T E S T I N G
Our is to become the laboratory of choice for
Testing and Auditing Services in the following segments:
> Food Testing – Microbiological & Chemistry > Nutritional Testing
> Water & Environmental Analysis > Residue Analysis
> Food Forensics Investigations > Food & Supply Chain Consulting
> Pharmaceutical Testing – Microbiological & Chemistry
> Regulatory & Third Party Food Safety Compliance Auditing
> Food Testing – Microbiological & Chemistry
> Water & Environmental Analysis
> Food Forensics Investigations
> Nutritional Testing
> Residue Analysis
> Food & Supply Chain Consulting
> Pharmaceutical Testing – Microbiological & Chemistry
> Regulatory & Third Party Food Safety Compliance Auditing
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www.foodtechnology.co.nz 27
Invasive non-typhoidal Salmonellosis (iNTS) occurs
when Salmonella bacteria - which normally cause
gastrointestinal illness - enter the bloodstream
and spread through the human body. The African
iNTS epidemic is caused by a variant of Salmonella
Typhimurium (ST313) that is resistant to antibiotics
and generally affects individuals with immune
systems weakened by malaria or HIV. In a new
study published in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States, a team
of researchers from the Universities of Birmingham
and Liverpool have identified a specific genetic
change, or single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP),
that helps the African Salmonella to survive in the
human bloodstream. SNPs represent a change of
just one letter in the DNA sequence and there are
thousands of SNP differences between different
types of Salmonella. Until now, it has been hard to
THE SOURCE FOR FOODTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION
link an individual SNP to the ability of bacteria to
cause disease. University of Birmingham’s Professor
Ian Henderson says invasive non-typhoidal Salmonellosis
is a major and previously neglected tropical
disease responsible for an estimated 390,000
deaths per year in Africa. “Despite the availability
of more than 100,000 Salmonella genomes, it has
proven challenging for scientists to find specific
genetic changes that can give us the clues to
explain how this disease develops,” he says. “In
this study, we developed a type of genetic analysis
called transcriptomics to analyse 1000 different
SNPs that affect important Salmonella genes. We
found a single nucleotide difference that is unique
to the African ST313 strain and causes it both to be
so virulent and also prevents the disease from being
killed in the bloodstream.” Scientists then used
an advanced genetic technique to switch the SNP
found in the African strain to the version found in
the type of Salmonella that causes food poisoning
and gastroenteritis globally. Finally, they used an
animal infection model to show that the bacteria
with the altered SNP had lost their ability to cause
disease.”Pinpointing this single letter of DNA is an
exciting breakthrough in our understanding of why
African Salmonella causes such a devastating disease,
and helps to explain how this dangerous type
of Salmonella evolved,” University of Liverpool’s
Professor Jay Hinton says. “We’ve developed a
new investigative approach to understand bacterial
infection, which is the culmination of six years of
work. This combination of genomics and transcriptomics
could bring new insights to other important
pathogens, and prepare us for future epidemics.” It
is now urgent that a vaccine is developed to combat
this dangerous infection, researchers say.
FOOD POISONING
BUG IN SPOTLIGHT
Scientists have identified a single genetic change in
Salmonella that is playing a key role in the devastating
epidemic of bloodstream infections currently killing
around 400,000 people each year in sub-Saharan Africa.
Our mission is to become the laboratory of choice for
Testing and Auditing Services in the following segments:
> Food Testing – Microbiological & Chemistry
> Water & Environmental Analysis
> Food Forensics Investigations
> Nutritional Testing
> Residue Analysis
> Food & Supply Chain Consulting
> Pharmaceutical Testing – Microbiological & Chemistry
> Regulatory & Third Party Food Safety Compliance Auditing
Freephone:| 0800 387 63467 AUCKLAND | HAMILTON | WELLINGTON | CHRISTCHURCH
Freephone: 0800 EUROFINS | 0800 387 63467 AUCKLAND | HAMILTON | WELLINGTON | CHRISTCHURCH
FT064
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