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Novel Interventions for Control of Human Pathogens

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 3232

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72704, USA
Interests: antimicrobials; antibiotics; antimicrobial resistance; probiotics; food safety; low-moisture foods

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The evolution of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens in recent years has created concern in both the medical and agricultural fields. Novel antimicrobial chemotherapies and other control methods are needed to keep pace with these ever-evolving pathogens. The Special Issue “Novel Interventions for Control of Human Pathogens” is seeking research papers that address all aspects of the development of novel antimicrobials or other emerging interventions (such as probiotics) in the fields of human medicine, food science and food safety technology, and both pre-harvest and post-harvest agricultural interventions that address the control of human pathogens contaminating meats, vegetables, dairy products and spices. Certain human pathogens, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, can colonize the gastrointestinal tract of meat animals without causing apparent disease in the animal, yet may contaminate meat during slaughter and not be completely rinsed off the meat during the processing of the cuts. Similarly, vegetables and spices can become contaminated with toxigenic Escherichia coli or other pathogens before harvesting. Certain human medical conditions, such as necrotizing enterocolitis, have benefited from probiotic treatment. Listeria monocytogenes, transmitted primarily in ready-to-eat meats and other refrigerated foods, can cause a potentially fatal infection in severe cases. Listeria monocytogenes has been known to form recalcitrant biofilms in food processing plants and can grow even under refrigerated conditions. New interventions for these and other examples would be pertinent topics for this Special Issue.

Dr. Peter M. Rubinelli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • antimicrobials
  • antibiotics
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • probiotics
  • prebiotics
  • food safety
  • meats
  • vegetables
  • dairy products
  • spices

