About this Research Topic
The food industry plays a crucial role in global health and economy, offering a wide range of products that sustain human populations. However, ensuring food safety and preventing foodborne illnesses remain significant challenges. A critical issue is the presence of bacterial persister cells - dormant cells within bacterial populations that exhibit remarkable tolerance to various stressors, including antibiotics and sanitizers. This dormancy state allows them to survive unfavorable conditions and potentially become active again if under favorable conditions.
Persister cells are implicated in recurrent contamination and outbreaks within food production environments. Unlike antibiotic resistance, which involves genetic changes, persistence is a phenotypic adaptation that poses unique challenges for detection and control. Understanding the mechanisms of persistence, its triggers, and implications in the food industry is essential for developing effective strategies to mitigate food safety risks.
This Research Topic aims to consolidate current knowledge on bacterial persister cells in the food industry, including the fundamental mechanisms that underlie bacterial persistence, their role in foodborne diseases, and innovative approaches for detection and management.
We welcome Original Research, Review, Methods, Hypothesis and Theory, and Perspective articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following areas:
• Mechanisms of Persistence: Genetic and environmental factors, molecular pathways, and stress response systems that enable survival under adverse conditions in food processing settings and storage.
• Detection and Quantification: Innovative methods for detecting and quantifying persister cells in food products and processing environments, and the limitations of current culture-based detection methodologies including those used in official controls.
• Impact on Food Safety: Foodborne outbreaks potentially linked to persister cells, role in foodborne pathogens’ recalcitrance in food industrial premises.
• Biofilm Formation: Incidence and impact of persisters-harboring in formation and recalcitrance of biofilms in food and non-food contact industrial surfaces.
• Prevention of Persister Cells: Science models and forecasting of persister cells in industrial settings.
• Mitigation Strategies: Efficacy of current cleaning and disinfection methods, and development of novel antimicrobial agents targeting persister cells.
Persister cells are implicated in recurrent contamination and outbreaks within food production environments. Unlike antibiotic resistance, which involves genetic changes, persistence is a phenotypic adaptation that poses unique challenges for detection and control. Understanding the mechanisms of persistence, its triggers, and implications in the food industry is essential for developing effective strategies to mitigate food safety risks.
This Research Topic aims to consolidate current knowledge on bacterial persister cells in the food industry, including the fundamental mechanisms that underlie bacterial persistence, their role in foodborne diseases, and innovative approaches for detection and management.
We welcome Original Research, Review, Methods, Hypothesis and Theory, and Perspective articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following areas:
• Mechanisms of Persistence: Genetic and environmental factors, molecular pathways, and stress response systems that enable survival under adverse conditions in food processing settings and storage.
• Detection and Quantification: Innovative methods for detecting and quantifying persister cells in food products and processing environments, and the limitations of current culture-based detection methodologies including those used in official controls.
• Impact on Food Safety: Foodborne outbreaks potentially linked to persister cells, role in foodborne pathogens’ recalcitrance in food industrial premises.
• Biofilm Formation: Incidence and impact of persisters-harboring in formation and recalcitrance of biofilms in food and non-food contact industrial surfaces.
• Prevention of Persister Cells: Science models and forecasting of persister cells in industrial settings.
• Mitigation Strategies: Efficacy of current cleaning and disinfection methods, and development of novel antimicrobial agents targeting persister cells.
Keywords: Bacterial persister cells, bacterial persistence, Detection of persister cells, Managing food contamination, Foodborne pathogen persistence, Biofilm formation in food industry, Cleaning methods in food industry, foodborne illness prevention
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
