Antibiotic Resistance from Farm-to-Fork: Prevention and Containment

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 April 2023) | Viewed by 6647

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial and Food Microbiology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: antimicrobial resistance; food microbiology; coagulase-negative staphylococci; enterococci; Listeria monocytogenes; pathogens; biofilm; virulence factors
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Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: fermented food; probiotics; water bioremediation; pathogens; spoilage microorganisms; antibiotic resistance; safety concern

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The farm-to-fork continuum has been highlighted as a possible reservoir of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and as a hotspot for the emergence and spread of AMR. Antibiotic resistance is a complex phenomenon involving several resistance mechanisms and different bacterial species and genera, in the most diverse environments. Bacterial antibiotic resistance, especially multidrug resistance (MDR), is a growing public health problem, threatening human and animal health, food, and environment safety. The emergence of antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) in the food chain is considered a cross-sectoral problem, as (i) antibiotics are widely used in aquaculture, livestock production, and crop culture (ii) ARB and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) can easily spread at each stage of the food production chain and (iii) can cause infections in humans.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is believed to be one of the most important issues allowing bacteria to exchange their genetic materials (including antibiotic resistance genes, ARGs) among diverse species, greatly fostering collaboration among bacterial population in MDR development. The extent of the role of the use of antibiotics as well as non-antibiotic antimicrobials, the exploiting of new food processing methods, based on novel food safety approaches and/or the application of conventional and innovative food stressors as selective factors still needs to be clarified.

Recently, thanks to advances in 'omics' technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) combined to analytical tools, such as liquid and gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, along with high throughput technologies and bioinformatics, innovative breakthroughs in genome sequencing have been achieved. Omics technologies provided key insight into processes related to bacterial physiology, virulence and stress appearing as promising in the fight to overcome drug resistance.

Making a considerable contribution to the scientific community, this special issue aims to collect original research articles, short communications, reviews, mini-reviews on the various aspects of AR in food production chain. Potential topics include: AMR mechanisms, spread, horizontal gene transfer and new perspective to study, control, and overcome drug resistance.

Dr. Wioleta Chajȩcka-Wierzchowska
Prof. Dr. Cinzia Caggia
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • antimicrobial resistance
  • food microbiology
  • food chain
  • antimicrobial resistance mechanisms
  • horizontal gene transfer
  • stress factors
  • cross-resistance between antimicrobials and biocides
  • whole genome sequencing

