Abstract: The spread of plasmid-mediated antibiotic-resistant bacteria must be controlled; to this end, developing kits for simple and rapid detection in food and clinical settings is desirable. This review describes the detection of antibiotic resistance genes in extended-spectrum β-lactamase （ESBL）- and carbapenemase-producing bacteria. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification （LAMP）, a technique developed in Japan, is a useful diffusion amplification method that does not require equipment like thermal cyclers, and amplifies the target gene in 30 min at about 65℃. Although most reports targeting ESBL and carbapenemase genes are intended for clinical use, environmental and food samples have also been targeted. Recombinase polymerase amplification （RPA） has recently been developed; in RPA, the reaction proceeds under the human skin with reaction conditions of 30 min at 37℃. Detection of ESBL and carbapenemase-encoding genes in food and clinical samples using RPA has been reported in limited studies. However, research on RPA has just begun, and further development is expected.

Abstract: Bacterial stresses can occur from the production to the distribution environments of produce, and these stresses can lead to nonlethal bacterial damage that is an injured state called sublethally injured bacteria. The damage is mainly due to the disruption of the surface structure and cytoplasmic membrane of the cells. Sublethally sanitizer-injured indicator coliform bacteria injured by chlorine, ethanol, and/or fungicide stress could exhibit on vegetables during production and harvest. Chlorine stress and cold stress could induce sublethally injured indicator and pathogenic coliform bacteria on fresh-cut vegetables during processing and subsequent storage. Enterobacter kobei and Pantoea ananatis injurd by chlorine stress, E. amnigenus, E. asburiae, and E. kobei injured by ethanol stress, and Rahnella aquatilis, Yersinia mollaretii, and Escherichia coli injured by fungicide stress could be amongst the injured cells in the coliforms detected in the produce environments. To ensure the microbiological quality and safety of fresh-cut vegetables, it is necessary to adjust the concentration of sanitizer to a level that kills bacteria and does not produce sanitizer- injured cells when sanitizer is applied to the produce, and also to consider the storage temperature to inhibit the recovery of injured bacteria due to cold injury during the chilling storage period.

Abstract: Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is an active species in the chlorination process. Hypochlorite salts that release hypochlorite ion (OCl^–) have been used for more than 200 years as disinfecting, cleaning, deodorizing, and decolorizing agents in various technological fields. In the food industry, sodium hypochlorite is the most widely used among chlorine compounds. The antimicrobial activity of a dilute hypochlorite solution is attributed largely to HOCl because of its cell membrane permeability. OCl^– exhibits an excellent cleaning action for organic soils on solid surfaces. HOCl has been used as an aqueous solution, and its objects to be treated are things. In hypochlorite solution, HOCl is volatile and easily volatilized by stirring, bubbling, atomizing, or forced-air vaporization. On the other hand, OCl^– is non-volatile and stays in the solution. Recently, the scope of objects to be treated with hypochlorite solution has been expanded to indoor spaces, and the use of gaseous hypochlorous acid (HOCl_（g) ) has been studied intensively. This review describes the mechanisms of actions of hypochlorous acid as liquid-based and gaseous disinfectants and provides the evidence for the safety and effectiveness of HOCl_（g) for controlling microorganisms in indoor spaces.

Abstract: Respiratory infectious diseases have potential of aerosol transmission such as COVID-19. The development of new technologies for infection control against airborne viruses are further required. It is necessary for effective development to evaluate properly the effect and role of these technologies in indoor environment. Here, the author provided essential knowledge for infection control of viral aerosols, i.e., basic concept of infection control, features of COVID-19 and Influenza including the entry receptor in body of each virus, behavior of the viral aerosols released from patient bodies, and Wells-Riley model as a traditional quantitative assessment of the infection risk by aerosol transmission. Previous evaluation studies on airborne viruses were categorized into three types of experiments, namely, in vitro, in vivo, and in humans and real indoor environments. Some prospects were described, including standard evaluation methods for air cleaners, the research group to formulate guidelines for evaluating the hygienic effects of chemical substances on microbes in real indoor space, and personal opinions on evaluation concept linked to three types of experiments. This minireview may help to correctly evaluate the hygienic effects of control technologies against airborne viruses in indoor environment and to contribute development of technologies with required performance according to infection risk.

Abstract: Various sterilization and disinfection processes are used to control harmful microorganisms in food, medicine, and the environment. During killing, microorganisms often remain between life and death, being called injured microorganisms. The degree of injury of the injured microorganisms depends on the load of the disinfection treatment, and the treatment conditions and varies not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. Knowing how they are injured by sublethal and lethal stresses of disinfection, how they repair themselves, what makes the difference between life and death, and their physiological characteristics, will lead to appropriate microbial testing and optimization of disinfection conditions for practical viability and growth potential, and will deepen our understanding of the effectiveness of the treatment. Focusing on mainly heat injury and using Escherichia coli as a model microorganism, in this review, I will discuss the classification of injury modes in injured microorganisms caused by disinfection treatment, including “λ injury” (delayed resumption of growth）,“ μ injury” (reduced growth rate injury）,“ β injury” (secondary injury）, and other derivatives.

Abstract: Various combination treatments are used for microorganism control in food, medicine, and the environment. Especially in food, combination treatments have been studied using antimicrobial compounds in pasteurization and sterilization but comprehensive quantitative evaluation methods, have not yet been established to evaluate their effectiveness. This review introduces the author's recently published methods for evaluating the effects of combination treatments on the control of harmful microorganisms in food. Particularly important items are 1) the type of action of the control treatment and the mode of the combined method, 2) the choice of endpoint method and growth delay method for analytical evaluation, 3) the construction of extended isobolography that allows the application of conventional isobologram (IBo) for chemicals to various control methods, 4) the extended use of combined index (CI）, and 5) the introduction of synergistic parameter (SP) for quantitative evaluation of synergistic effects. In addition, I describe the characteristics of the action of antimicrobial compounds and disinfectants in their combined effects with heating, and insist on the advantages of using combined treatments and their evaluation methods in the food industry.