3rd International Conference on Microbes and Beneficial Microbes September 27-28, 2019 Toronto, Canada

Biography:

Andrea Roncolini Doctoral candidate at D3A-UNIVPM. His doctoral project concerns the investigation about microbiological aspects of edible insect as food and feed. Through culture-dependent (microbial cultivation, isolation and enumeration) and independent methods (molecular biology methods) he studies edible insects microbiota characterization, occurrence of transferable resistance genes in edible insects and exploitation of insect powder in bread making. He is also involved in other projects concerning the exploitation of lactic acid bacteria (isolation, characterization and development of starters) for the production of fermented foods, the microbiological food safety analysis, the use of biotracers for environmental assays. He had a Master’s degree in Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology at University of Perugia and his Thesis concerned the taxonomic and ecologic characterization of yeasts isolated from Alpine soils. He had a Professional Master’s Programme with merit-based scholarship in “Characterization and technologies for the remediation of polluted sites” at University of Rome “La Sapienza”.

Abstract:

In 2015, EFSA listed a few insect species for their potential as food and feed in the European Union (EFSA Scientific Committee, 2015). Between those species Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) represents a potential feed for animal rearing, due to its ability in efficiently converting organic wastes into biomass – rich in high-quality protein and fat (Diener et al., 2011; van Huis et al., 2013). Indeed in this study, Danio rerio, a fish species considered as a model for the study of vertebrate development, was fed with three different diets: (i) H. illucens reared on waste obtained from roasting coffee process; (ii) H. illucens reared on insects commercial growth substrate; (iii) a typical fish meal as control diet (Wixon, 2000).

In this context, in order to satisfy EFSA request (ANSES Opinion, 2015), the aim of the present study was to investigate the microbial dynamics along the entire D. rerio rearing chain using H. illucens as fish meal replacement. In more detail, typical fish meal, H. illucens and its growth substrates and frasses were subjected to microbial viable counts for the enumeration of total mesophilic areobes, spore forming bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and eumycetes. Moreover the microbiota of the already cited samples and D. rerio gut samples reared with the three different diets was studied by PCR DGGE and metagenomic sequencing.

Among the different insect rearing chains microbial enumeration showed several distinct trends depending on rearing chain or analyzed microbes. Furthermore, PCR DGGE and metagenomic sequencing results highlighted a high biodiversity in the analyzed samples.

Biography:

I’m a PhD student at the department of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences at Polytechnic University of Marche. I have a Master’s degree in Applied Biology at Marche Polytechnic University. My Master’s Degree Thesis concerned the evaluation of the fermentative attitudes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains to produce craft beers. My doctoral project is in food microbiology and it’s based on the study of methods for the study of pro-technological and spoilage yeasts in food industry.

Abstract:

Contamination of foods by spoilage yeasts could lead to a reduced food product shelf-life due to gas production and undesirable off-flavors and off-odours. Considering the growing consumer’s demand for natural foods without chemical preservatives, the food industry has been induced to research alternative solutions to guarantee the required microbiological standards. A plant-derived natural antimicrobials such as essential oils have emerged as effective compounds against spoilage microorganisms and/or pathogens which could affect food safety and stability.

In this context, the aim of this study was to assess the potential role of 7 different essential oils (cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, mandarin, orange, lemon and lime) as preservatives in yogurt against spoilage yeasts. These essential oils were chosen for their possible positive attribution to yogurt’s flavour and odour. The antifungal activity of these essential oils was evaluated by disc diffusion assay on 75 spoilage yeast strains isolated from yogurts prepared with buffalo milk. The tested yeasts belonged to the genera Candida, Rhodotorula, Debaryomyces, Kluyveromyces and Yarrowia. The best performing essential oils were cinnamon and lemongrass. Therefore, they were selected for further minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) assay using the micro-well dilution method. Based on the obtained results, the potential role of the selected essential oils as preservatives was tested directly in yogurts intentionally contaminated by selected yeast strains in order to confirm their efficiency against yeast spoilage and to evaluate their sensory impact on the final product through a final acceptance test.

