Food Microbiological Testing

The Importance of Food Microbiological Testing

The focus on food microbiology testing has been changed considerably during the last 30 years, from quality control testing to using the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), a widely recognized method to manage food safety. The demand for food microbiological testing in the food industry has never been greater, driven a further increased demand for large food retailers and food production, and more concerns over food safety and legislative requirements. Common foodborne microorganisms like Salmonella and Campylobacter continue to cause widespread illness, while less common microorganisms, notably Shigatoxin/Vero toxin producing Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, have been responsible for very serious foodborne disease outbreaks in the world.

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Accelerate Research and Practice in Food Microbiological Testing

16S/18S/ITS sequencing and shotgun metagenomics sequencing are two powerful techniques for microbial identification and diversity analysis. The 16S rRNA gene is a housekeeping gene in bacteria and archaebacteria, and the18S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacers (ITS) are the prominent markers for fungal classification. They have been used for microbial identification, microbial diversity analysis, abundance analysis, and probably microbial functional profiling. Shotgun metagenomics sequencing is the study of all microorganisms present in a given complex sample, revealing bacterial diversity and abundance in various environments, even though in cases that 16S/18S/ITS sequencing is difficult or impossible to analyze. We are dedicated to providing researchers with accurate sequence data for food microbiological testing by utilizing the most advanced technologies and sequencing platforms.

Services

Detect and quantify food quality indicators and spoilage microorganisms.
Detect and quantify bacterial and viral foodborne pathogens.
Rapid detection of foodborne pathogens.
Quality and quantity monitoring and control of food materials.

What Can We Do?

1. Microbial identification and diversity analysis of the food microbiome using 16S/18S/ITS sequencing or metagenomics sequencing.
2. Identify harmful microorganisms that can spoilage foods or spread disease using 16S/18S/ITS sequencing or metagenomics sequencing.
3. More accurate identification and comprehensive characterization of microorganisms using microbial whole genome sequencing.
4. Microbial abundance analysis using 16S rRNA sequencing or real-time qPCR.

Note: Our service is for research use only, and not for therapeutic or diagnostic use.

Detectable Objects

Yeast, mold, bacteria (acetobacter, E. coli, etc.)

Detection Methods

Next-generation sequencing (NGS), multi locus sequence typing (MLST), 16S/18S/ITS sequencing, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), MicroSEQ®.

Technical Platforms

Illumina HiSeq/MiSeq, Roche 454, PacBio SMRT systems, Nanopore MinION systems, Real-time qPCR, clone library, etc.

Sample Requirements

1. DNA sample: ≥ 500 ng, OD_260/280 = 1.8 - 2.0, concentration ≥ 10 ng/μl.
2. Ensure that the DNA is not degraded. Avoid repeated freezing and thawing during sample storage and shipment.
3. Please use enough dry ice or ice packs during shipment.

Bioinformatics Analysis

OTU Clustering	Distribution-Based OTU-Calling
	Rarefaction Curve
	Shannon index Curve
	Rank abundance Curve
	Diversity index
OTU-Based Analysis	Heatmap
	VENN
	Principal Components Analysis (PCA)
Taxonomic analysis	Bar/Pie
	NMDS
	PCA/PCoA
	Redundancy analysis (RDA) / Canonical correlation analysis (CCA)
	LEfSe
	Network Analysis
Phylogenetic Analysis	(Un)Weighted Unifrac
Phylogenetic Analysis	Phylogenetic Trees

References

Sheik CS, et al. Exposure of Soil Microbial Communities to Chromium and Arsenic Alters Their Diversity and Structure. PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(6): e40059.
Jung JY, et al. Metagenomic Analysis of Kimchi, a Traditional Korean Fermented Food. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011, 77(7): 2264–2274.