• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.819-822
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• 2021

To enhance phage endolysin-mediated cell wall disruption of Escherichia coli O157:H7, the cells were co-treated with aromatic compounds, namely thymol or eugenol, found in essential oils and endolysin LysECP26. Interestingly, the minimal inhibitory concentrations of LysECP26 was four times lower when used in combination with either of the two compounds than when it was used alone. This synergistic activity was also confirmed by viable cell counting. Within 1 h of LysECP26 and eugenol or thymol co-treatment to the cells, there was a 2.3 or 3.8 log CFU/mL reductions, respectively. Additionally, field emission scanning electron microscopy showed cell wall disruption and severe morphological alterations of the cells in case of the combination treatments. Therefore, endolysin and thymol or eugenol co-treatment can help in developing efficient bio-control strategies against gram-negative pathogen E. coli O157:H7.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.481-487
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to provide safety management information by analyzing the survival and growth-related properties of foodborne pathogens from Romaine lettuce. After cultivating E. coli O157:H7 for 72 h on Romain lettuce via spray inoculation, the bacteria population increased by 2.0 log CFU/g from the initial population, confirming the possibility of survival and multiplication of the pathogen thereon. The study also revealed that there is no significant difference in the cultivation of E.coli O157:H7 after 72 h from inoculation on damaged and undamaged lettuce leaves. As a result of investigating distribution of E.coli O157:H7 on damaged lettuce leaves, it was found that the bacteria is unlikely to adhere on the smooth surface of undamaged leaves and, thus, results in a low population density, whereas the bacteria cluster on the rough surface of damaged leaves and easily enter through the damaged tissues. Furthermore, after 24 h of cultivation of the pathogenic microbe in the extract with concentrations of 10-100%, utilization of the lettuce extract by the pathogen was found to be 8.9 log CFU/mL E. coli O157:H7, 8.6 log CFU/mL L. monocytogenes, and 8.8 log CFU/mL P. carotovorum. The increase in the population of both the pathogenic microbe and foodborne pathogen reached over 4 log CFU/mL, implying the microbe can utilize the lettuce extract as a source of nutrition. Compared to the initial inoculation concentration in 0.1% lettuce extract, the final concentration has increased up to 2.7 log CFU/mL E. coli O157:H7, 1.3 log CFU/mL L. monocytogenes, and 2.9 log CFU/mL P. carotovorum. Accordingly, the study confirms that the minimal growth concentration of the pathogenic microbe is lower than 0.1% and that the pathogen possibly survive and multiply inside the lettuce leaves given the lettuce extract with concentration of 0.1% is consistently supplied through the damaged tissues.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.593-598
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• 2015

This study determined the thermal resistance of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes in multi-grain soymilk and proposes processing conditions that meet the national standard for retort food products in Korea. D and z values were calculated from thermal inactivation kinetic curves after heating at 55, 60, and $65^{\circ}C$. The D value for B. cereus at $55^{\circ}C$ was the highest (22.8 min), followed by that for E. coli O157:H7 (18.8 min) and L. monocytogenes (17.6 min). At $60-65^{\circ}C$, the order was L. monocytogenes ($D_{60-65^{\circ}C}=3.4-0.9min$), E. coli O157:H7 (3.0-0.3 min), and B. cereus (1.2-0.3 min). The z values for these species were 5.2, 5.5, and $7.7^{\circ}C$, respectively. The Korean national standard for retort food products was achieved by thermal processing at $124{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ for 0.3-2.2 min. This study provides useful data for ensuring both the microbiological safety and product quality of multi-grain soymilk products.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2005

In this study, a total of 2,119 samples was taken from bovine feces and carcass from March 2002 to December 2003. And those were examined for the presence of enterohemorrhagic E coli O157:H7. The properties of the isolates were characterized for biochemical features, serotypes, virulence genes and antimicrobial susceptibility. Forty five strains($3.7\%$) of E coli O157:H7 were isolated from 1,208 fecal samples and were not detected in carcass using immunomagnetic separation technique and selective media. In multiplex PCR using stx1, stx2, eaeA and hlyA primers, the amplified bands at 180 bp, 255bp, 384bp and 534bp were observed, respectively. In antimicrobial susceptibility test, all isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and cefazolin. The isolates were most resistant to sulfisoxazole($24.4\%$), followed by streptomycin($22.2\%$), tetracycline($20.0\%$). Eight strains($17.8\%$) of 45 isolates showed the multi-resistant patterns with over 3 drugs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.575-586
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• 2006

This study was performed to determine potential antimicrobial activity of lactoferrin, which incorporated into the low-fat/salt sausages during storage either at 30 or 4℃. First, the model study on the antimicrobial activity of lactoferrin was performed. Based on the model study, more than 0.25% of lactoferrin was required to have a distinctive antimicrobial activity for the growth of E. coli O157:H7 in the broth. However, extended shelf-life was not shown in the low-fat/salt sausages manufactured with lactoferrin during refrigerated storage. In addition, no synergistic effects of lactoferrin with sodium lactate were observed in the sausages. These results indicated that the addition of lactoferrin into the low-fat sausages did not have antimicrobial activity of E. coli O157:H7, due to the denaturation of lactoferrin or the complexity of the sausage, even though it had a distinctive antimicrobial effect in the model study.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2010

