Pathogenic Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes are foodborne pathogens that gained notoriety as two of the deadliest foodborne bacteria since they cause the most deaths associated with foodborne infections. They are able to affect people through persistence in different foods and have caused numerous cases, deaths, and major outbreaks through consumption of contaminated food. Both microorganisms are highly acid resistant and are able to able to survive the acidic conditions in the stomach, pass into the intestine where they can replicate and initiate their pathogenicity cycle. Both microorganisms can achieve that through major persistence in the food chain; from the stages where food is produced and decontaminated to the consumption of contaminated food. To understand this persistence we can use molecular techniques such as functional genomics through utilization of mutant libraries, or transcriptomics to uncover the molecular mechanisms these microorganisms use in each stage of the food chain. This session covers, firstly, the use of transcriptomics and functional genomics for the investigation of molecular mechanisms through which L. monocytogenes is able to survive different processes and cause disease. Furthermore, it covers the use of an extensive mutant library and functional genomics to understand the molecular targets and mechanisms triggered by antimicrobial compounds in broccoli extracts against E. coli. Finally, it looks into the molecular targets and bacterial responses of novel non-thermal applications (e.g., cold atmospheric plasma and gaseous ozone) which through the use of mutants and predictive modelling tools can permit better interpretation of the adaptions of the microbial physiology.

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