Genomic Evaluation of Multidrug-Resistant Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL)-Producing from Irrigation Water and Fresh Produce in South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

, both commensal and pathogenic, can colonize plants and persist in various environments. It indicates fecal contamination in water and food and serves as a marker of antimicrobial resistance. In this context, 61 extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing from irrigation water and fresh produce from previous studies were characterized using whole genome sequencing (Illumina MiSeq).

Influence of Soil Phosphate on Rhizobacterial Performance in Affecting Wheat Yield.

As a primary nutrient in agricultural soils, phosphorus plays a crucial but growth-limiting role for plants due to its complex interactions with various soil elements. This often results in excessive phosphorus fertilizer application, posing concerns for the environment. Agri-research has therefore shifted focus to increase fertilizer-use efficiency and minimize environmental impact by leveraging plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.

Microbiological quality of irrigation water on highly diverse fresh produce smallholder farms: elucidating environmental routes of contamination.

Aim: To evaluate the microbiological safety, potential multidrug-resistant bacterial presence and genetic relatedness (DNA fingerprints) of Escherichia coli isolated from the water-soil-plant nexus on highly diverse fresh produce smallholder farms.

Methods And Results: Irrigation water (n = 44), soil (n = 85), and fresh produce (n = 95) samples from six smallholder farms with different production systems were analysed for hygiene indicator bacterial counts and the presence of shigatoxigenic E. coli and Salmonella spp.

Serotype Distribution, Antimicrobial Resistance, Virulence Genes, and Genetic Diversity of Salmonella spp. Isolated from small-scale Leafy Green Vegetable Supply Chains in South Africa.

Salmonella have been implicated in foodborne disease outbreaks globally and is a pressing concern in the South African small-scale sector due to inadequate hygiene standards and limited regulatory oversight, leading to a higher risk of foodborne diseases. By investigating irrigation water and leafy green vegetables produced by small-scale growers and sold through unregulated supply chains, this study was able to determine the presence, serotype distribution, virulence gene profiles, antibiotic resistance, and genetic diversity of Salmonella isolated from these sources. From 426 samples, 21 Salmonella-positive samples were identified, providing 53 Salmonella isolates.

Microbiological quality assessment of fresh produce: Potential health risk to children and urgent need for improved food safety in school feeding schemes.

About 388 million school-going children worldwide benefit from school feeding schemes, which make use of fresh produce to prepare meals. Fresh produce including leafy greens and other vegetables were served at 37% and 31% of school feeding programs, respectively, in Africa. This study aimed at assessing the microbiological quality of fresh produce grown onsite or supplied to South African schools that are part of the national school feeding programs that benefit over 9 million school-going children.

Spatial diarrheal disease risks and antibiogram diversity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in selected access points of the Buffalo River, South Africa.

Freshwater sources, often used for domestic and agricultural purposes in low- and middle-income countries are repositories of clinically significant bacterial pathogens. These pathogens are usually diversified in their antibiogram profiles posing public health threats. This study evaluated the spatial diarrhoeal disease risk and antibiogram diversity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) in four access points of the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa using standard epidemiological, culture, and molecular methods.

Occurrence and Molecular Characterization of Multidrug-Resistant Vegetable-Borne Isolates.

Fresh vegetables play a significant role in the human diet. However, ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetables have been associated with increasing foodborne outbreaks including , which is a common human pathogen associated with foodborne infections resulting in listeriosis. This study aims to assess the resistance of vegetable-borne to antibiotics.

Fungal microbiome shifts on avocado fruit associated with a combination of postharvest chemical and physical interventions.

Aim Of The Study: The aim was to characterize the baseline microbial population of the avocado carposphere and understand shifts in community structure from the harvest to ready-to-eat stages.

Methods And Results: The changes in surface or stem-end (SE) fungal microbiomes at the postharvest stage of avocado fruit were studied using next-generation sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region. Avocado fructoplane and SE pulp fungal richness differed significantly between postharvest stages with a decline following prochloraz dip treatments.

Revisiting food security in 2021: an overview of the past year.

Articles published in Food Security in 2021 are reviewed, showing a wide range of topics covered. Many articles are directly linked with "food" and associated terms such as "nutritive", "nutrition", "dietary", and "health". Another important group is linked with (food) "production" and a range of connected terms including: "irrigation", "cultivated", "organic", "varieties", "crop", "vegetable", and "land".

The microbiome and resistome of apple fruits alter in the post-harvest period.

Background: A detailed understanding of antimicrobial resistance trends among all human-related environments is key to combat global health threats. In food science, however, the resistome is still little considered. Here, we studied the apple microbiome and resistome from different cultivars (Royal Gala and Braeburn) and sources (freshly harvested in South Africa and exported apples in Austrian supermarkets) by metagenomic approaches, genome reconstruction and isolate sequencing.

Microbiological safety of spinach throughout commercial supply chains in Gauteng Province, South Africa and characterization of isolated multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli.

Aim: To investigate the microbiological quality, potential foodborne pathogen presence, and to phenotypically (antimicrobial resistance [AMR] profiles) and genotypically (DNA fingerprints and diarrhoeagenic genes) characterize Escherichia coli isolated throughout spinach production systems from farm-to-sale.

Methods And Results: Samples (n = 288) were collected from two commercial supply chains using either river or borehole irrigation water. E.

Characterization of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Isolated from Two Commercial Lettuce and Spinach Supply Chains.