Biography:

Hanan Shehata has completed her PhD at the University of Guelph. Hanan is currently an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the Natural Health Product (NHP) Research Alliance, University of Guelph

Abstract:

Probiotic production and consumption have been rapidly increasing due to their potential health benefits. Probiotics are “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host”. Health benefits of probiotics are strain-specific and are dose-dependent. Hence, it is essential to include the correct strain names and the viable cell count throughout the shelf life on probiotic product labels. A tool is needed for quick and accurate identification and enumeration of viable cells in probiotic products. PCR based methods are the most commonly used methods for food diagnostics because they are quick and sensitive. Viability PCR is a technique that uses intercalating dyes to intercalate to DNA of membrane-damaged cells so this DNA cannot amplify in a PCR reaction. In this study, viability PCR was used for the enumeration of probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei Lc-11 using strain-specific primers. The effectiveness of PMAxx was proven by its ability to differentiate between viable and heat-killed cells. The linear dynamic range was established between 3.7*105 to 37 genomes. The LOD was determined to be equivalent to 37 genomes (corresponding to 18.7 CFU). The reaction efficiency averaged to 101%. R square values were >0.99. The RSD% for repeatability and reproducibility averaged to 0.4% and 1.9%, respectively. Bacterial counts of Lc-11 products were determined using viability PCR and compared to the standard plate count method. The counts from both methods were highly correlated with R square >0.99. This protocol enables accurate and fast probiotic enumeration.

Biography:

Jose Luis Martinez is an architect of scientific thought, stimulated by the epistemological has developed his career in the biological sciences. Engineer, master of science and candidate for a doctorate in food science, traveled around the world to learn about how people live and eat, and to learn about traditional aspects of food, intensifying these experiences to their scientific knowledge. Currently, he has focused his studies on understanding the results and paradigms in research on the microbiome.

Abstract:

The epistemology of food is my proposal to elucidate the forms of creation of scientific and non-scientific knowledge about the food phenomenon. From the rhetorics emanating from scientific discourses and in their dissemination, it is worth analyzing the construction of myths, paradigms and popular distortions in the daily life of the individual. New paradigms, scientific discoveries, are often disseminated in a deterministic manner, reducing the knowledge. These disclosures sometimes commercial, generate a complexity of reactions in society concerning the scientific task. Foods with probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics are part of those scientific innovations that their health functions are often diverted into myths because of adequate information. Commercial food claims are legislated. However, the social construction of science is also an identity crisis in modern societies. Then, from the food option of the individual, how identities are constructed and this identity is also associated with manifestations of the state of health. However, an individual has access to food-related to certain socio-economic conditions and cultural conditions specific to their geopolitical origin. Nowadays, talking about food is linked to thinking about health, nutrition, economy, environment, but it is also necessary to talk about the right to food. This raises, approximately, sustainable public policies to guarantee the right to "eat healthily" and "culturally appropriate".

Biography:

Abstract:

Abstract: This cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of UTI among population visiting Antani Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan to identify microorganisms responsible for UTI to explore susceptibility patterns of identified microorganisms to certain antibiotics used in the cure of UTI. This study included 650 samples of 20-80 years age groups that conducted in SRL Diagnostics of Afghanistan, Kabul city, Afghanistan. Midstream urine samples were collected from patients of both genders. All samples were cultured aerobically in Blood agar, MaCconkey agar and CLED medium. The identification of isolated bacteria were performed using manual biochemical tests. All uropathogenic isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The prevalence of UTIs were 15.8%. The frequency of UTIs was 11.7% in males and 17.6% in females. Out of total positive cultures, 25.5% (30/85) were Gram positive bacteria and 74.5(55/85) were Gram negative bacteria. Escherichia coli were the most predominant uro-pathogen with 42 (49.4%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 16 (18.8%) and Proteus mirabilis 12(14.1%). Most lactose fermenter Gram-ve bacteria were sensitive to Cefepime and all Gram positive isolates were sensitive to Meropenem. In this study, it was concluded that there is marked variation in the prevalence of UTIs (between males and females) and antibiotics susceptibility patterns of uropathogens. Meropenem is appropriate antibiotics to treated UTIs causes by Gram positive bacteria. These data demonstrate that future studies should be focused on the causes of antibiotics resistance to solve this problem.