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a food-borne pathogen that causes bloody diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). We compared three selective media and evaluated the performance of immunomagnetic separation (IMS) for the detection of low levels of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef and radish sprouts with different levels of background flora. Bulk food samples (500 g for each trial) were artificially inoculated with nalidixic acid-resistant E. coli O157:H7 at the lowest dose that would generate 20 partial-positive samples of 25 g each. All samples were homogenized in mTSB (225 mL) and incubated overnight at $37^{\circ}C$. IMS was performed using the enriched mTSB samples (1 mL) along with conventional spreads plated onto three different selective media: Sorbitol MacConkey agar (SMAC), Sorbitol MacConkey agar with cefixime and tellulite (CT-SMAC), and Sorbitol MacConkey agar with nalidixic acid (NAL-SMAC) as the gold standard. Two suspicious colonies from each medium were selected and confirmed usinga serological test after transfer to tryptic soy broth with yeast extract (TSAYE). CT-SMAC was better than SMAC for detecting E. coli O157:H7 in all food types. Although there was no statistical difference in the number of positive samples when using IMS vs. non-IMS techniques, more positive samples were detected when IMS was used in both ground beef and radish sprouts. It appears that the improvement was more significant in radish sprouts, which had a higher level of background flora than ground beef. The results also suggest that the combination of CT-SMAC and IMS is sufficient to recover low levels of E. coli O157:H7 in high background flora food samples.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.92-97
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• 2006

We developed an mPCR assay for the simultaneous detection, in one tube, of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes using species-specific primers. The mPCR employed the E. coli O157:H7 specific primer Stx2A, Salmonella spp. specific primer Its, S. aureus specific primer Cap8A-B and L. monocytogenes specific primer Hly. Amplification with these primers produced products of 553, 312, 405 and 210 bp, respectively. All PCR products were easily detected by agarose gel electrophoresis, and the sequences of the specific amplicons assessed. Potential pathogenic bacteria, in laboratory-prepared and four commercially available kimchi products, were using this mPCR assay, and the amplicons cloned and sequenced. The results correlated exactly with sequences derived for amplicons obtained during preliminry tests with known organisms. The sensitivity of the assay was determined for the purified pathogen DNAs from four strains. The mPCR detected pathogen DNA at concentrations ranging from approximately 0.45 to $0.05\;pM/{\mu}l$. Thus, this mPCR assay may allow for the rapid, reliable and cost-effective identification of four potentially pathogens present in the mixed bacterial communities of commercially available kimchi.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.141-144
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• 2006

An antibody layer was fabricated to detect Escherichia coli O157:H7. The micropattern of 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (16-MHDA) as alkylthiolate was formed on the gold surface by using the PDMS stamp with microcontact printing $({\mu}CP)$ techniques. In order to form antibody patterns on the template, protein G was chemically bound to the 16-MHDA patterns, and antibody was adsorbed on a self-assembled protein G layer. The formation of the 16-MHDA micropattern, self-assembled protein G layer and antibody pattern on Au substrate was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. Finally, the micropatterning method was applied to fabricate the antibody probe for detection of E. coli O157:H7, and monitoring of antigen by using this probe was successfully achieved.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.219-225
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• 2017

An aqueous chlorine dioxide ($ClO_2$) treatment combined with highly activated calcium oxide (CaO) and mild heat was tested for inactivating naturally existing bacteria and Escherichia coli O157:H7 inoculated on fresh-cut kale. Kale samples were treated with different concentrations of $ClO_2$ (10, 30, and 50 ppm), CaO (0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2%), and mild heat ($25^{\circ}C$, $45^{\circ}C$, $55^{\circ}C$, and $65^{\circ}C$) as well with combinations of 30 or 50 ppm $ClO_2$ and 0.2% CaO at $55^{\circ}C$ for 3 min. An increasing concentration of $ClO_2$ and CaO significantly reduced the microbial population compared with the control. In addition, mild heating at $55^{\circ}C$ elicited greater microbial reduction than the other temperatures. A combined treatment of 50 ppm $ClO_2$ and 0.2% CaO at $55^{\circ}C$ reduced the population of naturally existing bacteria on kale by 3.10 log colony forming units (CFU)/g, and the counts of E. coli O157:H7 were below the detection limit (1 log CFU/g). In addition, no significant differences in the Hunter color values were evident in any treatment during storage. Therefore, a combined treatment of $ClO_2$ and active CaO at $55^{\circ}C$ can be an effective sanitizing method to improve the microbiological safety of fresh-cut kale without affecting its quality.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.67-71
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• 2017

This study examined the antimicrobial activity of flaxseed meal extract (FME) against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7 inoculated on red mustard. With the treatment of 0.7% FME for 3 min, the reduction levels of S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 populations were 1.23 and 1.83 log CFU/g, respectively. In addition, the combined treatment of 0.7% FME at $50^{\circ}C$ for 3 min reduced the populations of the pathogenic bacteria by 2.28 and 2.41 log CFU/g, respectively. The color and the vitamin C content were not significantly different between treatments. Thus, FME can be used as a novel antimicrobial agent in fresh-cut vegetables.