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1133 KiB  
Article
Cefotaxime-, Ciprofloxacin-, and Extensively Drug-Resistant Escherichia coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 in Camel Meat
by Khalid Ibrahim Sallam, Yasmine Abd-Elrazik, Mona Talaat Raslan, Kálmán Imre, Adriana Morar, Viorel Herman and Hanan Ahmed Zaher
Foods 2023, 12(7), 1443; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods12071443 - 29 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1524
Abstract
The present study aimed to explore for the first time the occurrence and the antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 isolates in camel meat in Egypt. Among the 110 camel meat samples examined using standardized microbiological techniques, 10 (9.1%) and [...] Read more.
The present study aimed to explore for the first time the occurrence and the antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 isolates in camel meat in Egypt. Among the 110 camel meat samples examined using standardized microbiological techniques, 10 (9.1%) and 32 (29.1%) were positive for E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O55:H7, respectively. In total, 24 isolates were verified as E. coli O157:H7, while 102 isolates were confirmed serologically as E. coli O55:H7. Multiplex PCR revealed the existence of eaeA, stx1, stx2, and EHEC-hlyA among E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 isolates (n = 126) at various percentages. According to their resistance against 14 antibiotics, 16.7% and 83.3% of O157:H7 isolates and 8.6% and 76.5% of O55:H7 isolates were classified into extensively drug-resistant and multi-drug-resistant, respectively, whereas 29.4% and 22.2% of E. coli isolates were resistant to cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin, respectively. The study results emphasize that camel meat may be a vehicle for multi- and extensively drug-resistant E. coli O157:H7 and O55:H7 strains, indicating a potential threat to public health. Further studies based on the molecular evidence of the antimicrobial resistance genes and enrolling a larger number of samples are recommended for a better understanding of the antimicrobial resistance phenomenon of camel-meat-originating pathogenic E. coli strains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Resistance from Farm-to-Fork: Prevention and Containment)
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11 pages, 1263 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Study on Antibiotic Resistance among Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) Strains Isolated from Ready-to-Eat Food Served in Bars and Restaurants
by Wioleta Chajęcka-Wierzchowska, Joanna Gajewska, Anna Zadernowska, Cinzia Lucia Randazzo and Cinzia Caggia
Foods 2023, 12(3), 514; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods12030514 - 23 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2516
Abstract
The present study aimed to characterize and assess the diversity of CoNS strains as potential vectors for the spread of resistance to antimicrobial agents from RTE foods served in bars and restaurants. Eighty-five CoNS strains, obtained from 198 RTE food samples, were investigated. [...] Read more.
The present study aimed to characterize and assess the diversity of CoNS strains as potential vectors for the spread of resistance to antimicrobial agents from RTE foods served in bars and restaurants. Eighty-five CoNS strains, obtained from 198 RTE food samples, were investigated. Sixty-seven CoNS isolates (78.8%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic tested, and 37 (43.5%) were multidrug resistant (MDR-CoNS). Moreover, CoNS strains contained genes conferring resistance to antibiotics critically important in medicine, i.e., β—lactams [mecA (29.4%); blaZ (84.7%)], aminoglycosides [aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2″)-Ia (45.9%); aph(2″)-Ic (3.5%)], macrolides, lincosamides and streptogramin B-MLSB [msrA/B (68.2%); ermB (40%) and mphC (4.7%)], tetracyclines [tetK (31.8%); tetM (16.5%) and/or tetL (2.35%)]. We also found the fusB/C/D genes responsible for the acquired low-level fusidic acid resistance (17.6%) and streptogramin resistance determinant vgaA in 30.6% of isolates. In three linezolid resistant strains (2 S. epidermidis and 1 S. warneri), mutation was detected, as demonstrated by L101V and V188I changes in the L3 protein amino acid sequences. The high frequency in RTE food of MDR-CoNS including methicillin-resistant (MR-CoNS) strains constitutes a direct risk to public health as they increase the gene pool from which pathogenic bacteria can pick up resistance traits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Resistance from Farm-to-Fork: Prevention and Containment)
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14 pages, 695 KiB  
Article
Dairy Products: A Potential Source of Multidrug-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium Strains
by Marlena Gołaś-Prądzyńska, Magdalena Łuszczyńska and Jolanta Grażyna Rola
Foods 2022, 11(24), 4116; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods11244116 - 19 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1925
Abstract
This study attempts to present the antimicrobial resistance, virulence and resistance genes of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium isolated from raw goat’s and sheep’s milk and cheese. Strains were identified by PCR. The dominant species was E. faecalis (77.8%) and was most often [...] Read more.
This study attempts to present the antimicrobial resistance, virulence and resistance genes of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium isolated from raw goat’s and sheep’s milk and cheese. Strains were identified by PCR. The dominant species was E. faecalis (77.8%) and was most often isolated from raw goat’s milk. The percentage of antimicrobial-resistant E. faecalis isolates was higher than that of E. faecium isolates, the former most frequently resistant to lincomycin (98%), tetracycline (63%) and streptomycin (16%). Fourteen (22.3%) E. faecalis and 2 (11.1%) E. faecium isolates were identified as multidrug-resistant (MDR). All MDR E. faecalis strains also had virulence genes, whereas one of the two E. faecium strains had them. The most prevalent virulence genes in E. faecalis isolates were asa1 (69.8%) and gelE (57.1%). The most prevalent resistance genes found in both bacterial species were tet(M) (43.2%) and vgaA (22.2%). Enterococci from dairy products are confirmed to be a potential source of the spread of antimicrobial resistance, MDR strains, and virulence and resistance genes. This study highlights several aspects of the virulence and pathogenicity of E. faecalis and E. faecium isolated from dairy products—aspects which are indications for their ongoing monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Resistance from Farm-to-Fork: Prevention and Containment)
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