The effect of environmental pH on the physiology and surface structures of Salmonella serotype enteritidis phage type 4

ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL EFFECT OF ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM ESSENTIAL OIL DURING SHELF LIFE OF MAYONNAISE

The importance of food-borne disease and consumer demands for avoiding synthetic food preservatives shifted the research interest to natural food preservatives such as essential oils which have antimicrobial activity. Also, spoilage of foods by fungi is a major problem, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Achillea millefolium essential oil as natural food preservative in high fat and low fat mayonnaise kept at 4°C for 6 months. Mayonnaise samples were divided into four experimental treatments, namely: EO (essential oil in concentrations of 0.45-7.2 mg/ml), BS (sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate in concentration of 0.75 mg/ml), Cmo (control: no preservative with added microorganisms) and C (control: no preservative and no added microorganisms). The results showed that of essential oil of Achillea millefolium had influence against all of the tested microorganisms in mayonnaise and all of the pathogens and fungi did not grow in mayonnaise, whereas in the control samples all of the microorganisms grew. The maximum cell counts of bacteria and fungus in low fat mayonnaise were approximately lower than the high fat mayonnaise or resistance to inactivation of microorganisms appeared to be greater in high fat mayonnaise than in low fat mayonnaise (p< 0.05). Also, BS samples exhibited antimicrobial properties against tested species during storage. In conclusion the essential oil of Achillea millefolium would lead to control food pathogenic organisms and food spoilage organisms and therefore, it can be used as natural preservative in food industry such as mayonnaise.  

Integrated combined effects of temperature, pH and sodium chloride concentration on biofilm formation by Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis and Typhimurium under low nutrient food-related conditions

Salmonella enterica is a major foodborne bacterial pathogen. This forms biofilms on surfaces and persists, depending on the strain and the environment. The integrative interaction of temperature (T; 13-39 °C), pH (5-8) and sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration (0.5-8.5%) on biofilm formation by two S. enterica strains (ser. Enteritidis and Typhimurium) was here evaluated under low nutrient conditions. This was achieved using response surface methodology to model the combined effect of each factor on the response, through mathematical quadratic fitting of the outcomes of a sequence of designed experiments. These last were executed by incubating stainless steel coupons carrying sessile bacteria, for 24 h, in 1:10 diluted tryptone soya broth, under 15 different combinations of three independent factors (T, pH and NaCl). For each strain, a second order polynomial model, describing the relationship between biofilm formation (log CFU/cm²) and the factors (T, pH and NaCl), was developed using least square regression analysis. Both derived models predicted the combined influences of these factors on biofilm formation, with agreement between predictions and experimental observations (R² ≥ 0.96, P ≤ 0.0001). For both strains, the increase of NaCl content restricted their sessile growth, while under low salinity conditions (NaCl < 4%) biofilm formation was favored as pH increased, regardless of T. Interestingly, under low salt content, and depending on the strain, biofilm formation was either favored or hindered by increasing T. Thus, 34.5 and 13 °C were the T predicted to maximize biofilm formation by strains Enteritidis and Typhimurium, respectively, something which was also experimentally verified. To sum, these models can predict the interactive influences of crucial food-related factors on biofilm growth of a significant foodborne pathogen towards the efforts to limit its persistence in food industry.

Impact of desiccation and heat exposure stress on Salmonella tolerance to acidic conditions

In a recent study, the pH of commonly used Salmonella pre-enrichment media became acidic (pH 4.0 to 5.0) when feed or feed ingredients were incubated for 24 h. Acidic conditions have been reported to injure or kill Salmonella. In this study, cultures of four known feed isolates (S. montevideo, S. senftenberg, S. tennessee, and S. schwarzengrund) and four important processing plant isolates (S. typhimurium, S. enteritidis, S. infantis, and S. heidelberg) were grown on meat and bone meal and later subjected to desiccation and heat exposure to stress the microorganism. The impact of stress on the isolates ability to survive in acidic conditions ranging from pH 4.0 to 7.0 was compared to the non-stressed isolate. Cell injury was determined on xylose lysine tergitol 4 (XLT4) and cell death determined on nutrient agar (NA). When measured by cell death in non-stressed Salmonella, S. typhimurium was the most acid tolerant and S. heidelberg was the most acid sensitive whereas in stressed Salmonella, S. senftenberg was the most acid tolerant and S. tennessee was the most acid sensitive. The pH required to cause cell injury varied among isolates. With some isolates, the pH required for 50% cell death and 50% cell injury was similar. In other isolates, cell injury occurred at a more neutral pH. These findings suggest that the pH of pre-enrichment media may influence the recovery and bias the serotype of Salmonella recovered from feed during pre-enrichment.

