Education

Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1984

Research Interest

Microbial safety of food, focusing on these areas:

• Ozone application to improve the safety of fresh and minimally-processed food. This research includes developing an ozone-based technology to produce Salmonella-free shell eggs. This process has been patented and is currently in the implementation phase. Similarly, ozone is being tested for decontaminating of fresh vegetables and fruits.
• Quest for novel antimicrobial peptides with promising applications in food. This line of research led to the discovery of several antimicrobial peptides with potency against foodborne pathogens. These discoveries are currently in the patenting phase.
• Revealing mechanisms of microbial lethality by emerging food preservation technologies. Technologies investigated include ultra-high pressure and pulsed electric fields. We are using DNA microarray methods and other molecular techniques to understand how these technologies inactivate pathogenic bacteria and how resistant pathogens respond to these treatments. This research is improving process efficacy, facilitating industrial implementation, and speeding regulatory approval of these new technologies.
  iopreservation of food using bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria.

Food Microbiology Lecture (Food Science and Technology 636.01/ Microbiology 636.01)  This is a three credit course, covering Microorganisms in relation to the production, processing and handling of food with emphasis on sanitation and public health problems.

Food Microbiology Laboratory (Food Science and Technology 636.02/Microbiology 636.02 ) This is companion three credit course, providing laboratory experience with microorganisms found in foods.  Focus is on spoilage organisms, foodborne pathogens and beneficial microorganisms.  

Patents Granted

Yousef, A.E. and Rodriguez-Romo, L. 2009. Process for ozone-based decontamination of shell eggs. US Patent # 7,491,417 B2.

Ibrahim, O. O., Yousef, A. E., and Chung, H-J. 2006. Intracellular proteinaceous antimicrobial agents from lactic acid bacteria derived from fermented food samples.  US Patent # 7,112,323 B2.

Yousef, A.E. and Rodriguez-Romo, L. 2004. Methods for decontaminating shell eggs. US Patent # 6,800,315 B2.

Recent publications

(out of more than 140)

    Books

Sapers, G. M. Gorny, J. R., and Yousef, A. E. 2006. Microbiology of fruits and vegetables. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL

    Book Chapters

Yousef, A.E., Vurma, M., and Rodriguez-Romo, L.A. 2011. Basics of ozone sanitization and food applications. In  H.Q. Zhang, G.V. Barbosa-Canovas, V.M. Balasubramaniam, C.P. Dunne, D.F. Farkas, and J.T.C. Yuan (eds.), Nonthermal processing technologies for food. Blackwell Pub., Ames, IA. (in press).

Waite, J.G., and Yousef, A.E.  2010.  Overview of food safety, p. 11-65.  In E. Ortega-Rivas (ed.), Processing effects on safety and quality of foods.  CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Waite, J.G., and Yousef, A.E.  2009.  Antimicrobial properties of hydroxyxanthenes, p. 79-98. In A. Laskin, G. Gadd, and S. Sariaslani (eds.), Advances in applied microbiology, v.  69. Elsevier Inc., Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Yousef, A.E. 2008. Detection of bacterial pathogens in different matrices: current practices and challenges, p. 31-48. In M. Zourob, S. Elwary, and A. Turner (eds.), Principles of bacterial detection- biosensors, recognition receptors and microsystems. Springer, New York, NY.

Chung, Y-K, Malone, A.S., Yousef, A.E. 2007.  Sensitization of microorganisms to high-pressure processing by phenolic compounds, p. 145-172. In C.J. Doona and F.E. Feeherry (eds.), High pressure processing of foods. Blackwell Pub., Ames, IA.

Lado, B. H. and Yousef, A. E. 2007. Characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes important to food processors, p. 157-213. In  E. T. Ryser and E.H. Marth (eds.), Listeria, listeriosis and food safety, 3rd ed. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, NY.

    Research Papers/Review Articles

Perry, J.J. and Yousef, A.E. 2010. Decontamination of raw foods using ozone-based sanitization techniques. An. Rev. Food Sci. Technol. (in press)

Wannasawat R., Castellvi, S.D., Balasubramaniam, V.M., and Yousef, A.E. 2010. Efficacy of pressure-assisted thermal processing, in combination with organic acids, against Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spores suspended in deionized water and carrot puree.  J. Food Sci. 75: M46-M52.