Abstract: Leafy green vegetables have increasingly been reported as a reservoir of multidrug-resistant pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae, with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli frequently implicated in disease outbreaks worldwide. This study examined the presence and characteristics of antibiotic resistance, diarrheagenic virulence genes, and phylogenetic groupings of E. coli isolates (n = 51) from commercially produced lettuce and spinach from farms, through processing, and at the point of sale.

Multidrug resistant from fresh produce sold by street vendors in South African informal settlements.

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of commensal and pathogenic on informally sold fresh produce in South Africa, who harbour and express antimicrobial resistance genes and therefore pose indirect risks to public health. The majority (85.71%) of isolates from spinach, apples, carrots, cabbage and tomatoes, were multidrug resistant (MDR).

Microbial Load and Prevalence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in Macadamia Nut Production Systems.

Abstract: This study evaluated the potential impact of environmental factors and harvesting practices on the microbial load of macadamia nuts. Three farms located in primary macadamia nut production regions, the Mbombela (A), Barberton (B) and White River (C) areas in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, were sampled over a 2-year period. A total of 264 irrigation water (54), soil (30), and macadamia nut (180) samples were collected and evaluated for microbial load.

Plant Health and Sound Vibration: Analyzing Implications of the Microbiome in Grape Wine Leaves.

Understanding the plant microbiome is a key for plant health and controlling pathogens. Recent studies have shown that plants are responsive towards natural and synthetic sound vibration (SV) by perception and signal transduction, which resulted in resistance towards plant pathogens. However, whether or not native plant microbiomes respond to SV and the underlying mechanism thereof remains unknown.

High prevalence of multidrug resistant Escherichia coli isolated from fresh vegetables sold by selected formal and informal traders in the most densely populated Province of South Africa.

Contaminated fresh produce has increasingly been implicated in foodborne disease outbreaks. As microbiological safety surveillance in South Africa is limited, a total of 545 vegetable samples (spinach, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, and green beans) were purchased from retailers, street traders, trolley vendors and farmers' markets. Escherichia coli, coliforms and Enterobacteriaceae were enumerated and the prevalence of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp.

smAvo and smaTo: A fruity odyssey of smart sensor platforms in Southern Africa.

Avocado and tomato production are key agricultural sectors for many economies including South Africa. The quality of avocadoes and tomatoes that reach consumers is directly dependent on the handling at the postharvest stage. The fruit undergoes an extensive journey, and subsequently stress, comprised of several steps, including harvesting, application of postharvest treatments, packaging and transportation by road and sea to reach the export markets.

Mapping disruption and resilience mechanisms in food systems.

This opinion article results from a collective analysis by the Editorial Board of Food Security. It is motivated by the ongoing covid-19 global epidemic, but expands to a broader view on the crises that disrupt food systems and threaten food security, locally to globally. Beyond the public health crisis it is causing, the current global pandemic is impacting food systems, locally and globally.

Antibiogram Signatures of Some Enterobacteria Recovered from Irrigation Water and Agricultural Soil in two District Municipalities of South Africa.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the antibiogram fingerprints of some Enterobacteria recovered from irrigation water and agricultural soil in two District Municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa using standard culture-based and molecular methods. The prevalent resistance patterns in the isolates follow the order: serovar Typhimurium [tetracycline (92.3%), ampicillin (69.

The incidence of antibiotic resistance within and beyond the agricultural ecosystem: A concern for public health.

The agricultural ecosystem creates a platform for the development and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance, which is promoted by the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the veterinary, agricultural, and medical sectors. This results in the selective pressure for the intrinsic and extrinsic development of the antimicrobial resistance phenomenon, especially within the aquaculture-animal-manure-soil-water-plant nexus. The existence of antimicrobial resistance in the environment has been well documented in the literature.

Microbiome approaches provide the key to biologically control postharvest pathogens and storability of fruits and vegetables.

Microbes play an important role in plants and interact closely with their host starting from sprouting seeds, continuing during growth and after harvest. The discovery of their importance for plant and postharvest health initiated a biotechnological development of various antagonistic bacteria and fungi for disease control. Nevertheless, their application often showed inconsistent effects.

Occurrence, Phenotypic and Molecular Characterization of Extended-Spectrum- and AmpC- β-Lactamase Producing Enterobacteriaceae Isolated From Selected Commercial Spinach Supply Chains in South Africa.

The increasing occurrence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) extended-spectrum β-lactamase- (ESBL) and/or AmpC β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in health care systems, the environment and fresh produce is a serious concern globally. Production practices, processing and subsequent consumption of contaminated raw fruit and vegetables represent a possible human transmission route. The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of ESBL/AmpC-producing Enterobacteriaceae in complete spinach supply chains and to characterize the isolated strains phenotypically (antimicrobial resistance profiles) and genotypically (ESBL/AmpC genetic determinants, detection of class 1, 2, and 3 integrons).

Awakening from the listeriosis crisis: Food safety challenges, practices and governance in the food retail sector in South Africa.

Background: The recent listeriosis outbreak in South Africa brought food safety concerns to the fore in terms of both policy and practice. These concerns encompass both health and nutrition aspects, as well as the economy, because the food system in South Africa contributes significantly to economic growth and food security. However, the food sector is challenged with food safety risks, such as foodborne diseases, food fraud and a general lack of effective enforcement of regulation.

Occurrence, fate and toxic effects of the industrial endocrine disrupter, nonylphenol, on plants - A review.

Nonylphenol (NP) and its detrimental effects on the environment, humans, wildlife, fish and birds is an increasingly important global research focus. The number of investigations on the toxicity and metabolic fate of NP in plants is however limited. This paper reviews the prevalence and source of NP in plants and the effect it has on its morphological, physiological and ultrastructural status.