PFI:AIR - TT: Green, Biocompatible Enzymatic Disinfectants for Broad-spectrum Inhibition and Removal of Microbial Contamination in Packaged Produce

这个PFI：空气技术翻译项目专注于生产定制的酶，旨在分解形成普通微生物生物膜基础的多糖。这些酶可以在水溶液中使用，在清洗和加工过程中可以应用于食品，以去除形成生物膜的微生物。使用安全和绿色的酶消毒剂很重要，因为食源性疾病和与病原体(如大肠杆菌和沙门氏菌)的微生物污染有关的暴发的频率不断上升。此外，这些酶提供了用生物兼容、安全和绿色的替代品取代苛刻的化学清洗剂的机会。该项目将产生一系列清洁产品，可广泛用于农产品和其他包装食品的清洁。基于酶的清洁产品的独特之处在于：(1)能够针对多种微生物生物膜进行特异性工程设计，(2)能够选择在实际清洁条件下保持活性的酶，(3)能够区分病原体和非病原体微生物生物膜，(4)展示了高产生产的方法，(5)为当前的化学清洗剂提供了一种安全、生物兼容的替代品。总而言之，这些功能提供了一种新的、绿色的和有针对性的替代目前市场上的过氧乙酸等行业标准化学消毒剂的方法。该项目解决了将这项技术转化为市场所需的知识方面的主要差距。化学消毒剂和机械破坏对微生物生物膜的效果往往有限，使潜在的病原体在清洁的情况下仍能留在加工环境中，并导致食源性疾病。此外，由于生物膜群落中存在多种微生物，生物膜的化学结构往往是复杂和异质的。这项技术通过工程酶来解决这两个问题，这些酶可以降解化学上不同种类的生物膜，并可以与其他清洁方法协同作用，或单独作用，以加强对食品加工过程中存在的微生物病原体的去除。特别是，该项目利用了一些领先的行业合作伙伴，如Highland Fresh Technologies，他们将帮助设计和模拟实际工艺条件，在这些条件下可以执行应用测试，以确定每次使用量和应用方法。此外，还将计算扩大规模期间的生产成本，以确定与最终产品相关的关键成本。此外，参与该项目的博士后研究员和研究生将获得技术翻译专业知识，努力回答确定生产成本、业务计划制定以及直接接触关键行业合作伙伴以设计和执行产品关键测试所需的关键问题。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on producing custom enzymes designed to break down polysaccharides which form the foundation of common microbial biofilms. The enzymes can be used in an aqueous solution that can be applied to food during cleaning and processing to remove biofilm-forming microbes. The use of a safe and green enzyme-based disinfectant is important because of the rising frequency of food-borne illness and associated outbreaks linked to microbial contamination from pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella. In addition, these enzymes offer an opportunity to replace harsh chemical cleaning agents with biocompatible, safe and green alternatives.  This project will result in a family of cleaning products formulated for a wide range of uses in cleaning of produce and other packaged foods. The uniqueness of the enzyme-based cleaning products are (1) ability to engineer specificity and target a broad range of microbial biofilms, (2) ability to select enzymes that retain activity under actual cleaning conditions, (3) ability to discriminate between pathogen and non-pathogen microbial biofilms, (4) demonstrated methods for high-yield production and (5) providing a safe, biocompatible alternative to current chemical cleaning agents. Collectively these features provide a new, green and targeted alternative to current industry standard chemical disinfectants such as peracetic acid in this market space.  This project addresses key gaps in knowledge required to translate this technology to the marketplace. Chemical disinfectants and mechanical disruption often have limited efficacy against microbial biofilms, allowing potential pathogens to persist in processing environments despite cleaning and cause foodborne illness. Furthemore, biofilm chemical structure is often complex and heterogeneous due to the presence of multiple microbes present within a biofilm community. This technology addresses both of these gaps by engineering enzymes that can degrade chemically heterogeneous biofilms, and can act synergistically with other cleaning methods or alone to enhance removal of microbial pathogens present during food processing. In particular, the project utilizes some leading industry partners such as Highland Fresh Technologies who will assist in designing and simulating actual process conditions under which application testing can be performed to determine amount per use and method of application. Also, production costs during scale-up will be calculated to identify critical costs associated with the final product. Additionally, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students working on this project will receive technology translation expertise, working to answer critical questions necessary to identify production costs, business plan development as well as direct exposure to key industry partners to design and execute key testing of products.