Structure of an Inner Membrane Protein Required for PhoPQ-Regulated Increases in Outer Membrane Cardiolipin

The Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium PhoPQ two-component system is activated within the intracellular phagosome environment, where it promotes remodeling of the outer membrane and resistance to innate immune antimicrobial peptides. Maintenance of the PhoPQ-regulated outer membrane barrier requires PbgA, an inner membrane protein with a transmembrane domain essential for growth, and a periplasmic domain required for PhoPQ-activated increases in outer membrane cardiolipin. Here, we report the crystal structure of cardiolipin-bound PbgA, adopting a novel transmembrane fold that features a cardiolipin binding site in close proximity to a long and deep cleft spanning the lipid bilayer. The end of the cleft extends into the periplasmic domain of the protein, which is structurally coupled to the transmembrane domain via a functionally critical C-terminal helix. In conjunction with a conserved putative catalytic dyad situated at the middle of the cleft, our structural and mutational analyses suggest that PbgA is a multifunction membrane protein that mediates cardiolipin transport, a function essential for growth, and perhaps catalysis of an unknown enzymatic reaction.IMPORTANCE Gram-negative bacteria cause many types of infections and have become increasingly resistant to available antibiotic drugs. The outer membrane serves as an important barrier that protects bacteria against antibiotics and other toxic compounds. This outer membrane barrier function is regulated when bacteria are in host environments, and the protein PbgA contributes significantly to this increased barrier function by transporting cardiolipin to the outer membrane. We determined the crystal structure of PbgA in complex with cardiolipin and propose a model for its function. Knowledge of the mechanisms of outer membrane assembly and integrity can greatly contribute to the development of new and effective antibiotics, and this structural information may be useful in this regard.

Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in tonsils, mandibular lymph nodes and faeces of wild boar from Spain and genetic relationship between isolates

The importance of wild boars as game species in Spain is well known. Their feeding habits and intrusive behaviour, together with a progressively wider spreading of populations, increases the interactions of these animals with livestock and humans. Considering that wild boars could have a potential role in the transmission of certain pathogens as salmonellae, the aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in wild boars hunted in central-western Spain, the occurrence of this pathogen in tonsils, mandibular lymph nodes and faeces (as markers for transmission risk), and to define the phylogenetic relationships among isolated strains, in order to investigate the circulation pathways of bacteria among tissues, animals and estates. Samples from 1,041 hunted wild boars were analysed for the presence of Salmonella spp. by bacteriological culture. Isolates were confirmed by PCR and serotyped in the Spanish national reference laboratory. The genetic relationships between strains were determined by PFGE. The results showed a 7.7% of positive animals (81 wild boars), being tonsils the organ most frequently colonised by Salmonella spp. (18.7%), followed by lymph nodes (5.1%) and faecal samples (2.9%). Serovars Enteritidis and Newport were the most frequent amongst the 34 different serovars obtained. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PGFE) analysis showed a great genetic diversity, with serovars that exhibited different pulsotypes when isolated from different estates and multiple serovars in the same estate. In conclusion, this study reveals the importance of wild boars as carriers and possible transmitters of virulent and/or antimicrobial-resistant clones of Salmonella spp. to livestock and humans.

A Rapid Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Slaughter and Processing Interventions to Control Non-Typhoidal Salmonella in Beef and Pork

Pork is one of the major food sources of human salmonellosis worldwide, while beef products have been implicated in numerous foodborne outbreaks. As a result, effective interventions to reduce Salmonella contamination during beef and pork processing are of interest to both regulators and industry. We conducted a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of literature investigating the efficacy of slaughter and processing interventions to control Salmonella in beef and pork. Review steps included: a comprehensive search strategy; relevance screening of abstracts; relevance confirmation of articles; data extraction; risk-of-bias assessment; meta-analysis (where appropriate); and a weight-of-evidence assessment. A total of 191 relevant experimental studies were identified. Two controlled trials indicated that hot water and steam treatments are effective at reducing the prevalence of Salmonella on beef carcasses (relative risk [RR] = 0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02, 0.58), while four trials found that pre-chill organic acid washes are effective at reducing Salmonella on pork carcasses (RR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.78), with high confidence in the estimates of effect. Four quasi-experimental studies found that post-exsanguination chemical washes were effective to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella on cattle hides, with low confidence in the specific estimate of effect; moderate confidence was found for the effect estimates of scalding (RR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.29) and singeing (RR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.52) of pork carcasses. The overall evidence supported enhanced reductions of Salmonella through a multiple-hurdle approach. In conclusion, various slaughter and processing interventions can contribute to reducing Salmonella on beef and pork carcasses, depending on the context of application; an appropriate combination should be selected, validated, and verified by establishment operators within their local conditions.

Salmonella enterica serotype enteritidis in French Polynesia, South Pacific, 2008-2013

Outbreaks of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis infections associated with eggs occurred in French Polynesia during 2008-2013. Molecular analysis of isolates by using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat polymorphisms and multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis was performed. This subtyping made defining the epidemic strain, finding the source, and decontaminating affected poultry flocks possible.

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, England and Wales, 1945-2011

A focus on eliminating phage type 4 in egg and poultry production has greatly reduced foodborne disease among humans.

