19 research outputs found
Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from foods / Zuraini Mat Issa, Maimunah Mustakim and Son Radu
No full textListeria monocytogenes is one of the major food-borne pathogen with an opportunistic character that is able to cause severe human listeriosis worldwide. The development of a surveillance and detection system concerning food safety in this country needs to be improved. Therefore, this study was conducted to provide a general baseline on the contamination of L. monocytogenes in various foods in the local markets in Selangor. A total of 140 raw and ready-to-eat food samples were analyzed by plating on selective PALCAM medium and the suspected L. monocytogenes colonies were confirmed at molecular level by MPN-PCR technique using primers specific for this food-borne pathogen. All of the 23 isolated strains yield a PCR product of 938 bp and 701 bp for 16s rRNA gene and hylA virulence gene respectively. The confirmed isolates were characterized for their intra-species discrimination according to reaction between antigen-antisera by serotyping technique and patterns generated by RAPD bands. Two screened RAPD primers demonstrating potentially useful banding patterns were selected and examined against L monocytogenes isolates. Positive isolates were evaluated for their susceptibility to eight commonly used antibiotic agents by using disc diffusion assay. L monocytogenes was detected in 8.57% of collected food samples which 33.3%, 25% and 13.3% were detected in burger, minced meat and sausage samples respectively. The highest resistances (100%) of L monocytogenes isolates were demonstrated against ampicillin and penicillin G antibiotics, whereas high susceptibility was showed toward streptomycin (100%). The molecular approaches used in this study provide highly sensitive and specific results which were very easy and fast to perform. These findings also suggested that the contamination of L monocytogenes in foods is relatively low. However, it highlighted the emergence of antibiotics multi-resistant Listeria in the present environment
Molecular analysis of host cells response against infection of virulent strains Listeria monocytogenes / Maimunah Mustakim, Zuraini Mat Issa and Prof Dr Son Radu
No full textListeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogenic bacteria causing severe systemic infection in susceptible individuals. This facultative intracellular pathogen infects host tissues using their flagella actin. Listeria monocytogenes propelled from one cell to another through the assembly of the flagella actin with the host cells.The present study aims to examine the rearrangement of host cells cytoskeleton actin upon infection of Listeria monocytogenes. Human colon carcinoma (HCT 116) cell lines were infected with Listeria monocytogenes strains. Cells were stained withalexa fluor 635 phalloidin prior to observation by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to examine cellular changes of the host cells upon infection with the bacteria. The infected cells showed actin rearrangement from filamentous network to aggregation features. The infected cells also showed reduced membrane ruffling. The present study demonstrated interaction of host cells actin with Listeria monocytogenes. Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) examination revealed the cytoskeleton actin rearrangement in the infected host cells
Determination of fish species using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) / Zuraini Mat Issa @ Zakaria, Son Radu and Maimunah Mustakim
No full textSeven types of fish sold for human consumption were subjected to DNA extraction using Qiagen DNeasy® Tissue Kit. The genomic DNA of only five fish samples was successfully extracted. The extracted DNA was then subjected to PCR amplification targeting the 359 base pair (bp) mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene. A pair of universal primers cyt bl and cyt b2 was used which consistently amplified a fragment of the cyt b gene of the fish samples. All fish samples except Megalaspis cordyla were successfully amplified.
The 359 bp amplicons of PCR assay of fish samples were then subjected to RFLP using four different restriction enzymes, namely Bfa I, Hinf\, Msp I and Mbo II. None of the fish samples was fragmented by Bfa I. Polydactylus pleibeius and Rastrelliger kanagurta were also not being cleaved into fragments when their DNA were subjected to digestion with Msp I. However, the 359 bp of Pampus argenteus and Trachinotus bailonii were further fragmented into two when they were digested with Msp I. The same results were obtained when the 359 base pairs of all fish samples were digested with Hinf\ and Mbo II. The DNAs were cleaved into one to two fragments. The fragments generated have different sizes i.e. in a range of 104 bp to 300 bp. The results obtained were unique to the fish types. Three different REs
Msp I and Mbo II) were found to be sufficient in determining the fish species thus indicating that the PCR-RFLP analysis of cyt b represents a rapid, simple and promising method for differentiation of fish species
The perceptions of plastic packaging usage to pack hot foods among food hawkers at night markets in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia
No full textValidation of a food waste behaviour questionniare among households: a Malaysian context / Sarah Ainina Mohd Nazi, Zuraini Mat Issa @ Zakaria and Saidatul Afzan Abdul Aziz
No full textFood waste affects the food security status especially among the low-income groups. In addition, food wastage influences the financial development of the country where the economic cost of the industries will be at loss, equivalent to the waste of food that occurs during food production. In Malaysia, households have been identified as the main contributor to this food wastage amounting to approximately 16,650 tons of food is wasted daily. Hence, this preliminary study will validate the instrument used in examining factors influencing the household's food waste that contribute to the food waste behaviour. In addition, this study also will evaluate the reliability of the instrument used. A purposive sampling was applied to collect data via online survey among 50 households in Selangor. The data were subjected to SPSS version 26 for reliability analyses. The results showed that all dimensions are between the values of 0.6 to 0.9. According to the Alpha Coefficient Range, these values can be considered moderate, good and very good. Therefore, the instrument developed is valid and reliable and can be used for actual data collection involving households in Kuala Lumpur. The study will be extended to other parts of the country. The findings of this study can be used by the local authorities in providing new guidelines, and in educating and providing suitable intervention among Malaysian citizens related to food waste management. Besides, the outcomes of the study will help the researchers and relevant bodies to understand how people manage food to avoid wastage and ensure food security among family members
Molecular Characterisation of Lactobacillus Plantarium Isolated from Malaysian Fermented Foods (Tempeh and Tempoyak)
No full textTen and fifteen strains of Lactobacillus plantarum were isolated from tempeh
and tempoyak, respectively. The identity of these isolates was confirmed with
API 50 CHL kit and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using a pair of
specific primers. All strains were resistant towards nalidixic acid. kanamycin,
gentamycin, streptomycin, bacitracin, moxalaactam norfloxacin and,
vancomycin. 9, 22, 19, 22 and 22 strains of L. plantarum were resistant against
penicillin, cefuroxime, tetracycline, cephalothin and ceftazidime, respectively.
