When food goes bad: understanding biofilm formation to prevent food spoilage

当食物变质时：了解生物膜的形成以防止食物变质

• 批准号: BB/X010384/1
• 负责人: Laura Nolan
• 金额: $ 51.8万
• 依托单位: Quadram Institute
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FX010384%2F1
• 关键词: When; food; goes; bad; understanding

Almost 10% of the world's population do not get enough to eat. Since the global population is predicted to rise to 9.8 billion by 2050, we need to increase levels of food availability by at least 50% to be able to feed the world's population. One proposed solution has been to reduce food loss and wastage (FLW), since it is estimated that around 1/3 of the total food produced for human consumption worldwide is either lost or wasted. A major contributor to FLW is spoilage by microbes. Given these drastic numbers, many governments and global organisations are adopting a multi-pronged approach to ensure we can feed the world over the coming decades. Indeed, the importance of understanding biological processes that lead to food spoilage falls within the BBSRC's Strategic Challenge '3.2.1 Bioscience for Sustainable Agriculture and Food' and the Responsive Mode Priority of 'Reducing Waste in the Food Chain'.Microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) grow on the surfaces of food, or on surfaces in the food chain, in a slimy film called a biofilm. Biofilms are found everywhere, from the slimy deposits that form on the bathroom sink, shower and fridge, to the slime seen in ponds or on rocks in nature. The slimy coating acts as a protective layer, making it very difficult to kill microbes when they are in biofilms and to physically remove the biofilm once it has formed. A major group of bacteria that cause spoilage of a range of meat, dairy and vegetable products are broadly called Pseudomonas species. When food in your fridge goes off and you throw it out, it is very likely to be due to these bacteria growing in biofilms on spoiled salad leaves, meat or on the aggregates in spoiled milk. On average 280 kg of food is lost or wasted per adult in the UK, which contributes to approx. 6.7 million tonnes, or 152,000 full lorries, of food wasted each year in the UK alone. There are currently no strategies that directly target biofilm formation on food surfaces to either extend the shelf life of food or stop food spoilage. Overall, the work in this Fellowship aims to: 1. Determine if we can stop Pseudomonas species forming biofilms on food by targeting a common component of the slimy part of biofilms, extracellular DNA (eDNA). Many bacteria have eDNA in the biofilm slime, which provides strength and structure to the biofilm and helps the biofilm resist attempts to remove it. My preliminary data shows that there is eDNA in Pseudomonas species biofilms. I have access to an enzyme called NucB, which can break down eDNA. In this work I will test if putting NucB on food surfaces stops bacteria forming biofilms and if I can remove a biofilm that is already formed on food with NucB. 2. Understand how Pseudomonas species grow in biofilms on food to bring about food spoilage. By understanding this process in detail, we will then be able to develop new ways to stop biofilms forming on food, or on surfaces in the food chain (e.g. in food processing plants or on food packaging) to extend the shelf-life and reduce food spoilage. This work could be directly translated into solutions to reduce the growth of bacteria on food and thus food spoilage. Additionally, the techniques developed in this Fellowship will be very useful in understanding how other bacteria, for instance those that cause food poisoning, are transmitted through the food chain.

几乎10％的世界人口没有足够的食物。由于预计到2050年，全球人口将增加到98亿，因此我们需要将粮食供应水平提高至少50％，以便能够养活全球人口。一种建议的解决方案是减少粮食损失和浪费（FLW），因为据估计，全世界为人类消费生产的粮食总粮食的1/3丢失或浪费。 FLW的主要贡献者是微生物变质。鉴于这些庞大的数字，许多政府和全球组织正在采用多管齐下的方法，以确保我们可以在未来几十年中养活全球。 Indeed, the importance of understanding biological processes that lead to food spoilage falls within the BBSRC's Strategic Challenge '3.2.1 Bioscience for Sustainable Agriculture and Food' and the Responsive Mode Priority of 'Reducing Waste in the Food Chain'.Microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) grow on the surfaces of food, or on surfaces in the food chain, in a slimy film called a biofilm.到处都可以发现生物膜，从浴室水槽，淋浴和冰箱上形成的黏糊糊的沉积物到池塘中看到的粘液或自然界中的岩石。粘性涂层充当保护层，使其在生物膜中杀死微生物非常困难，一旦形成生物膜就可以物理去除。引起一系列肉类，乳制品和蔬菜产品的腐烂的主要细菌被广泛称为假单胞菌。当您的冰箱中的食物熄灭并将其扔掉时，很可能是由于这些细菌在变质的沙拉叶子，肉或聚集体中生长的细菌。在英国，每个成年人的每名成人平均损失或浪费了280公斤的食物，这大约有贡献。仅在英国，每年浪费了670万吨，即152,000辆全卡车。目前，尚无将直接针对食品表面生物膜形成的策略来延长食物的保质期或停止食物变质。总体而言，该研究金的工作的目的是：1。确定我们是否可以通过靶向生物膜粘性部分的共同成分，细胞外DNA（EDNA）来阻止在食物上形成生物膜的假单胞菌。许多细菌在生物膜粘液中具有EDNA，为生物膜提供强度和结构，并有助于生物膜抵抗去除它的尝试。我的初步数据表明，假单胞菌物种生物膜中有Edna。我可以使用一种称为NUCB的酶，该酶可以分解Edna。在这项工作中，我将测试是否将NUCB放在食物表面上会阻止形成生物膜的细菌，并且我可以去除已经在食物上与NUCB形成的生物膜。 2。了解假单胞菌在食物上如何在生物膜中生长以产生食物变质。通过详细了解这一过程，我们将能够开发出新的方法来阻止食物上形成的生物膜，或者在食物链中（例如，在食品加工厂或食品包装上），以扩展保质期并减少食物损坏。这项工作可以直接转化为解决方案，以减少细菌对食物的生长，从而减少食物变质。此外，在该奖学金中开发的技术将非常有用，以了解其他细菌（例如那些引起食物中毒的细菌）如何通过食物链传播。