A Rapid and Automated Fiber Optic–Based Biosensor Assay for the Detection ofSalmonella in Spent Irrigation Water Used in the Sprouting of Sprout Seeds

2004 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIANNE F. KRAMER ◽  
DANIEL V. LIM
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Manual Labor ◽  
Processing Facility ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Microbiological Testing ◽  
Microbial Analysis ◽  
The U.S

Recent outbreaks of foodborne illness have been linked to the consumption of contaminated sprouts. The spent irrigation water used to irrigate sprouts can carry many microorganisms, including pathogenic strains ofEscherichia coli andSalmonella enterica. These pathogens are believed to originate from the seeds. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that sprout producers conduct microbiological testing of spent irrigation water from each production lot at least 48 h after seeds have germinated. Microbial analysis for the detection ofSalmonella is labor-intensive and takes days to complete. A rapid and automated fiber-optic biosensor assay for the detection ofSalmonella in sprout rinse water was developed in this study. Alfalfa seeds contaminated with various concentrations ofSalmonella Typhimurium were sprouted. The spent irrigation water was assayed 67 h after alfalfa seed germination with the RAPTOR (Research International, Monroe, Wash.), an automated fiber optic–based detector.Salmonella Typhimurium could be positively identified in spent irrigation water when seeds were contaminated with 50 CFU/g. ViableSalmonella Typhimurium cells were also recovered from the waveguides after the assay. This biosensor assay system has the potential to be directly connected to water lines within the sprout-processing facility and to operate automatically, requiring manual labor only for preventative maintenance. Therefore, the presence ofSalmonella Typhimurium in spent irrigation water could be continuously and rapidly detected 3 to 5 days before the completion of the sprouting process.

Use of Spent Irrigation Water for Microbiological Analysis of Alfalfa Sprouts

2001 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 802-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. FU ◽  
D. STEWART ◽  
K. REINEKE ◽  
J. ULASZEK ◽  
J. SCHLESSER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Microbiological Analysis ◽  
Escherichia Coli O157 ◽  
Salmonella Infection ◽  
Commercial Scale ◽  
Microbiological Testing ◽  
Rotary Drum ◽  
Alfalfa Sprouts

Numerous outbreaks of foodborne illness have been linked to the consumption of raw sprouts. Sprout producers have been advised by the Food and Drug Administration to include microbiological testing of spent irrigation water during production as part of an overall strategy to enhance the safety of sprouts. Alfalfa sprouts and irrigation water were analyzed to show the feasibility of using irrigation water for monitoring the microbiological safety of sprouts. Sprouts and water were produced and harvested from both commercial-scale (rotary drum) and consumer-scale (glass jars) equipment. Rapid increases of aerobic mesophiles occurred during the first 24 h of sprouting, with maximum levels achieved after 48 to 72 h. The counts in irrigation water were on average within approximately 1 log of their respective counts in the sprouts. Similar results were obtained for analysis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in irrigation water and sprouts grown from artificially inoculated seeds. Testing of spent irrigation water indicated the contamination status of alfalfa sprouts grown from seeds associated with outbreaks of Salmonella infection.

Methane-rich water alleviates NaCl toxicity during alfalfa seed germination

2016 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 37-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaikai Zhu ◽  
Weiti Cui ◽  
Chen Dai ◽  
Mingzhu Wu ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Alfalfa Seed ◽  
Nacl Toxicity

scholarly journals Food Worker Experiences with and Beliefs about Working While Ill†

2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 2146-2154 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. RAND CARPENTER ◽  
ALICE L. GREEN ◽  
DAWN M. NORTON ◽  
ROBERTA FRICK ◽  
MELISSA TOBIN-D'ANGELO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Control ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Foodborne Pathogens ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Job Loss ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Job Responsibilities ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Food Workers ◽  
The U.S

Transmission of foodborne pathogens from ill food workers to diners in restaurants is an important cause of foodborne illness outbreaks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that food workers with vomiting or diarrhea (symptoms of foodborne illness) be excluded from work. To understand the experiences and characteristics of workers who work while ill, workplace interviews were conducted with 491 food workers from 391 randomly selected restaurants in nine states that participated in the Environmental Health Specialists Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 60% of workers recalled working while ill at some time. Twenty percent of workers said that they had worked while ill with vomiting or diarrhea for at least one shift in the previous year. Factors significantly related to workers having said that they had worked while ill with vomiting or diarrhea were worker sex, job responsibilities, years of work experience, concerns about leaving coworkers short staffed, and concerns about job loss. These findings suggest that the decision to work while ill with vomiting or diarrhea is complex and multifactorial.

scholarly journals Potential Impacts of Foodborne Illness Incidences on Market Movements and Prices of Fresh Produce in the U.S.