Six (60%) and 13 (86.7%) strains of L. plantarum isolated from tempeh and
tempoyak, respectively harboured small plasmid DNA ranging in size from
4.7 to 1.2 MDa, and 10 (40%) of these strains were harboured two plasmids.
These strains could be grouped into 13 groups based on the size and number
of plasmid DNA. Different random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)pattern was obtained when the DNA of these strains were amplified with four
10-mer primers that known as GEN1-50-05, GEN1-50-06, GEN1-50-07 and
GEN1-50-08. The strains were separated into 7 clusters in a constructed
dendrogram at low similarity index (0.15 to 0.42). The whole cell protein
profiles of 14 representatives L. plantarum strains were obtained using sodium
dodecyl sulphate-polyacylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and
analysed with the Gelcompar Version 4.1 (Applied Maths, Kortrijk, Belgium).
These strains have almost the sam.. number of protein bands ranging in size
from 34.7 to 100 kilodalton (kDa). The whole cell protein profiles
demonstrated intra-species differences and enabled to separate three distinct
clusters of L. plantarum at 84% similarity. A dendrogram of L. plantarum
strains was obtained by the unweighted average pair group matrix analysis of
correlation values. Twelve strains were grouped into three main clusters and
two strains were separated. The whole cell proteins of ten strains were
resolved into 13 bands and 12 bands were resolved from two strains, whereas
the other two strains were exhibited 11 and 14 bands, respectively. Among
the characterization techniques used, RAPD has been concluded as the best,
rapid and reproducible tool in characterising the L. plantarum strains isolated from tempeh and tempoyak
Examining Factors in Preventing Foodborne Diseases among Food Handlers at Military Dining Hall
No full textThis study aims to determine Food Safety (FS) knowledge, practice in preventing Foodborne Disease (FBD), and risk perception related to food handling among food handlers at military bases. An Optimistic Bias (OB) in preventing FBD were examined based on the risk perception responses. A set of questionnaires was sent to an officer at each military base in Malaysia. Later, the officer would conveniently distribute the questionnaire to approximately half of the targeted respondents. A total of 284 data were gathered and were analysed using SPSS version 20. The findings revealed that food handlers had good FS knowledge scores and practice to prevent FBD. However, it was found that different risk perception levels were present, indicating OB. The existence of OB was observed in all comparisons and situations except for the question about sanitising utensils. Hence, a conclusion can be made that there is a tendency that food handlers tend to neglect and overlook FS procedures, and can contaminate foods due to the presence of OB. This study will contribute significantly to military foodservice establishments in Malaysia regarding food hygiene and safety awareness
RAPD-PCR analysis, antibiotic resistance and plasmid profiles of Escherichia coli isolated from village and broiler chicken
No full textTwo hundred ten strains of Escherichia coli isolated from litters of broiler (105 strains) and village (105 strains) chicken were examined for antibiotic resistance, plasmid profiles and random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis. All were found to exhibit multiple resistance towards the antibiotics tested, with multiple antibiotic resistance index of 0.44 to 0.69 and 0.31 to 0.75 for the strains from broiler and village chicken, respectively, indicating that all strains originated from high risk sources. The E. coli strains from broiler and village chicken were grouped into 86 and 80 distinct antibiotypes. Ninety nine and 71 strains were found to harbour plasmids ranging in size from 1 to 80 kb and 1.3 to 64 kb among the broiler and village chicken isolates respectively. Based on their plasmid profiles, the E. coli strains isolated from broiler and village chicken were grouped into 60 and 27 plasmid patterns respectively. We used two single short primers (Genl5009 and GenlSOlO) with arbitrary
nucleotide sequences in polymerase chain reaction to amplify genomic DNA. The profiles observed after electrophoretic separation for the two primers when combined together wereable to distinguish the E. coli strains from broiler and village chicken into 96 and 92 RAPD patterns, respectively. These results suggest that RAPD-PCR assay and antibiotyping are more discriminating than plasmid profiling, and could be valuable tools for epidemiological studies
Determination of the Primary School Cooks’ Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Preparing Healthy School Meal Using Rasch Analysis
No full text