In England and Wales, the emergence of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis resulted in the largest and most persistent epidemic of foodborne infection attributable to a single subtype of any pathogen since systematic national microbiological surveillance was established. We reviewed 67 years of surveillance data to examine the features, underlying causes, and overall effects of S. enterica ser. Enteritidis. The epidemic was associated with the consumption of contaminated chicken meat and eggs, and a decline in the number of infections began after the adoption of vaccination and other measures in production and distribution of chicken meat and eggs. We estimate that >525,000 persons became ill during the course of the epidemic, which caused a total of 6,750,000 days of illness, 27,000 hospitalizations, and 2,000 deaths. Measures undertaken to control the epidemic have resulted in a major reduction in foodborne disease in England and Wales.

Occurrence of Salmonellae in Raw Broilers and Their Products in Thailand

A study was conducted to determine the presence of salmonellae in raw chicken meat, giblets (liver, heart, gizzard) and cooked chicken products (meatballs and sausages) in Bangkok. A total of 1,135 samples, collected from nine open markets, nine supermarkets and four poultry processing plants, were examined. Salmonellae were isolated from 467 (66%) of 705 chicken meat samples, 190 (86%) of 221 samples of giblets and 21 (10%) of 209 cooked products. Out of 678 tested isolates, 46 serotypes and one rough strain were found. The five most common serotypes isolated from chicken meat were Salmonella blockley , Salmonella virchow , Salmonella enteritidis , Salmonella hadar and Salmonella paratyphi B; these accounted for 14, 12, 12, 9 and 9%, respectively, of the strains isolated in this study. The major isolates from giblets were S. virchow , Salmonella Kentucky , S. enteritidis , Salmonella agona and S. blockley (15, 13, 12, 12 and 11%, respectively). Salmonella derby (33%) was the serotype most often isolated from the cooked poultry products.

Effect of Trisodium Phosphate on Salmonellae Attached to Chicken Skin

Processed carcasses from a commercial plant were inoculated with 10⁸ or 10² colony forming units (CFU) of Salmonella typhimurium 14028. Inoculated carcasses were dipped in a 10% trisodium phosphate (TSP) solution for 15 min. Whole carcass rinses and skin homogenates were tested with and without a 2 L water rinse to remove residual TSP, using unbuffered or buffered peptone solutions. High pH values in test solutions resulting from TSP treatments could interfere with the efficient recovery of Salmonella . Salmonellae levels were reduced by 2 logs, but decreases in total aerobic counts were much smaller as a result of TSP treatments. Salmonellae were recovered from skin and carcasses inoculated with 10⁸ or 10² CFU when a 2 L water rinse followed the TSP treatment, and buffered peptone was used for bacterial recovery.

Rapid Detection of Salmonellae by Means of a New Impedance-Splitting Method

An Impedance-Splitting method is proposed for the rapid detection of salmonellae in foods. The measuring System, BacTrac^™ 4100, permits the registration of changes, caused by bacterial metabolism, not only of the impedance of the culture medium but also of changes in the ionic layers at the measuring electrodes, which has advantages in case of high salt concentrations. These changes are expressed as percentage decreases of the initial values, M-value and E-value, respectively. Food samples were pre-enriched 14 to 16 h at 37°C in peptone water by addition of mannitol, which facilitated the detection of salmonellae on selective culture media. Following this, 0.1 mi of the preenrichment culture was transferred to 9.9 ml of Impedance-Splitting Salmonellae (ISS) medium which consisted of magnesium chloride (hydrated), malachite green oxalate, novobiocin, phosphate buffer, mannitol, peptone and yeast extract. Despite the high magnesium chloride concentration in this medium, salmonellae produced changes of the E-value up to 100%, while the changes in M-values were limited to a few percent. The impedance changes were automatically recorded during incubation in the measuring system for up to 22 h at 40°C, and the time required to exceed a threshold value of 15% (E reaction time) was evaluated. Comparative testing of the ISS method with standard cultural analysis of 250 unknown food samples showed high sensitivity and selectivity in detecting salmonellae. From all of the 122 Salmonella -positive samples, the largest number (119) was obtained by the ISS method, as compared to that obtained by conventional testing with the selenite-cystine (106), Rappaport Vassiliadis soya (95), Rappaport Vassiliadis (92) and tetrathionate brilliant green medium (64). Six samples were false positive by Enterobacter cloaceae . One strain each of Salmonella enteritidis PT8 and Salmonella panama were not recorded. The ISS method is very suitable as a screening test, all the more since a negative investigation result will be obtained within 38 h. In view of the practicability, this method is superior to the enzyme-immunological and molecular-biological procedures.

Comparative studies on enrichment and selective media for isolation of Salmonellae from faecal specimens

Enrichment media (tetrathionate, selenite and Rapp ap ort broths) and selective media (desoxycholate citrate agar and brilliant green agar) were tested in different combinations to ascertain their capacity for isolation of salmonella bacteria. The material consisted of 299 samples of cattle faeces from two herds infected with salmonella (Table 1), and of 111 artificially contaminated samples of pig faeces (Table 3). The tetrathionate and selenite broths were equally useful for the material as a whole, whereas the results varied between different species of salmonella which is of great practical interest. The number of salmonella isolations was much lower when enrichment with Rappaport broth was used. The rate of salmonella isolations can often be increased by parallel enrichments with two different media. Of the selective agar media tested, brilliant green agar was superior to desoxycholate citrate agar.