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

摘要-- Ascribe Bioscience正在开发一种新技术，以防止食源性疾病爆发和召回 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。 与新鲜番茄沙司有关的O26大肠杆菌导致了60例疾病和22例住院治疗。2011年 与整个哈密瓜有关的李斯特菌的多州爆发导致143人住院，33人死亡。另一 由沙门氏菌引起的哈密瓜相关疫情在24个州造成261例病例，94人住院治疗 3人死亡。由于大多数新鲜农产品都是生食，没有加工步骤可以消除或减少 病原体，它们仍然是一个主要的污染源。新鲜农产品可能会被污染， 病原体在食品生产的任何步骤-收获期间，或在收获后的各个阶段，包括 加工、运输和储存。农场到餐桌距离的持续增加进一步放大了 产品被病原体污染，造成重大但基本上可以预防的公共卫生负担。 氯基处理通常用于对新鲜和最低限度加工的水果进行消毒， 蔬菜，但它们的有效性有限，因为它们无法进入病原体可以进入的内部组织。 不受影响的繁荣。为了防止与新鲜农产品相关的食源性疾病爆发，Ascribe正在开发一种 一种基于天然分子的治疗技术，可激活植物防御，并随时间持续， 可靠的，长期的保护，防止广泛的细菌病原体。Ascribe的治疗方案 技术有可能通过解决外部和外部环境问题， 和内部细菌污染。为了响应种子，叶面喷洒，或根灌应用，植物部署 一系列防御反应，导致对广泛的农业作物的抗性增强， 重要的植物病原体在这个项目中，Ascribe将建立技术的可行性， 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。 第一阶段项目的具体目标是：1）开发土壤施用的产品配方 （2）测定不同药剂对小麦种子发芽、生长和品质的影响; 这些制剂针对番茄中的人类肠道病原体肠道沙门氏菌和单核细胞增生李斯特菌 3）测试这些处理对番茄和西兰花货架期的影响。这些目标将使 Ascribe将在第二阶段进一步开发这项技术，其中Ascribe将改进配方，测试功效， 针对其他病原体，扩大到其他类型的水果和蔬菜，并进行毒理学研究， 支持监管审批。如果成功，Ascribe提出的技术将大大提高 消费新鲜农产品。该技术还具有延长新鲜、切割或 最低限度加工的水果和蔬菜，增加消费者的可及性。

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.