Articles of Significant Interest Selected from This Issue by the Editors

摘要

Viral communities in a 14th century fecal sample were analyzed by Appelt et al. (p. 26482655) using a combination of electron microscopy, high-throughput sequencing, and suicide PCR. The authors found that the taxonomic composition of the ancient viral community was different from that in modern stools but that functionalities were conserved, a result which reinforces the fundamental role of the viral community in the human gastrointestinal tract. Antibiotic resistance genes were also detected, suggesting that bacteriophages represent an ancient reservoir of resistance genes and that this dates back as far as the Middle Ages.Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) bacteria are food-borne pathogens causing severe illness in humans, including hemolytic uremic syndrome, which has a high mortality rate and results in lifelong complications. Several food-borne VTEC outbreaks have been caused by the consumption of fermented meats. Quinto and colleagues (p. 27152727) have developed a mathematical model to quantify the impact on VTEC survival of manufacturing and storage conditions, as well as of modifications or unexpected events, during the production of fermented meats. Predictions have been validated in VTEC-contaminated fermented meats manufactured in a pilot plant. The model is implemented in a computing tool, E. coli SafeFerment (EcSF), freely available from http://www.ifr.ac.uk/safety/EcoliSafeFerment.