Botulinal neurotoxin continues to be a concern in food safety. The molecular biology of botulinal neurotoxin gene expression in Clostridium botuli-num is poorly understood. In this study, the transcriptional and translational kinetics of expression of type A botulinal neurotoxin by C. botulinum type A strains Hall A, 62A, and NCTC 2916 were determined during 96 hours of growth. Strains were gro...

The amplified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (amp-ELISA) was compared to the mouse bioassay for determination of botulinal neurotoxin types A, B, E, and F. Twelve different toxin-producing type A, 13 proteolytic type B, 9 nonproteolytic type B, 16 type E, 8 proteolytic type F, 5 nonproteolytic type F, and 6 nontoxigenic clostridial strains were tested. The cultures were inoculated into cooke...

the aim of the study was the analysis of lithuanian honeys for the presence of the spores of clostridium botulinum. the analyses were performed on multifloral, honeydew, nectar-honeydew, rape, buckwheat, heather and linden honey bought in direct sale. prior to culture on solid media the samples were prepared by supernatant filtration method and cultured in parallel in cooked meat medium (cmm) a...

The ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis GL was tested for its applicability to the detection of botulinum neurotoxins. Botulinum neurotoxins attack different proteins of the SNARE-complex, which is involved in fusion processes of the cellular membrane traffic. The exocytosis of enzymes and the phagocytosis of germs include several presumptive SNARE-dependent pathways within T. pyriformis. Acid phosp...

Proper temperature control is essential in preventing Clostridium perfringens food poisoning. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service cooling guidelines offer two options for the cooling of meat products: follow a standard time-temperature schedule or validate that alternative cooling regimens result in no more than a 1-log CFU/g increase of C. perfringens and no g...