Polyphenols and CRISPR as Quorum Quenching Agents in Antibiotic-Resistant Foodborne Human Pathogens (<i>Salmonella</i> Typhimurium, <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i> 0157:H7)

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance in foodborne pathogens is an increasing threat to global human health. Among the most prevalent antibiotic-resistant bacteria are Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Campylobacter jejuni and E. coli 0157:H7. Control of these and other pathogens requires innovative approaches, i.e., discovering new molecules that will inactivate them, or render them less virulent without inducing resistance. Recently, several polyphenol molecules have been shown to possess such characteristics. Also, the use of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) approaches has recently been proposed for such purpose. This review summarizes the main findings regarding the application of both approaches to control the above-mentioned foodborne pathogens by relying on Quorum Sensing interference (Quorum Quenching) mechanisms and highlights the avenues needed for further research.

Keywords

• polyphenols
• CRISPR
• quorum sensing
• Quorum Quenching
• antibiotic-resistance
• foodborne bacterial pathogens