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Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene

Research

The research at the Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene (ILS) focuses on  the following areas:

Epidemiology, characteristics and stress response of bacterial foodborne pathogens

The long-term objective of our work is to enhance the safety of food through the following: (i) an improved understanding of the ecology and epidemiology of foodborne pathogens and their transmission along the food chain (ii) phenotypic and genotypic characterization of strains to determine possible differences in their virulence (iii) an improved understanding of molecular stress response mechanisms in foodborne pathogens (iv) development and application of molecular methods for rapid detection and identification of foodborne pathogens.

Current main projects:

- Whole genome-based characterization of Salmonella, STEC, Campylobacter jejuni and Listeria monocytogenes

Project_overview_WGS and fooborne pathogens_122023 (PDF, 284 KB)

- Deciphering the global roles of cold shock proteins in Listeria monocytogenes nutrient metabolism, stress tolerance and virulence

Project_overview_CSP L. monocytogenes (PDF, 229 KB)

-Assessment of the occurrence and the molecular diversity of Escherichia albertii in Switzerland

Project_overview_E. albertii_122023 (PDF, 188 KB)

- Psychrophilic Clostridium estertheticum complex as a potential source for novel bacteriocins

Project_overview_Clostridium estertheticum bacteriocins_122023 (PDF, 201 KB)

 

Completed projects:

- Prevalence and characteristics of Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) along the foodchain and beyond

Project_overview_STEC (PDF, 308 KB)

- Microbiological, epidemiological and food safety aspects of Cronobacter – an opportunistic foodborne pathogen

Project_overview_Cronobacter (PDF, 170 KB)

L. monocytogenes: foodborne pathogen and hygiene indicator

Project_overview_L. monocytogenes (PDF, 285 KB)

- Unravelling the genotypic and phenotypic diversity of the psychrophilic Clostridium estertheticum complex, a meat spoilage agent

Project_overview_Clostridium estertheticum (PDF, 194 KB)

 

Foodborne bacterial toxins

Foodborne bacterial toxins such as the ones produced by Staphylococcus aureus and different species of the Bacillus cereus group represent a major threat to consumer health and lead to considerable economic losses. The overarching objective of our work (group of Sophia Johler) is to advance the current understanding of foodborne intoxications and toxico-infections, increase food safety and enable improved risk assessment by (i) quantifying toxin expression during food production and storage, (ii) deciphering the intricate interplay of regulatory mechanisms controlling toxin expression, (iii) identifying biomarkers linked to toxicity, (iv) leveraging whole genome sequencing, MALDI-TOF and FTIR spectroscopy based approaches to improve source attribution and identification of foodborne bacterial toxin producers.

Current main projects:

-Deciphering staphylococcal enterotoxin expression and its regulatory control under stress encountered during food production and preservation

project oveview_Staphylococus Entertoxins (PDF, 161 KB)

-Elucidating the hazardous potential of members of the Bacillus cereus group and developing strategies and tools for risk-based screening and control

project overview_Bacillus (PDF, 183 KB)

 

Antibiotic resistances in microorganisms at the foodchain-human-environment interface

The worldwide increase of the prevalence of antibiotic resistant microorganisms in food is of growing concern and is designated by the World Health Organization as an emerging public health problem. The main objectives of our studies are (i) to determine resistance prevalence and resistance patterns of indicator bacteria and foodborne pathogens at the foodchain-human-environment interface and (ii) to identify possible risk factors associated with the occurrence of resistances.

Current main projects:

- Further characterization of ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae along the foodchain and the different interactions - elucidating the molecular epidemiology

Project_overview_ESBL Enterobacterales_122023 (PDF, 134 KB)

- Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales along the food chain and the different intersections

Project_overview_Carbapenem Enterobacterales_122023 (PDF, 104 KB)

- Assessment of the spread of florfenicol resistant enterococci harboring oxazolidinone resistance genes – a "One Health" approach

Project_overview_florfenicol_Enterococci_122023 (PDF, 236 KB)

- Environmental dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms (ARM) by the aquatic environment - a possible spread in the food chain by irrigation of crops

Project_overview_ARM_river_122023 (PDF, 118 KB)

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Weiterführende Informationen

Our research approach

Where possible, our projects are based on a One Health approach. The main focus is the food chain.