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Antibiotics
Special Issues
Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cause for Concern
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Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cause for Concern

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 8174

Special Issue Editor

Dr. José Ramos-Vivas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Laboratory of Microbiology, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
2. CIBER of Infectious Diseases-CIBERINFEC, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Interests: antimicrobial resistance; foodborne pathogens; food safety; one health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a transboundary public health concern resulting from the use and frequent misuse of antimicrobial agents. The emergence and dissemination of bacterial AMR are the result of numerous complex interactions among antibiotics, microorganisms, and the surrounding environments. Resistant bacteria are usually no more pathogenic than other bacteria, but when they cause disease, these infections are more difficult to treat. When AMR occurs in the food chain, policymakers need to protect consumers and establish the best control options to reduce such risks. In addition to the classic pathogens linked to outbreaks of foodborne infections, other species of bacteria that have been especially important in this issue are those belonging to the ESKAPE group. Nowadays, articles on the incidence or prevalence of ESKAPE pathogens in food are no longer rare. In addition to the intrinsic danger of the ESKAPE bacterial species, new pathogens of animal or environmental origin are reported more frequently. Emerging foodborne pathogens of zoonotic or environmental origin include Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, which may emerge after acquiring new virulence genes, including AMR determinants. Strains of these pathogens are isolated not only more frequently but also with resistance genes against important antibiotics used in human medicine, which also makes them putative transmission vectors of AMR in the food chain.

Global food production and distribution have contributed to AMR dissemination, increasing interest in the development of new control strategies in food safety, currently constituting a fundamental issue in One Health's policy. For example, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is expected to improve AMR surveillance of foodborne pathogens by providing information on AMR profiles, AMR genes background, virulence profiles, and metabolic capabilities, which can be used to know the ability of bacteria to grow and to persist along the food chain.

In this Special Issue, we will report new findings explaining the origin and transmission of AMR in the food chain, the emergence or re-emergence of foodborne pathogens carrying resistance genes, and we will debate the issues and opportunities presented by research in the field of food safety and AMR.

We are interested in topics including but not limited to the following:

  • Origin, prevalence, and antimicrobial resistance profiles of foodborne pathogens;
  • Research in chemical sanitizers and disinfectants that may affect AMR in the food chain;
  • Transmissible plasmids for the dissemination of AMR genes in food pathogens;
  • Trends in AMR in important food pathogens such as Salmonella, Campilobacter spp., E. coli, and also Gram-positive bacteria such as Listeria spp., Clostridium spp., and Staphylococcus spp.;
  • AMR in emerging or re-emerging foodborne pathogens;
  • Biofilms and AMR in the food chain;
  • AMR surveillance of foodborne pathogens and the One Health perspective.

Dr. José Ramos-Vivas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2900 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

  • antimicrobial resistance
  • foodborne pathogens
  • food safety
  • one health