Grasso, E.M., Yousef, A.E., Castellvi, S. L., Rodriguez-Saona, L.E. 2009.  Rapid detection and differentiation of Alicyclobacillus species in fruit juice using hydrophobic grid membranes and attenuated total reflectance infrared microspectroscopy. J. Agric. Food Chem. 57:10670-10674.

 Grasso, E.M., Yousef, A.E., Rodriguez-Romo, L.A., Rodriguez-Saona, L.E. 2009.  Rapid differentiation of Bacillus Strains using hydrophobic grid membranes and attenuated total reflectance infrared microspectroscopy. J. Food Prot. 72:1909-1915.

Chung, H-J., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Screening of lactobacilli derived from fermented foods and partial characterization of Lactobacillus casei OSY-LB6A for its antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens. J. Food Sci. Nutr. 14:162-167.

Loghavi, L., Sastry, S. K., and Yousef, A. E. 2009. Effect of moderate electric field frequency and growth stage on the cell membrane permeability of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Biotechnol. Prog. 25:85-94.

Ratphitagsanti, W., Ahn, J., Balasubramaniam, V.M., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Influence of pressurization rate and pressure pulsing on the inactivation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spores during pressure-assisted thermal processing. J. Food Prot. 72:775-782.

Sastry, S. K., Jun, S., Somavat, R., Samaranayake, C., Yousef, A. E., and Pandit, R. B. 2009. Heating and sterilization technology for long-duration space missions: transport processes in a reusable package. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1161:562-569.

Vurma, M. Pandit, R.B., Sastry, S.K., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and natural microbiota on spinach leaves using gaseous ozone during vacuum cooling and simulated transportation. J. Food Prot. 72:1538-1546.

Waite, J.G., Jones, J.M, and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Isolation and identification of spoilage microorganisms using food-based media combined with rDNA sequencing: Ranch dressing as a model food. Food Microbiol. 26:235-239.

Waite, J.G., Jones, J.M, Turek, E.J., Dunne, C.P., Wright, A.O., Yang, T.C.S., Beckwitt, R., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Production of shelf-stable ranch dressing using high-pressure processing. J. Food Sci. 74:M83-M93.

Waite, J.G., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Food microbiology projects: Student ownership from topic selection and experimentation to presentation in 10 weeks. Microbelibrary, Curriculum Collection, Feb 2 {microbelibrary.org}.

Wen, K., Azevedo, M.S.P., Gonzalez, A., Zhang, W., Saif, L.J., Li, G., Yousef, A., Yuan, L. 2009. Toll-like receptor and innate cytokine responses induced by lactobacilli colonization and human rotavirus infection in gnotobiotic pigs. Vet. Immunol. Immunopath. 127: 304-315.

Chung, Y-K., Yousef, A.E. 2008. Inactivation of barotolerant strains of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 by ultra high pressure and tert-butylhydroquinone combination. J. Microbiol. 46:289-294.

He, Z., Yuan, C., Zhang, L., and Yousef, A. E. 2008. N-terminal acetylation in paenibacillin, a novel lantibiotic. FEBS Lett. 582:2787-2792

Loghavi, L., Sastry, S. K., and Yousef, A. E. 2008. Effect of moderate electric field frequency on growth kinetics and metabolic activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Biotechnol. Prog. 24:148-153.

Malone, A.S., Chung, Y-K., and Yousef, A.E. 2008. Proposed mechanism of inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7 by ultra-high pressure in combination with tert-butylhydroquinone. J. Appl. Microbiol. 105:2046–2057.

Männig, A., Baldauf, N.A., Rodriguez-Romo, L.A., Yousef, A.E., and Rodriguez-Saona, L.E.  2008. Differentiation of Salmonella enterica serovars and strains in cultures and food using infrared spectroscopic and microspectroscopic techniques. J. Food Protect. 71:2249-2256.