Biography:

Eminent scientist Prof. Dr. Ikram-ul-Haq who was honored as Professor Emeritus in 2015 and Distinguish National Professor in 2017 by Higher Education Commission, Pakistan engaged in pedagogy after completing post-doctoral study in Cornell University, New York, USA as a Fulbright Scholar. He established a well-equipped Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (IIB) in GCU Lahore where Ph.D, M.Phil and B.Sc students are working in the fields of Tissue culture, Enzymology, Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Fermentation, and Microbiology. In addition to publishing 332 research papers, cited by more than 2658 scientists, he has also filed one international and five national patents for industrially important enzymes. Recently developed products include Glucose oxidase enzyme and biodiesel produced from acid oil. He has successfully completed 15 projects, sponsored by various national research organizations such as PSF, PAEC, HEC, GCU & Ministry of Science and Technology and presently, heading one research projects sponsored by Pakistan academy of Science. He has supervised 25 Ph.D, 100 M.Phil, 105 M.Sc and 37 B.Sc students in their research dissertations

Abstract:

Endoglucanases are one of the most significant industrial enzymes and have diverse applications. Various endoglucanases are commonly produced by archaea, bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals that differ in their mode of action. Present study was aimed to optimize different cultural conditions i.e. incubation time, media, temperature, pH and inoculum size, for maximum endoglucanase production using recombinant E.coli strain by means of lab scale fermenter. Genetically modified E.coli contained gene for endoglucanase from Thermotoga petrophila. Maximum endoglucanase activity observed was 12.56 U/mg. Fermentation kinetics was also applied and specific yield product coefficient was revealed as 3.923781/U/ml/h. Best results were obtained after 24 hours of incubation time at a temperature of 37oC and pH 7.0 when 1% inoculum was added to ZYBM9 media)

Biography:

Sipra Mohapatra has completed her PhD from Central Institute of Fisheries Education (Mumbai, India) in 2010. She has done her postdoctoral studies from Southwest University (China), and Ehime University (Japan) and is at present working as an Assistant Professor at Ehime University, Japan. She has published 19 peer-reviewed articles and written 2 book chapters and is a reviewer in 4 reputed journals. She is the recipient of more than 5 awards and scholarships and has worked as lead/co-lead in over 10 projects.

Abstract:

Autophagy is a cellular process that delivers cytoplasmic material to the lysosome for recycling. It is stimulated above the basal or resting rate when nutrients are scarce, cells are under stress, or damaged organelles need to be degraded. High throughput transcriptional profiling suggested that autophagic involvement in early disease resistance and stress management differed between male and female fish. Since, sex steroid and their responsive receptors, especially estrogen and estrogen receptors (ERs), abundances are sexually dimorphic, we deduced that sex-biased autophagy may be regulated by ERs. To prove that, we used ERa and ERb2 knockout (KO) medaka and analyzed the alterations in the autophagic genes and protein expression in the liver and gonad. We found significantly increased mTOR expression in ERa-KO, but not in ERb2-KO female fish. This suggested differential involvement of ERs in autophagic regulation, which was further confirmed by ULK and Beclin transcription, and mitochondrial population. Interestingly, the LC3 (the last major autophagy factor) contents/cell and LC3 positive cells were increased significantly in ER-KO fish. In-depth analysis showed that LC3 nuclear-cytoplasmic transports were partially (ERb2-KO) or completely (ERa-KO) compromised due to SIRT/DOR protein regulation in the nucleus. We also found that autophagy is not only instrumental in germ cell degeneration but also important for oocyte and sperm formation/development in the ER-KO fish. Cumulatively our data highlights the sex-biased autophagy and ER association, stress-influenced apoptosis/autophagy cell fate decision, and the immense significance of autophagy in fish liver and gonad physiology.

Biography:

Sivan Klas has completed his PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Technion IIT (2010) and postdoctoral studies in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto (2012). He has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biotechnology Engineering, ORT Braude College of Engineering and a Management Committee member in a European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action.