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1811 KiB  
Article
Incidence and Genomic Background of Antibiotic Resistance in Food-Borne and Clinical Isolates of Salmonella enterica Serovar Derby from Spain
by Xenia Vázquez, Raquel García-Fierro, Javier Fernández, Margarita Bances, Ana Herrero-Fresno, John E. Olsen, Rosaura Rodicio, Víctor Ladero, Vanesa García and M. Rosario Rodicio
Antibiotics 2023, 12(7), 1204; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12071204 - 19 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1285
Abstract
Salmonella enterica serovar Derby (S. Derby) ranks fifth among nontyphoidal Salmonella serovars causing human infections in the European Union. S. Derby isolates (36) collected between 2006 and 2018 in a Spanish region (Asturias) from human clinical samples (20) as well [...] Read more.
Salmonella enterica serovar Derby (S. Derby) ranks fifth among nontyphoidal Salmonella serovars causing human infections in the European Union. S. Derby isolates (36) collected between 2006 and 2018 in a Spanish region (Asturias) from human clinical samples (20) as well as from pig carcasses, pork- or pork and beef-derived products, or wild boar (16) were phenotypically characterized with regard to resistance, and 22 (12 derived from humans and 10 from food-related samples) were also subjected to whole genome sequence analysis. The sequenced isolates belonged to ST40, a common S. Derby sequence type, and were positive for SPI-23, a Salmonella pathogenicity island involved in adherence and invasion of the porcine jejune enterocytes. Isolates were either susceptible (30.6%), or resistant to one or more of the 19 antibiotics tested for (69.4%). Resistances to tetracycline [tet(A), tet(B) and tet(C)], streptomycin (aadA2), sulfonamides (sul1), nalidixic acid [gyrA (Asp87 to Asn)] and ampicillin (blaTEM-1-like) were detected, with frequencies ranging from 8.3% to 66.7%, and were higher in clinical than in food-borne isolates. The fosA7.3 gene was present in all sequenced isolates. The most common phenotype was that conferred by the tet(A), aadA2 and sul1 genes, located within identical or closely related variants of Salmonella Genomic Island 1 (SGI1), where mercury resistance genes were also present. Diverse IncI1-I(α) plasmids belonging to distinct STs provided antibiotic [blaTEM-1, tet(A) and/or tet(B)] and heavy metal resistance genes (copper and silver), while small pSC101-like plasmids carried tet(C). Regardless of their location, most resistance genes were associated with genetic elements involved in DNA mobility, including a class one integron, multiple insertion sequences and several intact or truncated transposons. By phylogenetic analysis, the isolates were distributed into two distinct clades, both including food-borne and clinical isolates. One of these clades included all SGI1-like positive isolates, which were found in both kinds of samples throughout the entire period of study. Although the frequency of S. Derby in Asturias was very low (0.5% and 3.1% of the total clinical and food isolates of S. enterica recovered along the period of study), it still represents a burden to human health linked to transmission across the food chain. The information generated in the present study can support further epidemiological surveillance aimed to control this zoonotic pathogen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cause for Concern)
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14 pages, 2372 KiB  
Article
Cytotoxicity and Antimicrobial Resistance of Aeromonas Strains Isolated from Fresh Produce and Irrigation Water
by Alberto Pintor-Cora, Olga Tapia, María Elexpuru-Zabaleta, Carlos Ruiz de Alegría, Jose M. Rodríguez-Calleja, Jesús A. Santos and Jose Ramos-Vivas
Antibiotics 2023, 12(3), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12030511 - 03 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2016
Abstract
The genus Aeromonas has received constant attention in different areas, from aquaculture and veterinary medicine to food safety, where more and more frequent isolates are occurring with increased resistance to antibiotics. The present paper studied the interaction of Aeromonas strains isolated from fresh [...] Read more.
The genus Aeromonas has received constant attention in different areas, from aquaculture and veterinary medicine to food safety, where more and more frequent isolates are occurring with increased resistance to antibiotics. The present paper studied the interaction of Aeromonas strains isolated from fresh produce and water with different eukaryotic cell types with the aim of better understanding the cytotoxic capacity of these strains. To study host-cell pathogen interactions in Aeromonas, we used HT-29, Vero, J774A.1, and primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. These interactions were analyzed by confocal microscopy to determine the cytotoxicity of the strains. We also used Galleria mellonella larvae to test their pathogenicity in this experimental model. Our results demonstrated that two strains showed high cytotoxicity in epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and macrophages. Furthermore, these strains showed high virulence using the G. mellonella model. All strains used in this paper generally showed low levels of resistance to the different families of the antibiotics being tested. These results indicated that some strains of Aeromonas present in vegetables and water pose a potential health hazard, displaying very high in vitro and in vivo virulence. This pathogenic potential, and some recent concerning findings on antimicrobial resistance in Aeromonas, encourage further efforts in examining the precise significance of Aeromonas strains isolated from foods for human consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cause for Concern)