Perry, J.J., Rodriguez-Romo, L.A., and Yousef, A.E. 2008. Inactivation of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in shell eggs by sequential application of heat and ozone.  Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 46:620-625.

Pilavtepe-Celik, M, Balaban, M.O., Alpas, H., and Yousef, A.E. 2008. Image analysis based quantification of bacterial volume change with high hydrostatic pressure. J. Food Sci. 73: M423-M429.

Waite, J.G. and Yousef, A.E. 2008. Enhanced inactivation of foodborne pathogenic and spoilage bacteria by FD&C Red No. 3 and other xanthene derivatives during ultrahigh pressure processing.  J. Food Protect. 71:1861-1867.

Zhang, W., Azevedo, M.S.P., Gonzalez, A.M., Saif, L. J., Nguyen, T.V., Wen, K., Yousef, A. E., and Yuan, L. 2008. Influence of probiotic lactobacilli colonization on neonatal B cell responses in a gnotobiotic pig model of human rotavirus infection and disease. Vet. Immunol. Immunopath. 122:175-181.

Zhang, W., Azevedo, M.S.P., Wen, K., Gonzalez, A.,  Saif, L.J., Li, G., Yousef, A.E., Yuan, L. 2008. Probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus enhances the immunogenicity of an oral rotavirus vaccine in gnotobiotic pigs. Vaccine 26: 3655-3661.

Zhang, W., Wen, K., Azevedo, M.S.P., Gonzalez, A., Saif, L.J., Li, G., Yousef, A.E., and Yuan, L. 2008. Lactic acid bacterial colonization and human rotavirus infection influence distribution and frequencies of monocytes/macrophages and dendritic cells in neonatal gnotobiotic pigs. Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. 121: 222-231.

Ahn, J., Balasubramaniam, V. M., and Yousef, A. E. 2007. Inactivation kinetics of selected aerobic and anaerobic bacterial spores by pressure-assisted thermal processing. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 113: 321-329.

Baldauf, N. A., Rodriguez-Romo, L.A., Männig, A., Yousef, A.E., Rodriguez-Saona, L.E. 2007. Effect of selective growth media on the differentiation of Salmonella enterica serovars by Fourier-transform mid-infrared spectroscopy. J. Microbiol. Methods. 68: 106-114

Chung, Y-K., Yousef, A.E. 2007. Culturability of Clostridium botulinum spores under different germination conditions, sublethal heat treatments, and in the presence of nisin. J. Food Sci. Nutr. 12:251-258.

Chung, Y-K., Yousef, A.E. 2007. Effect of nisin against Clostridium botulinum during spore-to-cell transformation. J. Food Sci. Nutr. 12:259-266.

He, Z., Kisla, D., Zhang, L., Yuan, C., Green-Church, K. B., and Yousef, A. E. 2007. Isolation and identification of a Paenibacillus polymyxa strain that co-produces a novel lantibiotic and polymyxin. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73:168-178.

Loghavi, L., Sastry, S.K., and Yousef, A.E. 2007. Effect of moderate electric filed on the metabolic activity and growth kinetics of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Biotech. Bioeng. 98: 872-881.

Rodriguez-Romo, L. A., Vurma, M., Lee, K., and Yousef, A. E. 2007. Penetration of ozone gas across the shell of hen eggs. Ozone Sci. Eng. 29:147-150.

Malone, A.S., Y.-K. Chung, and Yousef, A.E.  2006.  Genes of Escherichia coli O157:H7 that are involved in high pressure resistance. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77:2661-2671.

Rodriguez-Romo, L. and Yousef, A. E. 2005. Inactivation of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis on shell eggs by ozone and ultraviolet radiation. J. Food Prot. 68: 711-717.

Lado, B. H., Bomser, J. A., Dunne, C. P., and Yousef, A. E. 2004. Pulsed electric field alters molecular chaperone expression and sensitizes Listeria monocytogenes to heat. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 2289-2295.

Khadre, M. A. and Yousef, A. E. 2002. Susceptibility of human rotavirus to ozone, high pressure, and pulsed electric field. J. Food Prot. 65: 1441-1446.