Abstract:

Construction of groundwater desalination plants in arid and semi-arid areas is increasing. Already in Israel, millions of cubic meters of brine are produced each year and more are expected shortly. This brine may be used as a new water source for aquaculture, and draws high interest by Israeli inland fish farmers, due to its low cost, constant temperature and pathogen-free characteristics, as well as the opportunity of growing marine species inland. The experience in using groundwater desalination brine for aquaculture is, however, very limited. In unpublished experience, scale formed on essential organs and led to fish mortality. In the current study, sea-bass survival in brine that was pretreated by aeration to reduce calcium concentrations ("softening") was investigated. Kinetics of the softening process were also studied to assess design criteria for commercial application. Results suggested that under very low water exchange rates, fish can survive even in untreated brine. Over 70% of calcium can be removed in the process, at a hydraulic retention time of several hours. CaCO₃ was found to be the dominant precipitant, at up to 1.5kg m^-3. The aeration rate was found to have a much stronger effect on kinetics, compared with seed concentration. It was concluded that fish rearing in desalination brine may be feasible and economic, although care must be taken about the exchange rate and biofiltration. A pilot system is planned to operate during 2019 near Kfar Massarik desalination plant in northern Israel.

Biography:

Nadiyeh Rouhi doing her PhD at Tarbiyat Modares University. She also is fisheries expert at Chabahar Free zone organization and consulting fisheries investors. she is an active, intelligent and goal-oriented individual; she revealed diligence and accuracy along with satisfaction by her work. The aforementioned characteristics can be well manifested on the grade of their final thesis. In addition to academic and research abilities, she has excellent communication skills so she can easily work and cooperate with her coworkers. She has been independently conducting her main research in addition to collaboration with other research fellows on the other related projects.

Abstract:

In this study, fish oil was extracted from precooked and non-precooked longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) heads using hot air cooking at 80ËšC for 30min and extraction yield was measured. To determine fish oil quality, peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), free fatty acids FFA), conjugated dienes (CD), and fatty acid composition was measured in the treatments. The results showed the highest yield in non-precooked heads. Oils obtained from the non-precooked heads showed lower PV, TBA, FFA, and CD compared to the precooked heads. However, a higher amount of DHA polyunsaturated fatty acid (27.50%) was found in oils obtained from precooked heads in comparison with non-precooked heads (18.52%). Crude oil samples were obtained from both the precooked and non-precooked heads contained high levels of palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), DHA (C22:6), meristic acid (C14:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), stearic acid (C18:0), behenic acid (C22:0). In conclusion, oils obtained from the non-precooked samples had higher yields and better quality while the DHA was higher in the oils obtained from precooked samples.

Biography:

Tapas Chakraborty has completed his PhD at the age of 28years from Central Institute of Fisheries Education (Mumbai, India) and National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB, Japan) in 2010. He has done his postdoctoral studies from NIBB and Ehime University (Japan) and is presently working as an Assistant Professor at Ehime University, Japan. He has published more than 22 papers in reputed journals, obtained 2 patents and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute in several esteemed journals. He has received more than 10 awards and scholarships and has worked as lead/co-lead in 10 projects.

Abstract:

Fish has been recognized as the most promising and sustainable source of future food security. However, disease outbreak and slow and improper diagnosis often hinder the profitable blue-crop. Interestingly, global diseases like Edwardsiella affects much commercially important fish. To find common remedial measures to curb Edwardsiella infection in fish, a general idea of how the infection affects an individual, especially during early stages is highly essential. Using several in vivo experiments, we have previously shown that Hepcidin1, a gene critically involved in the starvation associated disease management, is a critical biomarker for E. tarda infection in Pagrus major. Owing to E. tarda’s vast infection terrain and enormous host susceptibility, in the present investigation, we aimed to determine the early molecular pathogenesis of E. tarda in a model (medaka) and commercially important (Red sea bream) fish. To achieve our goal, we infected medaka and red sea bream with E. tarda (@10⁹CFU/ml water) and performed comparative transcriptome analysis using 6 and 24hours post infected liver samples. We found that infection altered the complement system gene expression, vitellogenin production, translation initiation, energy metabolism, cell death, iron homeostasis, ion balance pathways. Further real-time PCR analysis confirmed that several genes especially Hepcidin1, Ubiquitin1 (Autophagy regulator), HSP70 (stress management), SDF2 (cell maintenance), SLC41a (Ion balance) and EIF3d (translation initiation) were altered in a time-dependent manner. Although more thorough investigations are pertinent, our present data suggest the possibility of a general E. tarda molecular pathophysiology in fish.