Characterization of biocide-tolerant bacteria isolated from artisanal cheeses

• Grant number: 19/03176-9
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): April 02, 2019
• Effective date (End): May 29, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Bernadette Dora Gombossy de Melo Franco
• Grantee: Josisleine Recalde Allaion Ferreira
• Supervisor abroad: Maria Jose Grande Burgos
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Local de pesquisa : Universidad de Jaén, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/02630-5 - Microbiological characterization of ripened Minas artisanal cheese marketed in São Paulo: safety, hygiene and microbial diversity, BP.MS

Abstract

Biocides, because they have antiseptic and/or disinfectant action, have becomepopular for the disinfection of surfaces and materials in the food industry. Theincreased use of biocides is of concern because it can induce cross-resistance toantibiotics. In Brazil, the legislation for supervision of production and marketing ofartisanal cheeses is complex and has numerous gaps, and these products canbecome an important public health issue, due to contamination with pathogenicbacteria. As extensive use of biocides can lead to resistance to antibiotics, this BEPEproject aims to determine the biocide tolerance of staphylococci isolated fromartisanal cheeses, in order to evaluate their possible contribution in the transmissionof antimicrobial resistance in the cheese production chain. The phenotypic profileswill be analysed by determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) forbenzalkonium chloride, cetrimide, hexadecylpyridinium chloride, triclosan andhexachlorophene using the microdilution method in broth in microtiter plates and thegenotypic profiles will be determined by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for theqacA / B and smr (qacC) genes. The statistical significance of the correlationsbetween biocide tolerance levels and presence of biocide tolerant genes will beanalyzed with the SPSS statistical program.