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Optical Biosensors in Foodborne Pathogen Detection
Published in George K. Knopf, Amarjeet S. Bassi, Smart Biosensor Technology, 2018
Foodborne pathogens are composed of bacteria, viruses, protozoa, nematodes, and fungi or molds (Bhunia 2018; Ryan and Bhunia 2017). Bacterial pathogens include Salmonella enterica; Listeria monocytogenes; Bacillus spp.; Staphylococcus aureus; Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium perfringens; Escherichia coli, especially the Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC); Campylobacter jejuni; Yersinia enterocolitica; and Vibrio spp. Some bacterial pathogens produce potent exotoxins like botulinum toxin by Clostridium botulinum, staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) by Staphylococcus aureus, epsilon toxin by Clostridium perfringens, and diarrheagenic/emetic enterotoxins by Bacillus cereus. Exogenous administration or production of toxin in nanogram quantities in food could lead to serious consequences. Alternatively, when viable pathogenic bacterial cells are ingested, they can cause infection. A brief description of select bacterial pathogens is summarized below.
Foodborne Illness
Published in Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell, Living with the Earth, 2018
Gary S. Moore, Kathleen A. Bell
Staphylococcus food poisoning, caused by the gram-positive cocci Staphylococcus aureus, is one of the most common foodborne illnesses in the United States. Staphylococci organisms can be found present in the nasal passages, pimples, throat, and wounds of humans. The organism can grow between 7°C and 48°C and produces an enterotoxin between 20°C and 37°C. Sickness is due to the consumption of the enterotoxin that is produced; therefore, Staphylococcus food poisoning is considered an intoxication as opposed to an infection. The intoxication is characterized by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea occurring within 30 minutes to eight hours after consumption of the enterotoxin. Sickness is usually short in duration and self-limiting, but death has occurred from intoxication. The enterotoxins can survive prolonged boiling and are considered to be heat stable. Therefore, once the enterotoxins are produced in food, they have the capacity to produce illness even if the food is reheated and the Staphylococcus organisms are killed.
Water Treatment and Purification
Published in P.K. Tewari, Advanced Water Technologies, 2020
Escherichia coli, commonly indicating fecal contamination, causes bacterial infections of the intestines where the major symptom is diarrhea. It typically has a length of 3 μm and width of 1 μm. E. coli are characterized by their ability to produce potent enterotoxins. Enterotoxins are similar to hormones, and act on the small intestine, causing massive secretion of fluids, which lead to the symptoms of diarrhea. For example, E. coli produces a potent enterotoxin that causes both hemorrhagic diarrhea and kidney failure. These diseases may cause death, if left untreated. Waterborne diseases caused by bacterial organisms are cholera, typhoid, paratyphoid, dysentery, diarrhea, tuberculosis, etc.
An exploration on the toxicity mechanisms of phytotoxins and their potential utilities
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2022
Huiling Chen, Harpreet Singh, Neha Bhardwaj, Sanjeev K. Bhardwaj, Madhu Khatri, Ki-Hyun Kim, Wanxi Peng
Several families of phytopathogenic bacteria are known to produce different types of bacterial phytotoxins. Most of these toxins have a well-defined mechanism of action by which they interact with the host plant in a variety of ways (Dayan et al., 2000; Duke & Dayan, 2006). The most common effects (symptoms) of toxins on plants are diverse, ranging from chlorosis, necrosis, wilting, and growth anomalies to the inhibition of enzymatic activity that results in metabolism dysfunction. Most importantly, bacterial phytotoxins play a role in plant pathogenesis (Pfeilmeier et al., 2016). Upon entering the host plant’s rhizosphere, the bacteria settle on the plant surface to initiate an infection. The ability of the bacterial pathogen to produce disease symptoms with the release of toxins in rhizosphere on the host plant is recognized. They may also migrate from the epiphytic surface to the plant tissues through motility and chemotaxis mechanism by triggering a change in structural, physiological, and metabolic characteristics of plants. For example, the first-ever reported bacterial phytotoxin is syringomycin, produced by P. syringae, which can cause wildfire in tobacco plants and brown spot disease in beans (Bender et al., 1999; Kahlon, 2016). P. syringae toxins are highly versatile in their origins, which include tabtoxin, sulfodiaminophosphinyl peptide (phaseolotoxin), peptidolactone (syringomycin), hemithioacetal (tagetitoxin), and polyketide (coronatine). Other common bacterial manifestations can also cause diverse types of diseases such as common blight in beans (caused by Xanthomonas campestris), crown gall disease (caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens), and Granville wilt (caused by Pseudomonas solanacearum) in different plants (Mansfield et al., 2012). Moreover, many bacteria (e.g., Bacillus anthracis, Burkholderia pseudomallei, and Staphylococcus aureus) produce phytotoxins such as anthrax toxin (anthrax edema factor), B. pseudomallei toxins, and Staphylococcus enterotoxins, respectively (Gopalakrishnakone et al., 2018). The proteinaceous Shiga and Shiga-like toxins produced by Shigella dysenteriae get attached to the cell surface, enter the cell cytoplasm, and terminate protein synthesis, causing toxic action in plants (Sandvig et al., 2010).