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco A. Palma ◽  
Luis A. Ribera ◽  
David Bessler ◽  
Mechel Paggi ◽  
Ronald D. Knutson
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Vector Autoregression ◽  
Fresh Produce ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Var Model ◽  
June July ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
The U.S

This study investigates the potential impacts of food safety outbreaks on domestic shipments, imports, and prices of the produce industry. Three case studies were analyzed to assess these potential impacts: the cantaloupe outbreak of March–April 2008, the spinach outbreak of September 2006, and the tomato outbreak of June–July 2008. Data-determined historical decompositions were conducted to provide a weekly picture of domestic shipment, import, and price fluctuation transmissions. The empirical analysis based on a vector autoregression (VAR) model showed differences in the results depending on the source of the outbreak (domestic vs. imported).

scholarly journals Past, Present, and Future of Irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Evett ◽  
Paul D. Colaizzi ◽  
Freddie R. Lamm ◽  
Susan A. O’Shaughnessy ◽  
Derek M. Heeren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Irrigation Technology ◽  
Irrigated Area ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
The U.S

Highlights Irrigation is key to the productivity of Great Plains agriculture but is threatened by water scarcity. The irrigated area grew to >9 million ha since 1870, mostly since 1950, but is likely to decline. Changes in climate, water availability, irrigated area, and policy will affect productivity. Adaptation and innovation, hallmarks of Great Plains populations, will ensure future success. Abstract. Motivated by the need for sustainable water management and technology for next-generation crop production, the future of irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains was examined through the lenses of past changes in water supply, historical changes in irrigated area, and innovations in irrigation technology, management, and agronomy. We analyzed the history of irrigated agriculture through the 1900s to the present day. We focused particularly on the efficiency and water productivity of irrigation systems (application efficiency, crop water productivity, and irrigation water use productivity) as a connection between water resource management and agricultural production. Technology innovations have greatly increased the efficiency of water application, the productivity of water use, and the agricultural productivity of the Great Plains. We also examined the changes in water stored in the High Plains aquifer, which is the region’s principle supply for irrigation water. Relative to other states, the aquifer has been less impacted in Nebraska, despite large increases in irrigated area. Greatly increased irrigation efficiency has played a role in this, but so have regulations and the recharge to the aquifer from the Nebraska Sand Hills and from rivers crossing the state. The outlook for irrigation is less positive in western Kansas, eastern Colorado, and the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles. The aquifer in these regions is recharged at rates much less than current pumping, and the aquifer is declining as a result. Improvements in irrigation technology and management plus changes in crops grown have made irrigation ever more efficient and allowed irrigation to continue. There is good reason to expect that future research and development efforts by federal and state researchers, extension specialists, and industry, often in concert, will continue to improve the efficiency and productivity of irrigated agriculture. Public policy changes will also play a role in regulating consumption and motivating on-farm efficiency improvements. Water supplies, while finite, will be stretched much further than projected by some who look only at past rates of consumption. Thus, irrigation will continue to be important economically for an extended period. Sustaining irrigation is crucial to sustained productivity of the Great Plains “bread basket” because on average irrigation doubles the efficiency with which water is turned into crop yields compared with what can be attained in this region with precipitation alone. Lessons learned from the Great Plains are relevant to irrigation in semi-arid and subhumid areas worldwide. Keywords: Center pivot, Crop water productivity, History, Sprinkler irrigation, Subsurface drip irrigation, Water use efficiency.

scholarly journals Precision long-read metagenomics sequencing for food safety by detection and assembly of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in irrigation water

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Maguire ◽  
Julie A. Kase ◽  
Dwayne Roberson ◽  
Tim Muruvanda ◽  
Eric W. Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Shiga Toxin ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Nanopore Sequencing ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance Genes ◽  
Metagenomic Sample

ABSTRACTShiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) contamination of agricultural water might be an important factor to recent foodborne illness and outbreaks involving leafy greens. Whole genome sequencing generation of closed bacterial genomes plays an important role in source tracking. We aimed to determine the limits of detection and classification of STECs by qPCR and nanopore sequencing using enriched irrigation water artificially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 (EDL933). We determined the limit of STEC detection by qPCR to be 30 CFU/reaction, which is equivalent to 105 CFU/ml in the enrichment. By using Oxford Nanopore’s EPI2ME WIMP workflow and de novo assembly with Flye followed by taxon classification with a k-mer analysis software (Kraken), E. coli O157:H7 could be detected at 103 CFU/ml (68 reads) and a complete fragmented E. coli O157:H7 metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) was obtained at 105-108 CFU/ml. Using a custom script to extract the E. coli reads, a completely closed MAG was obtained at 107-108 CFU/ml and a complete, fragmented MAG was obtained at 105-106 CFU/ml. In silico virulence detection for E. coli MAGs for 105-108 CFU/ml showed that the virulotype was indistinguishable from the spiked E. coli O157:H7 strain. We further identified the bacterial species in the un-spiked enrichment, including antimicrobial resistance genes, which could have important implications to food safety. We propose this workflow could be used for detection and complete genomic characterization of STEC from a complex microbial sample and could be applied to determine the limit of detection and assembly of other foodborne bacterial pathogens.IMPORTANCEFoodborne illness caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) ranges in severity from diarrhea to hemolytic uremic syndrome and produce-related incidence is increasing. The pervasive nature of E. coli requires not only detection, but also a complete genome to determine potential pathogenicity based on stx and eae genes, serotype, and other virulence factors. We have developed a pipeline to determine the limits of nanopore sequencing for STECs in a metagenomic sample. By utilizing the current qPCR in the FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) Chapter 4A, we can quantify the amount of STEC in the enrichment and then sequence and classify the STEC in less than half the time as current protocols that require a single isolate. These methods have wide implications for food safety, including decreased time to STEC identification during outbreaks, characterization of the microbial community, and the potential to use these methods to determine the limits for other foodborne pathogens.

scholarly journals Two-Hour Magneto-Priming with Static Magnetic Fields Ranging from 65 ± 3 to 505 ± 8 mT Does Not Improve the Germination Percentage of Industrial Hemp Seed at a Sub-Optimal Germination Temperature

J ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-196
Author(s):  
Kathrin Spendier
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Cannabis Sativa ◽  
Seed Priming ◽  
Germination Percentage ◽  
Hemp Seed ◽  
Static Magnetic Fields ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Industrial Hemp ◽  
The U.S

Industrial hemp is a non-psychoactive variety of Cannabis sativa L., i.e., it contains less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinols (THC). This crop is one of historical importance in the U.S. as manufacturers seek industrial hemp as a renewable and sustainable resource for a wide variety of consumer and industrial products. To help farmers succeed, agronomic research on industrial hemp is needed. In this trial, investigations were performed to determine whether magneto-priming, a form of seed priming that involves magnetic fields, effects the germination percentage of industrial hemp seed. Beneficial effects of magnetic fields on seedling growths and germination have been reported for many different plant species. Dry industrial hemp seed was exposed to static magnetic fields ranging from 65 ± 3 to 505 ± 8 mT for 2 h prior to seed germination. Germination was performed at 13.6 ± 0.7 °C, a temperature that is representative of the germination temperatures of industrial hemp in the U.S. state of Colorado. Magneto-priming of seed had no statistically significant effect on seed germination percentage.

Alfalfa Seed Germination Response to Electrical Treatments 1

Crop Science ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 863-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. O. Nelson ◽  
W. R. Kehr ◽  
L. E. Stetson ◽  
R. B. Stone ◽  
J. C. Webb
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Germination Response ◽  
Alfalfa Seed

scholarly journals The Identification of Metabolites and Effects of Albendazole in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5943
Author(s):  
Lucie Raisová Stuchlíková ◽  
Martina Navrátilová ◽  
Lenka Langhansová ◽  
Kateřina Moťková ◽  
Radka Podlipná ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Germination ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Medicago Sativa ◽  
Toxic Effect ◽  
Metabolic Pathway ◽  
Parent Compound ◽  
Anthelmintic Drug ◽  
Fodder Plants ◽  
Alfalfa Seed

Albendazole (ABZ), a widely used anthelmintic drug, enters the environment mainly via livestock excrements. To evaluate the environmental impact of ABZ, the knowledge of its uptake, effects and metabolism in all non-target organisms, including plants, is essential. The present study was designed to identify the metabolic pathway of ABZ and to test potential ABZ phytotoxicity in fodder plant alfalfa, with seeds and in vitro regenerants used for these purposes. Alfalfa was chosen, as it may meet manure from ABZ-treated animals in pastures and fields. Alfalfa is often used as a feed of livestock, which might already be infected with helminths. The obtained results showed that ABZ did not inhibit alfalfa seed germination and germ growth, but evoked stress and a toxic effect in alfalfa regenerants. Alfalfa regenerants were able to uptake ABZ and transform it into 21 metabolites. UHPLC-MS/MS analysis revealed three new ABZ metabolites that have not been described yet. The discovery of the parent compound ABZ together with the anthelmintically active and instable metabolites in alfalfa leaves shows that the contact of fodder plants with ABZ-containing manure might represent not only a danger for herbivorous invertebrates, but also may cause the development of ABZ resistance in helminths.

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