer protocols. While genetic modification typically is done to give rise to phenotypic changes in phages, phage phenotype alone can also be modified in vitro, prior to phage application for therapeutic purposes, as for the sake of improving phage lethality (such as by linking phage virions to antibacterial chemicals such as chloramphenicol) or survival capabilities (e.g., via virion PEGylation). Finally, phages, both naturally occurring isolates or otherwise modified constructs, can be combined into cocktails which provide collectively enhanced capabilities such as expanded overall host range. Generally these strategies represent different routes towards improving phage therapy formulations and thereby efficacy through informed design.

Two coliphages, AR1 and LG1, were characterized based on their morphological, host range, and genetic properties. Transmission electron microscopy showed that both phages belonged to the Myoviridae; phage particles of LG1 were smaller than those of AR1 and had an isometric head 68 nm in diameter and a complex contractile tail 111 nm in length. Transmission electron micrographs of AR1 showed phage particles consisting of an elongated isometric head of 103 by 74 nm and a complex contractile tail 116 nm in length. Both phages were extensively tested on many strains of Escherichia coli and other enterobacteria. The results showed that both phages could infect many serotypes of E. coli. Among the enterobacteria, Proteus mirabilis, Shigella dysenteriae, and two Salmonella strains were lysed by the phages. The genetic material of AR1 and LG1 was characterized. Phage LG1 had a genome size of 49.5 kb compared to 150 kb for AR1. Restriction endonuclease analysis showed that several restriction enzymes could degrade DNA from both phages. The morphological, genome size, and restriction endonuclease similarities between AR1 and phage T4 were striking. Southern hybridizations showed that AR1 and T4 are genetically related. The wide host ranges of phages AR1 and LG1 suggest that they may be useful as biocontrol, therapeutic, or diagnostic agents to control and detect the prevalence of E. coli in animals and food.

A capillary isoelectric focusing-whole column imaging detection (CIEF-WCID) method was used to determine the isoelectric point (pI) of norovirus virus-like particles (VLPs). The VLPs were produced from noroviruses that represented the two genogroups, genogroup I (Funabashi, Seto, and Norwalk) and genogroup II (Hawaii, Kashiwa, and Narita). Using the imaged CIEF-WCID detection technique, separation was accomplished using a short (4-5 cm) internally coated capillary (100-microm diameter) and a whole-column optical absorption imaging detector operated at 280 nm. CIEF-WCID experiments showed the similarity of the pI values of VLPs from genogroups I and II, with pI values of 5.9, 5.9, 6.0, and 6.0 for Funabashi, Norwalk, Seto, and Hawaii. The two other VLPs displayed pI values of 5.5 (Kashiwa) and 6.9 (Narita). The VLP peaks were shown to be reproducibility resolved. CIEF-WCID shows great promise for norovirus detection in public health, clinical, and food safety applications, as CIEF-WCID overcomes several limitations of the currently used genetic and immunological methods.