Food Microbiology

Foodborne Pathogens and Their Stress Responses Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Foodborne Pathogens and Their Stress Responses Food safety is becoming an increasing challenge considering the advancing ability of foodborne pathogens to thrive in harsh conditions. Conventionally, food preservation focuses on storing or preparing food in conditions in which pathogens cannot survive. However, various pathogens have devised stress responses that make it possible for them to survive in harsh conditions. Assessing and understanding various stress responses by foodborne pathogens creates a platform for developing effective food safety mechanisms. Stress Responses Foodborne pathogens have developed a range of stress responses to help their survival under harsh conditions. Primary among such responses is the heat shock response that the pathogens activate when exposed to high temperatures (Ding, Liao, & Feng, 2022). Often, the heat shock response constitutes the ability to synthesize heat shock proteins (HSPs). The pathogens deploy HSPs to protect the cellular proteins from denaturation. Also, HSPs can repair damaged molecules to secure the survival of the pathogens. Secondly, the pathogens can also advance acid tolerance response (ATR). In some cases, food preservation constitutes lowering pH to impede microbial growth (Bari & Ukuku, 2020). However, ATR allows the pathogens to develop genes that can regulate membrane integrity, energy production, and pH homeostasis. There are more responses that foodborne pathogens have developed to enhance their survival. Oxidative stress response is among such responses in which pathogens evolve to survive the attack of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Bari & Ukuk...