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6482 KiB  
Article
Phytochemical Analysis and Amoebicidal Evaluation of Different Agave Species
by Ana Laura Rodríguez-Zapata, Jorge Ivan Mora-Frias, Miguel Angel Briano-Elias, Armando Pérez-Centeno, Lucia Barrientos-Ramírez, Ramón Reynoso-Orozco, Mario Nava-Villalba and Araceli Castillo-Romero
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(5), 1905; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14051905 - 26 Feb 2024
Viewed by 833
Abstract
Amoebiasis, a disease caused by the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica, represents a serious public health problem, mainly in developing countries. The first line of therapy for amoebiasis treatment is metronidazole (MTZ); however, clinical isolates of E. histolytica with resistance to MTZ and varying [...] Read more.
Amoebiasis, a disease caused by the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica, represents a serious public health problem, mainly in developing countries. The first line of therapy for amoebiasis treatment is metronidazole (MTZ); however, clinical isolates of E. histolytica with resistance to MTZ and varying sensitivity to other antiamoebic drugs threaten the effectiveness of the prevention and treatment of this parasitic infection. Natural products stand out as a promising strategy to develop new, safe and more effective alternatives. In this study, we determined and compared the phytochemical profiles of Agave tequilana, Agave angustifolia, Agave rhodacantha, and Agave maximiliana and described their cytotoxic effect on E. histolytica trophozoites. The results show that the four Agaves kill E. histolytica in a species–time–dose-dependent manner. A morphologic analysis of the treated parasites showed evident morphological alterations suggestive of programmed cell death with nuclear alterations; it also highlighted the presence of rounded cells with protuberances/perforations in the membrane and cells that appeared to have exploded. The overall activity of Agave ethanolic extracts in E. histolytica can help provide new strategies to advance alternative treatments against amoebiasis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Interventions for Control of Human Pathogens)
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11 pages, 2748 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial Activity of Human C-Type Lectin Domain Family 3 Member A (CLEC3A)
by Katharina S. Woggon, Denise Meinberger, Gabriele Hermes, Annika Roth, Thomas Streichert and Andreas R. Klatt
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14010184 - 25 Dec 2023
Viewed by 735
Abstract
C-type lectins (CTLs) are a group of proteins that play a crucial role in immunological functions. With the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, CTLs have emerged as a potential alternative to traditional antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), the latter exhibiting limited application due to [...] Read more.
C-type lectins (CTLs) are a group of proteins that play a crucial role in immunological functions. With the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, CTLs have emerged as a potential alternative to traditional antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), the latter exhibiting limited application due to their low biostability. In this study, we used viable count assays to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the human C-type Lectin Domain Family 3 Member A (CLEC3A) and its two protein domains, CLEC3A Ex23 and CLEC3A Ex3, against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Additionally, using immunoblot analysis, we assessed the biostability of CLEC3A and its protein domains in bacterial supernatant and murine serum. Our findings demonstrate that CLEC3A, CLEC3A Ex23, and CLEC3A Ex3 possess antimicrobial activity against gram-positive Staphyloccocus aureus and gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. CLEC3A is more effective against P. aeruginosa than the well-investigated antimicrobial peptide LL-37. Furthermore, CLEC3A and its domains have low sensitivity to bacterial and serum proteases, making them more advantageous for systemic application than most AMPs. In conclusion, our research has demonstrated that CLEC3A is not only a precursor of AMPs but also an antimicrobial protein itself, with favorable characteristics for therapeutic applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Interventions for Control of Human Pathogens)
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23 pages, 3139 KiB  
Article
The Bactericidal Activity of a Novel Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus Isolate Effectively Controls Foodborne Pathogens Campylobacter jejuni and Listeria monocytogenes
by Peter M. Rubinelli, Rohana Liyanage, Jackson Lay and Jennifer C. Acuff
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(18), 10257; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810257 - 13 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1319
Abstract
Human zoonotic infection with Campylobacter is a major cause of gastroenteritis in the United States and worldwide. Listeria monocytogenes causes a potentially fatal infection in humans and is often attributed to contaminated food. Genetic typing has demonstrated that Campylobacter infection is often associated [...] Read more.
Human zoonotic infection with Campylobacter is a major cause of gastroenteritis in the United States and worldwide. Listeria monocytogenes causes a potentially fatal infection in humans and is often attributed to contaminated food. Genetic typing has demonstrated that Campylobacter infection is often associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry products, with Campylobacter often colonizing the poultry gastrointestinal tract, while listeriosis is commonly associated with the consumption of contaminated ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. In this study, a strain of endospore-forming bacterium (strain NH) that is bactericidal towards the human food pathogens Campylobacter jejuni and Listeria monocytogenes was identified and characterized. Transwell experiments demonstrated that the bactericidal effect on both C. jejuni and L. monocytogenes is due to secretions from the spore former. These foodborne pathogens consistently exhibited 7 log reductions in growth when exposed to the NH cell-free culture filtrate. Sequencing of the 16s rRNA gene V4 variable region and analysis of the full-length 16s rRNA gene sequence from the WGS indicated that strain NH belongs to the species Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus. A microplate bioassay demonstrated that a bactericidal substance that is sensitive to protease could be collected from cell-free filtrates by salting out with ammonium sulfate. Gel filtration chromatography indicated a native molecular weight for the bactericidal protein of ca. 50 kDa, consistent with a class III bacteriocin. The active protein bound strongly to a cation-exchange resin and with an isoelectric point of ten, suggesting a positively charged protein. Both cation-exchange chromatography and isoelectric focusing indicated the enrichment of an 11 kDa protein on SDS-PAGE. This protein was identified through mass spectroscopy as the flgM protein, an anti-sigma factor. Analysis of whole genome sequencing (WGS) of the strain NH genome indicated the presence of a number of non-conservative amino acid substitutions in the flgM-gene-derived amino acid sequence of strain NH and A. aneurinilyticus compared to other members of the Aneurinibacillus genus. Further investigation is needed to determine whether these substitutions are correlated with the bactericidal activity. The identified strain may be useful as a feed additive for the pre-harvest control of Campylobacter jejuni in poultry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Interventions for Control of Human Pathogens)
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