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14 pages, 3406 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Phage vB_SalM_SPJ41 and the Reduction of Risk of Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella enterica Contamination in Two Ready-to-Eat Foods
by Tengteng Li, Hong Chen, Jiayi Zhao, Zhenxiang Tao, Weiqing Lan, Yong Zhao and Xiaohong Sun
Antibiotics 2023, 12(2), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12020364 - 09 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1820
Abstract
Salmonella enterica is a major cause of foodborne illness, and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has led to huge pressures on public health. Phage is a promising strategy for controlling foodborne pathogens. In this study, a novel Salmonella phage vB_SalM_SPJ41 was isolated from poultry [...] Read more.
Salmonella enterica is a major cause of foodborne illness, and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has led to huge pressures on public health. Phage is a promising strategy for controlling foodborne pathogens. In this study, a novel Salmonella phage vB_SalM_SPJ41 was isolated from poultry farms in Shanghai, China. Phage vB_SalM_SPJ41 was able to lyse multiple serotypes of antibiotic-resistant S. enterica, including S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurium, S. Shubra, S. Derby, and S. Nchanga. It had a short incubation period and was still active at a temperature <80 °C and in the pH range of 3~11. The phage can effectively inhibit the growth of S. enterica in liquid culture and has a significant inhibitory and destructive effect on the biofilm produced by antibiotic-resistant S. enterica. Moreover, the phage was able to reduce S. Enteritidis and MDR S. Derby in lettuce to below the detection limit at 4 °C. Furthermore, the phage could reduce S. Enteritidis and S. Derby in salmon below the limit of detection at 4 °C, and by 3.9 log10 CFU/g and· 2.1 log10 CFU/g at 15 °C, respectively. In addition, the genomic analysis revealed that the phages did not carry any virulence factor genes or antibiotic resistance genes. Therefore, it was found that vB_SalM_SPJ41 is a promising candidate phage for biocontrol against antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in ready-to-eat foods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cause for Concern)
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16 pages, 2365 KiB  
Article
Pathogenic Microorganisms Linked to Fresh Fruits and Juices Purchased at Low-Cost Markets in Ecuador, Potential Carriers of Antibiotic Resistance
by Gabriela N. Tenea, Pamela Reyes, Diana Molina and Clara Ortega
Antibiotics 2023, 12(2), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12020236 - 22 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2173
Abstract
The pathogenic microorganisms linked to fresh fruits and juices sold out in retail low-cost markets raise safety concerns as they may carry multidrug-resistant (MDR) genes. To evaluate the microbiological quality and safety of highly consumed fruits and derivatives in Imbabura Province, Ecuador, ready-to-eat [...] Read more.
The pathogenic microorganisms linked to fresh fruits and juices sold out in retail low-cost markets raise safety concerns as they may carry multidrug-resistant (MDR) genes. To evaluate the microbiological quality and safety of highly consumed fruits and derivatives in Imbabura Province, Ecuador, ready-to-eat strawberries (5 independent batches; n = 300 samples), and gooseberries (5 separate batches; n = 500 samples), purchased from a local fruit farm grower and low-cost retail market, along with 20 different natural fruit- and vegetables-based juices (3 independent batches; n = 60 samples) purchased from food courts located within the low-cost markets were analyzed. Bacteriological analysis showed that the microbial quality was lower as several indicators (n = 984) consisting of total coliforms (TCOL), total aerobes (AEROB), Enterobacter spp. (ENT), Shigella spp., (SHIGA), yeasts (YE), and molds (M) were detected. Staphylococcus spp. (STAPHY) was found in both fruits regardless of origin, while Escherichia coli (EC) isolates were found in strawberries but not gooseberries. Salmonella spp. (SALM) were detected in juices only. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed multidrug resistance of several isolates. The hemolytic pattern revealed that 88.89% of EC and 61.11% of ENT isolates were beta-hemolytic. All STAPHY isolates were beta-hemolytic while SALM and SHIGA were alpha-hemolytic. Plasmid curing assay of MDR isolates (ENT, EC, SALM, and STAPHY) showed that the antibiotic resistance (AR) was highly indicative of being plasmid-borne. These results raise concerns about the consumption of MDR bacteria. However, good agricultural and industrial practices, behavioral change communication, and awareness-raising programs are necessary for all stakeholders along the food production and consumption supply chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cause for Concern)
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