Jin-Hyeong Park

Data for: Presence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia exhibiting high genetic similarity to clinical isolates in final effluents of pig farm wastewater treatment plants

Although the prevalence of community-acquired Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infections is sharply increasing, the sources and likely transmission routes of this bacterium are poorly understood. We studied the significance of the presence of S. maltophilia in final effluents and receiving rivers of pig farm wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The loads and antibiotic resistance profiles of S. maltophilia in final effluents were assessed. Antibiotic resistance determinants and biofilm formation genes were detected by PCR, and genetic similarity to clinical isolates was investigated using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). S. maltophilia was recovered from final effluents at two of three farms and one corresponding receiving river. Tests of resistance to antibiotics recommended for S. maltophilia infection revealed that for each agent, at least one isolate was classified as resistant or intermediate, with the exception of minocycline. Furthermore, multidrug resistant S. maltophilia susceptible to antibiotics of only two categories was isolated and found to carry the sul2 gene, conferring trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistance. All isolates carried spgM, encoding a major factor in biofilm formation. MLST revealed that isolates of the same sequence type (ST; ST189) were present in both effluent and receiving river samples, and phylogenetic analysis showed that all of the STs identified in this study clustered with clinical isolates. Moreover, one isolate (ST192) recovered in this investigation demonstrated 99.61% sequence identity with a clinical isolate (ST98) associated with a fatal infection in South Korea. Thus, the pathogenicity of the isolates reported here is likely similar to that of those from clinical environments, and WWTPs may play a role as a source of S. maltophilia from which this bacterium spreads to human communities. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first report of S. maltophilia in pig farm WWTPs. Our results indicate that nationwide epidemiological investigations are needed to examine the possible link between WWTP-derived S. maltophilia and hospital- and community-acquired infections.

Heat resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis under prolonged exposure to acid-salt combined stress and subsequent refrigeration

Salmonella Enteritidis is a major foodborne pathogen exposed to various environmental and preservation stresses in the food chain. Because adaptive responses of viable bacterial cells in the presence of sublethal stress can induce cross-protection against different stresses, we investigated the heat resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis at 60 °C under prolonged exposure to acid-salt combined stress and subsequent refrigeration. Salmonella Enteritidis was grown in tryptic soy broth at four pH values (4.5, 5.4, 6.4, and 7.3) and four NaCl concentrations (0%, 1%, 2%, and 3%) at 37 °C for 24 h and then incubated at 4 °C for 0, 1, 4, or 7 days. For 0 and 1 day-refrigerated cultures, previous adaptation to single stresses (acid or salt stress) increased the heat resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis, resulting in increased D-values, whereas the combination of acid and salt stress reduced heat tolerance; acid stress played a more critical role in mediating this effect than salt concentration. To elucidate the related mechanisms, the expression levels of heat shock sigma factors (rpoH) and heat shock genes (dnaK and groEL) were analyzed and found to be associated with the heat resistance of Salmonella Enteritidis. The refrigeration period was negatively correlated (P < 0.01) with the D-value (r = -0.505) and with the transcript levels of rpoH (r = -0.654), dnaK (r = -0.652), and groEL (r = -0.645). Our findings demonstrated that acid-salt combined preservation techniques and subsequent refrigeration may prevent S. Enteritidis survival in heat-pasteurized food products caused by cross-protection of acid or salt adapted cells.

Current Status and Prospects of Various Methods used for Screening Probiotic Microorganisms

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIP)(No. 2015R1A2A2A01005017).

Assessment of Various Factors Influencing the Composition of Cow’s Milk Produced by Organic and Conventional Methods: A Review

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the sale and purchase of an array of organic products. In particular, organic milk has grown in popularity. This growth could lead to expensive, premium retail prices for various organic cow’s milk products. In fact, most consumers believe that (1) dairy farming to produce organic milk is beneficial for human health and (2) organic milk products are made without the use of various antibiotics, synthetic chemicals, genetic modification, extra hormones, and so on. Several factors, including breed, diet, and stage of lactation, are known to influence the composition of milk. Therefore, this review (1) presents a research outline to compare organic and conventional milk and (2) provides a summary of individual elements that affect the composition of milk.

Evaluation and Determination of Lactase Activity on Various Lactic Acid Bacteria isolated from Kefir by using HPLC

Kefir is a probiotic food. Probiotics have shown to be beneficial to health, and are currently of great interest to the food industry. Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate the lactase activity of kefir-isolated lactic acid bacteria. Three strains, Lactobacillu kefiri DH5 isolated from the kefir grains and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis and Bifidobacteria longum 720, commercial probiotic LAB, were fermented in 10% reconstituted nonfat dry milk suspensions and incubated at 37°C for 48 h, and then analyzed for various saccarides by HPLC. The results showed that changes in the concentrations of lactose and galactose were significantly decreased and increased, respectively (p<0.05), but all 3 probiotic strains tested in this study showed no increase in glucose concentration during 48 h of incubation. Both DH5 and BL720 showed high lactase activities (p<0.05), whereas BLC exhibited the lowest activity. Additionally, all three lactic acid bacteria showed high tagatose, but did not show high xylose and sedoheptulose. Finally, DH5, a kefir-isolated LAB, may have similar characteristics and properties to typical Bifidobacterium spp. and showed higher lactase activity than commercial Bifidobacterium spp.