A nutritious food consisting primarily of the curd or the semisolid substance formed when milk coagulates.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in food and food products. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms: the presence of various non-pathogenic bacteria and fungi in cheeses and wines, for example, is included in this concept.

The application of knowledge to the food industry.

The white liquid secreted by the mammary glands. It contains proteins, sugar, lipids, vitamins, and minerals.

A genus of bacteria which may be found in the feces of animals and man, on vegetation, and in silage. Its species are parasitic on cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals, including man.

A genus of gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria whose cells occur singly, in pairs or short chains, in V or Y configurations, or in clumps resembling letters of the Chinese alphabet. Its organisms are found in cheese and dairy products as well as on human skin and can occasionally cause soft tissue infections.

A species of gram-positive, rod-shaped LACTIC ACID bacteria that is frequently used as starter culture in SILAGE fermentation, sourdough, and lactic-acid-fermented types of beer and wine.

Measurable quantity of bacteria in an object, organism, or organism compartment.

A gram-positive organism found in dairy products, fresh and salt water, marine organisms, insects, and decaying organic matter.

A species of thermophilic, gram-positive bacteria found in MILK and milk products.

Enumeration by direct count of viable, isolated bacterial, archaeal, or fungal CELLS or SPORES capable of growth on solid CULTURE MEDIA. The method is used routinely by environmental microbiologists for quantifying organisms in AIR; FOOD; and WATER; by clinicians for measuring patients' microbial load; and in antimicrobial drug testing.

Any aspect of the operations in the preparation, processing, transport, storage, packaging, wrapping, exposure for sale, service, or delivery of food.

A non-pathogenic species of LACTOCOCCUS found in DAIRY PRODUCTS and responsible for the souring of MILK and the production of LACTIC ACID.

A genus of gram-positive, microaerophilic, rod-shaped bacteria occurring widely in nature. Its species are also part of the many normal flora of the mouth, intestinal tract, and vagina of many mammals, including humans. Pathogenicity from this genus is rare.

Technique that utilizes low-stringency polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with single primers of arbitrary sequence to generate strain-specific arrays of anonymous DNA fragments. RAPD technique may be used to determine taxonomic identity, assess kinship relationships, analyze mixed genome samples, and create specific probes.

Constituent of 30S subunit prokaryotic ribosomes containing 1600 nucleotides and 21 proteins. 16S rRNA is involved in initiation of polypeptide synthesis.

Raw and processed or manufactured milk and milk-derived products. These are usually from cows (bovine) but are also from goats, sheep, reindeer, and water buffalo.

The pressure due to the weight of fluid.

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

A genus of asporogenous bacteria that is widely distributed in nature. Its organisms appear as straight to slightly curved rods and are known to be human and animal parasites and pathogens.

Strains of ESCHERICHIA COLI with the ability to produce at least one or more of at least two antigenically distinct, usually bacteriophage-mediated cytotoxins: SHIGA TOXIN 1 and SHIGA TOXIN 2. These bacteria can cause severe disease in humans including bloody DIARRHEA and HEMOLYTIC UREMIC SYNDROME.

Ability of a microbe to survive under given conditions. This can also be related to a colony's ability to replicate.

Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.

DNA sequences encoding RIBOSOMAL RNA and the segments of DNA separating the individual ribosomal RNA genes, referred to as RIBOSOMAL SPACER DNA.

Procedures for identifying types and strains of bacteria. The most frequently employed typing systems are BACTERIOPHAGE TYPING and SEROTYPING as well as bacteriocin typing and biotyping.

A multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, subcloning, determination of the DNA SEQUENCE, and information analysis.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Italy" is not a medical term or concept, it's a country located in Southern Europe. If you have any questions related to medical topics, I'd be happy to help with those!

One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.

The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup.

Genes, found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which are transcribed to produce the RNA which is incorporated into RIBOSOMES. Prokaryotic rRNA genes are usually found in OPERONS dispersed throughout the GENOME, whereas eukaryotic rRNA genes are clustered, multicistronic transcriptional units.

In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.

Anaerobic degradation of GLUCOSE or other organic nutrients to gain energy in the form of ATP. End products vary depending on organisms, substrates, and enzymatic pathways. Common fermentation products include ETHANOL and LACTIC ACID.

The outward appearance of the individual. It is the product of interactions between genes, and between the GENOTYPE and the environment.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.