Colonization of reproductive organs and internal contamination of eggs after experimental infection of laying hens with Salmonella heidelberg and Salmonella enteritidis

Internal contamination of eggs laid by hens infected with Salmonella enteritidis has been a prominent international public health issue since the mid-1980s. Considerable resources have been committed to detecting and controlling S. enteritidis infections in commercial laying flocks. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported a significant association between eggs or egg-containing foods and S. heidelberg infections in humans. The present study sought to determine whether several S. heidelberg isolates obtained from egg-associated human disease outbreaks were able to colonize reproductive tissues and be deposited inside eggs laid by experimentally infected hens in a manner similar to the previously documented behavior of S. enteritidis. In two trials, groups of laying hens were orally inoculated with large doses of four S. heidelberg strains and an S. enteritidis strain that consistently caused egg contamination in previous studies. All five Salmonella strains (of both serotypes) colonized the intestinal tracts and invaded the livers, spleens, ovaries, and oviducts of inoculated hens, with no significant differences observed between the strains for any of these parameters. All four S. heidelberg strains were recovered from the interior liquid contents of eggs laid by infected hens, although at lower frequencies (between 1.1% and 4.5%) than the S. enteritidis strain (7.0%).

Effect of Prior Serial In Vivo Passage on the Frequency of Salmonella enteritidis Contamination in Eggs from Experimentally Infected Laying Hens

Experimental infection models are valuable tools for understanding and preventing the deposition of Salmonella enteritidis inside eggs. Oral inoculation is believed to closely simulate naturally occurring S. enteritidis infections of chickens, but oral infection studies have often generated relatively low frequencies of egg contamination. The present study assessed whether repeated in vivo passage of an S. enteritidis strain could affect its ability to cause egg contamination in experimentally infected hens. The incidence of egg contamination was determined in groups of hens inoculated orally with either a phage type 13a S. enteritidis strain or derivatives of this parent strain that were obtained by three successive rounds of passage and reisolation from tissues of infected hens. Passaged S. enteritidis isolates recovered from ovaries and oviducts induced a significantly higher incidence of egg contamination (16.97%) than was attributed to the parent strain (8.27%). However, passaged S. enteritidis isolates recovered from livers and spleens were not associated with a significantly increased frequency of deposition in eggs. By either inducing or selecting for the expression of relevant microbial properties, passage of S. enteritidis through reproductive tissues of chickens may be useful for improving the efficiency at which experimental infection models produce egg contamination.

Identification of possible chicken intestinal mucosa receptors for SEF21-fimbriated Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis

In order to test whether glycosphingolipids (GSLs) on the chicken intestinal mucosa serve as a receptor for Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis with fimbriae, we analyzed neutral GSLs and gangliosides from chicken intestinal mucosa and investigated the binding of bacteria to neutral GSLs and gangliosides. Four kinds of neutral GSLs, designated as N-1 to N-4 and four kinds of gangliosides, named G-1 to G-4, were identified on high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) plates. In TLC immunostaining tests, fimbriated S. Enteritidis bound only to glucosylceramide (GlcCer) standard, N-1, GM3 standard and G-1, but neither to N-2, N-3, N-4, nor to G-2, G-3 and G-4. Further, the bacterial binding to N-1 and G-1 was completely inhibited by preincubation of bacteria with anti-S. Enteritidis fimbriae (SEF) 21 antibody, but not by anti-SEF14 antibody. These results suggest that both GlcCer (N-1) and ganglioside GM3 (G-1) on the epithelial cell surfaces of chicken intestine act as receptors for fimbriated S. Enteritidis.