We explored how calcium affects spore germination, which is crucial in the context of food poisoning. The research aimed to understand if calcium, particularly in a complex with dipicolinic acid (Ca-DPA), could initiate spore germination, as previous studies suggested it played a vital role.
Through our experiments, we observed that while Ca-DPA effectively stimulated spore germination, dipicolinic acid alone did not produce the same effect. This indicates that calcium is essential for promoting germination. Moreover, we found that not only calcium salts but also other divalent cations like manganese and magnesium contributed to this process, while zinc did not.
Interestingly, the study revealed that endogenous calcium and magnesium stored within spores were not critical for germination induction. Instead, it was the external calcium and manganese that proved necessary. Overall, our findings suggest that exogenous sources of divalent cations are more significant in triggering spore germination than the spores' internal reserves.
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We investigated the effects of a phage-encoded cell wall hydrolase, known as LysSAP27, in combating staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP). This research focused on the potential role of calcium ions in enhancing the lytic activity of LysSAP27, which had been produced using recombinant technology.
Our findings revealed that LysSAP27 displays the greatest effectiveness at neutral pH and at a temperature of 30°C. We observed that the presence of calcium ions increased the enzyme’s lytic activity, suggesting that calcium might play a crucial role in enhancing the bactericidal action of this endolysin.
Importantly, when we applied 2 µM of LysSAP27 to milk contaminated with Staphylococcus, we noted a significant reduction in bacterial counts. Specifically, the treatment resulted in a decrease of 2.8 log CFU/mL within the first hour and 3.4 log CFU/mL after two hours. However, while we highlighted the stimulating effect of calcium on LysSAP27, we didn’t isolate the impact of calcium alone, which limits our ability to fully understand its direct contribution to preventing food poisoning.
As such, while LysSAP27 proves to be an effective antimicrobial agent against SFP, there’s still more to uncover regarding how calcium specifically influences this dynamic.
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Calcium enhances antimicrobial efficacyImpact of the calcium concentration on the efficacy of phage phiIPLA-RODI, LysRODIΔAmi and nisin for the elimination of Staphylococcus aureus during lab-scale cheese production.
Effect of calcium not isolated
We examined how calcium concentration impacts the effectiveness of different antimicrobials in reducing Staphylococcus aureus, a harmful pathogen that can cause food poisoning. Our study focused on a combination of three agents: a bacteriophage called phiIPLA-RODI, an engineered lytic protein named LysRODIΔAmi, and the bacteriocin nisin.
The experiments took place during lab-scale cheese production using two calcium chloride (CaCl) concentrations (0.2% and 0.02%) and involved storing the cheese at two different temperatures (4°C and 12°C). Through our observations, we noticed that mixing these antimicrobials typically resulted in a better reduction of S. aureus than using them individually.
However, this enhanced effectiveness was generally additive rather than synergistic. We did find one noteworthy exception: at 12°C, where the pathogen could still grow, the combination of all three agents showed a synergistic effect after 14 days of storage. Importantly, we also discovered that higher levels of calcium significantly boosted the activity of LysRODIΔAmi, allowing us to use substantially less protein while still being effective against the contamination.
Our findings suggest that using these antimicrobials together, especially in the presence of higher calcium concentrations, could be a promising strategy for controlling Staphylococcus aureus in dairy products without increasing the risk of resistance, ultimately keeping costs down.
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