Widely regarded as a so-called "superfood," microgreens have become an increasingly significant food crop from both nutritional and agricultural standpoints. However, similar to other produce commodities that are also cultivated using modernized indoor farming methods, there have been mounting concerns over the potential risks of consuming microgreens contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. To gain insights into the microbial properties of microgreens, this study characterized the bacterial composition of fresh microgreen retail products using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: To prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses, the presence of pathogens in the food chain is monitored by government agencies and food producers. The culture-based methods currently employed are sensitive but time- and labor-intensive, leading to increasing interest in exploring culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) for pathogen detection. However, few studies quantify the relative sensitivity and reliability of these CIDTs compared to current approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRoad mortality adversely affects wildlife populations. As urbanization and infrastructure densities expand, transportation and wildlife management aim to mitigate wildlife-vehicle conflicts while conserving biodiversity. Roadways in aridland ecosystems can invariably and adversely impact wildlife differently from temperate and other biomes, yet these rapidly urbanizing regions are understudied as are urban-rural gradients.
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