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Woodford L, Fellows R, White HL, Ormsby MJ, Quilliam RS. Salmonella Typhimurium and Vibrio cholerae can be transferred from plastic mulch to basil and spinach salad leaves. Heliyon 2024; 10:e31343. [PMID: 38818200 PMCID: PMC11137414 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Plastic pollution is increasingly found in agricultural environments, where it contaminates soil and crops. Microbial biofilms rapidly colonise environmental plastics, such as the plastic mulches used in agricultural systems, which provide a unique environment for microbial plastisphere communities. Human pathogens can also persist in the plastisphere, and enter agricultural environments via flooding or irrigation with contaminated water. In this study we examined whether Salmonella Typhimurium and Vibrio cholerae can be transferred from the plastisphere on plastic mulch to the surface of ready-to-eat crop plants, and subsequently persist on the leaf surface. Both S. Typhimurium and V. cholerae were able to persist for 14 days on fragments of plastic mulch adhering to the surface of leaves of both basil and spinach. Importantly, within 24 h both pathogens were capable of dissociating from the surface of the plastic and were transferred onto the surface of both basil and spinach leaves. This poses a further risk to food safety and human health, as even removal of adhering plastics and washing of these ready-to-eat crops would not completely remove these pathogens. As the need for more intensive food production increases, so too does the use of plastic mulches in agronomic systems. Therefore, there is now an urgent need to understand the unquantified co-pollutant pathogen risk of contaminating agricultural and food production systems with plastic pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke Woodford
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Rosie Fellows
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Hannah L. White
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Michael J. Ormsby
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Richard S. Quilliam
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
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Wagley S. The Viable but Non-Culturable (VBNC) State in Vibrio Species: Why Studying the VBNC State Now Is More Exciting than Ever. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2023; 1404:253-268. [PMID: 36792880 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-22997-8_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
During periods that are not conducive for growth or when facing stressful conditions, Vibrios enter a dormant state called the Viable But Non-Culturable (VBNC) state. In this chapter, I will analyse the role of the VBNC state in Vibrio species survival and pathogenesis and the molecular mechanisms regulating this complex phenomenon. I will emphasise some of the novel findings that make studying the VBNC state now more exciting than ever and its significance in the epidemiology of these pathogens and critical role in food safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sariqa Wagley
- Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, UK.
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Nasreen T, Hussain NA, Ho JY, Aw VZJ, Alam M, Yanow SK, Boucher YF. Assay for Evaluating the Abundance of Vibrio cholerae and Its O1 Serogroup Subpopulation from Water without DNA Extraction. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11030363. [PMID: 35335687 PMCID: PMC8953119 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11030363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, a natural inhabitant of brackish water. Effective control of cholera outbreaks depends on prompt detection of the pathogen from clinical specimens and tracking its source in the environment. Although the epidemiology of cholera is well studied, rapid detection of V. cholerae remains a challenge, and data on its abundance in environmental sources are limited. Here, we describe a sensitive molecular quantification assay by qPCR, which can be used on-site in low-resource settings on water without the need for DNA extraction. This newly optimized method exhibited 100% specificity for total V. cholerae as well as V. cholerae O1 and allowed detection of as few as three target CFU per reaction. The limit of detection is as low as 5 × 103 CFU/L of water after concentrating biomass from the sample. The ability to perform qPCR on water samples without DNA extraction, portable features of the equipment, stability of the reagents at 4 °C and user-friendly online software facilitate fast quantitative analysis of V. cholerae. These characteristics make this assay extremely useful for field research in resource-poor settings and could support continuous monitoring in cholera-endemic areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Nasreen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada; (T.N.); (N.A.S.H.)
| | - Nora A.S. Hussain
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada; (T.N.); (N.A.S.H.)
| | - Jia Yee Ho
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), National University of Singapore, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (J.Y.H.); (V.Z.J.A.)
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117549, Singapore
| | - Vanessa Zhi Jie Aw
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), National University of Singapore, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (J.Y.H.); (V.Z.J.A.)
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117549, Singapore
| | - Munirul Alam
- Centre for Communicable Diseases, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh;
| | - Stephanie K. Yanow
- School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada;
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Yann F. Boucher
- Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), National University of Singapore, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (J.Y.H.); (V.Z.J.A.)
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117549, Singapore
- Correspondence:
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