Using novel pre-harvest, resistance-conferring treatments to prevent foodborne pathogenic outbreaks in produce

摘要- 归因于生物科学公司正在开发一种新技术来防止食源性疾病的爆发和召回 通过食用新鲜或最低限度加工的水果和蔬菜。产品召回和疫情爆发 与新鲜农产品相关的食源性疾病在美国呈上升趋势。2015年，两起E。 与新鲜番茄辣酱有关的O26大肠埃希氏菌导致60人患病和22人住院。2011年，一个 与整个哈密瓜有关的多个州爆发的李斯特菌导致143人住院和33人死亡。另一个 沙门氏菌引发的与哈密瓜有关的疫情在24个州造成261例病例，94人住院 死亡3人。因为大多数新鲜农产品都是生吃的，没有任何加工步骤可以消除或最小化 病原体，它们仍然是污染源的主要来源。新鲜农产品可能会被污染 在食品生产的任何步骤--收获期间或收获后的不同阶段--的病原体 加工、运输和储存。农场到叉子距离的持续增加进一步放大了 产品受到病原体的污染，造成重大但基本上可以预防的公共卫生负担。 基于氯的处理通常用于对新鲜和最少加工的水果进行消毒，以及 蔬菜，但由于无法接触到病原体可以进入的内部组织，它们的效果有限 欣欣向荣，不受影响。为了防止与新鲜农产品相关的食源性疾病的爆发，Ascribe正在开发一种 基于一种天然分子的治疗技术，可以激活植物的防御系统，持续一段时间，提供 针对多种细菌病原体提供可靠、长期的保护。归因于提议的治疗 技术有可能显著提高原材料的安全性，因为它既解决了外部因素 和内部细菌污染。作为对种子、叶面喷洒或根部浸渍的响应，植物部署 一系列防御反应，导致对农业上广泛的 重要的植物病原体。在本项目中，归属者将确定预防技术的可行性 与人类食用新鲜或最低限度加工的水果和蔬菜有关的召回和疫情。 这个第一阶段项目的具体目标是：1)开发用于土壤应用的产品配方 浸种和喷雾，并测定它们对种子萌发、生长和品质的影响；2)测试 这些制剂针对番茄和单核细胞增多性李斯特氏菌中的人类肠道病原体肠沙门氏菌 3)测试这些处理对番茄和西兰花货架期的影响。这些目标将定位于 归因于在第二阶段进一步开发这项技术，在该阶段将归因于精制配方，测试药效 针对其他病原体，扩展到其他类型的水果和蔬菜，并进行毒理学研究以 支持监管部门的批准。如果成功，Ascribe提出的技术将极大地提高 食用新鲜农产品。这项技术还有可能延长新鲜、切制或 最低限度加工的水果和蔬菜，增加了消费者对它们的可及性。

Abstract - Ascribe Bioscience is developing a novel technology to prevent foodborne outbreaks and recalls caused by the consumption of fresh or minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Product recalls and outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with fresh produce are on the rise in the U.S. In 2015, two outbreaks of E. coli O26 linked with fresh tomato salsa were responsible for 60 illnesses and 22 hospitalizations. In 2011, a multistate outbreak of Listeria linked to whole cantaloupes led to 143 hospitalizations and 33 deaths. Another cantaloupe-linked outbreak caused by Salmonella caused 261 cases across 24 states, with 94 hospitalizations and 3 deaths. Since most fresh produce is consumed raw, with no processing step to eliminate or minimize pathogens, they remain a major source of contamination. Fresh produce can become contaminated with pathogens at any steps of food production—during harvesting, or at various post-harvest stages including processing, transport, and storage. Continued increase of farm-to-fork distances further amplifies the risk of product contamination with pathogens, creating a significant—but largely preventable—public health burden. Chlorine-based treatments have commonly being used to disinfect fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables, but they have limited effectiveness due to inaccessibility to internal tissues where pathogens can flourish unaffected. To prevents outbreaks of foodborne associated with fresh produce, Ascribe is developing a treatment technology based on a natural molecule that activates plant defenses that persists over time, offering reliable, long-term protection against a broad range of bacterial pathogens. Ascribe’s proposed treatment technology has the potential to dramatically improve the safety of raw produce by addressing both external and internal bacterial contamination. In response to seed, foliar spray, or root-drench application, plants deploy an array of defense responses, which result in enhanced resistance against a broad spectrum of agriculturally important plant pathogens. In this project, Ascribe will establish the feasibility of the technology for the prevention of recalls and outbreaks related to human consumption of fresh or minimally processed fruits and vegetables. The specific aims of this Phase I project are 1) Develop formulations for produce designed for application by soil drench and spraying, and determine their effects on germination, growth, and quality; 2) Test the efficacy of these formulations against human enteric pathogens Salmonella enterica in tomato and Listeria monocytogenes in broccoli; 3) Test the effect of these treatments on the shelf life of tomato and broccoli. These aims will position Ascribe to further develop this technology in Phase II, in which Ascribe will refine the formulations, test efficacy against additional pathogens, expand to other types of fruits and vegetables, and perform toxicology studies to support regulatory approval. If successful, Ascribe’s proposed technology will dramatically increase the safety of consuming fresh produce. The technology also has the potential to increase the shelf-life of fresh, cut, or minimally processed fruits and vegetables, increasing their accessibility to consumers.