Inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes by Enterococcus mundtii isolated from soil.

Two bacterial isolates with inhibitory activity against Listeria monocytogenes and Enterococcus faecalis were obtained from soil. Genotypic and phenotypic characterization identified them as Enterococcus mundtii, a species whose ability to compete with L. monocytogenes is relatively unexplored compared to other members of the genus.

Potential to use ultraviolet-treated bacteriophages to control foodborne pathogens.

The use of replication-deficient UV-treated bacteriophages, or phages, presents an alternative to viable phages for food biocontrol applications. Nontransducing UV-treated phages, if used correctly, are unlikely to produce viable progeny phages, which might otherwise mediate undesirable horizontal gene transfer events. Phage T4 and Escherichia coli were used as a model system to examine this possibility.

The development and validation of a multiclass liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) procedure for the determination of veterinary drug residues in animal tissue using a QuEChERS (QUick, Easy, CHeap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) approach.

A novel rapid multiresidue/multiclass procedure with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) detection has been developed to screen for the presence of veterinary drug residues in animal tissues. The method uses a new sample preparation procedure loosely based on QuEChERS (QUick, Easy, CHeap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) methodology. Validation to date has been restricted to chicken muscle and has been performed according to European Commission guidelines [COMMISSION DECISION of 12 August 2002 implementing Council Directive 96/23/EC concerning the performance of analytical methods and the interpretation of results] for nitroimidazoles, sulphonamides, fluoroquinolones, quinolones, ionophores and dinitrocarbanilide.

Campylobacters and bacteriophages in the surface waters of Canterbury (New Zealand).

Aim: To determine the relationship between the presence of thermotolerant campylobacters and their bacteriophages (phages) in surface waters for the potential to use phages as an indicator of Campylobacter spp.

Methods And Results: Thermotolerant campylobacters were enumerated in 53 water samples using a three tube most probable number (MPN) series in m-Exeter broth. The presence of phages in the same samples was tested using two approaches: qualitative enrichment with five different Campylobacter hosts and a quantitative membrane concentration method.

Influence of host and bacteriophage concentrations on the inactivation of food-borne pathogenic bacteria by two phages.

To use bacteriophages (phages) to control food-borne pathogenic bacteria, it will be necessary to determine the conditions allowing optimal activity. To start exploring these conditions, a Salmonella phage (P7) and a Campylobacter phage (Cj6) were incubated with their respective hosts at 24 degrees C for up to 2 h at varying phage and host cell concentrations, and surviving host cells were enumerated. A quadratic polynomial equation was fitted to the inactivation data and contour maps of inactivation against log(10) phage and host concentrations were plotted.