Project description:The use of probiotics in the food industry is increasing; however, the application of strong antibiotics or preservatives to maintain strain functionality is limited, which may compromise product safety. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of alternative sweeteners on the growth and antimicrobial activity of lactic acid bacteria used in this study (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lacticaseibacillus casei, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum) and to elucidate their antimicrobial mechanisms against pathogens, thereby exploring the potential application of sweeteners in probiotic-based foods. L. casei exhibited stable growth with aspartame (ASP), acesulfame potassium (ACE-K), erythritol (ERY), sucrose (SUC), and saccharin (SAC). Among them, the cell-free supernatant (CFS) of L. casei cultured with 1% (w/v) SAC showed significant antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium. SAC alone inhibited pathogen growth, and the effect was further enhanced in co-culture with L. casei. Transcriptome analysis revealed that SAC and L. casei exposure upregulated genes related to sulfur metabolism, cationic antimicrobial peptide resistance, and two-component systems, while downregulating genes associated with flagellar assembly, chemotaxis, and biofilm formation. These findings indicate that SAC and L. casei trigger stress responses in pathogens while suppressing motility and virulence. Phenotypic assays of motility and biofilm formation supported the transcriptome data, confirming that SAC-induced gene expression changes translated into observable phenotypes. Importantly, SAC did not affect the growth or antimicrobial activity of L. casei but selectively inhibited E. coli O157:H7 under co-culture conditions. Overall, SAC shows promise as an antimicrobial agent for controlling foodborne pathogens in the food industry.
Project description:<p>The study of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in infectious diarrhea has generally been limited to cultivation, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and targeted PCR assays. When individual strains of significance are identified, whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequencing of important clones and clades is performed. Genes that encode resistance to antibiotics have been detected in environmental, insect, human and animal metagenomes and are known as "resistomes". While metagenomic datasets have been mined to characterize the healthy human gut resistome in the Human Microbiome Project and MetaHIT and in a Yanomani Amerindian cohort, directed metagenomic sequencing has not been used to examine the epidemiology of AMR. Especially in developing countries where sanitation is poor, diarrhea and enteric pathogens likely serve to disseminate antibiotic resistance elements of clinical significance. Unregulated use of antibiotics further exacerbates the problem by selection for acquisition of resistance. This is exemplified by recent reports of multiple antibiotic resistance in Shigella strains in India, in Escherichia coli in India and Pakistan, and in nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) in South-East Asia. We propose to use deep metagenomic sequencing and genome level assembly to study the epidemiology of AMR in stools of children suffering from diarrhea. Here the epidemiology component will be surveillance and analysis of the microbial composition (to the bacterial species/strain level where possible) and its constituent antimicrobial resistance genetic elements (such as plasmids, integrons, transposons and other mobile genetic elements, or MGEs) in samples from a cohort where diarrhea is prevalent and antibiotic exposure is endemic. The goal will be to assess whether consortia of specific mobile antimicrobial resistance elements associate with species/strains and whether their presence is enhanced or amplified in diarrheal microbiomes and in the presence of antibiotic exposure. This work could potentially identify clonal complexes of organisms and MGEs with enhanced resistance and the potential to transfer this resistance to other enteric pathogens.</p> <p>We have performed WGS, metagenomic assembly and gene/protein mapping to examine and characterize the types of AMR genes and transfer elements (transposons, integrons, bacteriophage, plasmids) and their distribution in bacterial species and strains assembled from DNA isolated from diarrheal and non-diarrheal stools. The samples were acquired from a cohort of pediatric patients and controls from Colombia, South America where antibiotic use is prevalent. As a control, the distribution and abundance of AMR genes can be compared to published studies where resistome gene lists from healthy cohort sequences were compiled. Our approach is more epidemiologic in nature, as we plan to identify and catalogue antimicrobial elements on MGEs capable of spread through a local population and further we will, where possible, link mobile antimicrobial resistance elements with specific strains within the population.</p>
Project description:Shotgun metagenomic sequencing data for nasopharyngeal colonization dynamics with Streptococcus pneumoniae and associated antimicrobial-resistance in a South African birth cohort.
Project description:This phase II, randomized pilot trial studies the effect of the consumption of foods made with resistant starch compared to foods made with corn starch on biomarkers that may be related to colorectal cancer progression in stage I-III colorectal cancer survivors. Foods made with resistant starch may beneficially influence markers of inflammation, insulin resistance, and the composition of gut bacteria in colorectal cancer survivors.