Zoonotic Salmonella Infections: Transmission Dynamics and Control

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 July 2026 | Viewed by 720

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Life Science, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310024, China
Interests: Salmonella; antimicrobial resistance; genomic epidemiology; mobilome

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zoonotic Salmonella infections persist as a formidable One Health threat, fuelled by intensive food-animal production, globalized trade, and the rapid evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). High-resolution genomic epidemiology now reveals complex transmission webs linking wildlife, livestock, food chains, and humans, with dominant serovars such as Typhimurium and invasive NTS lineages spreading across continents and supply networks. Concurrently, the mobilome—plasmids, phages, transposons, and integrative elements—reshapes the Salmonella resistome in real time, partitioning and disseminating MDR determinants that erode the utility of critically important drugs. Despite advances in whole-genome sequencing, phylodynamics, and source-attribution models, critical gaps remain, including in quantifying cross-species spill-over, deciphering drivers of mobilome plasticity, and translating genomic insights into scalable interventions along the food–water–environment interface. This Special Issue seeks cutting-edge original research and syntheses on transmission dynamics, resistance ecology, and innovative control strategies—spanning molecular, ecological, and policy dimensions—to accelerate evidence-based countermeasures against zoonotic Salmonella.

Dr. Chenghao Jia
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Salmonella
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • genomic epidemiology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1371 KB  
Article
Growth Enhancement of Salmonella by Tungstate Treatment
by Robin C. Anderson, Delila D. Dominguez, Megan R. Shaw, Casey N. Johnson, Samat Amat, Jackie M. Kotzur, Merritt L. Drewery, Patricia J. Baynham, Ken J. Genovese, Tawni L. Crippen and Ryan J. Arsenault
Pathogens 2026, 15(5), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15050478 - 29 Apr 2026
Viewed by 436
Abstract
Salmonella in gut habitats have traditionally been thought to conserve energy for growth via fermentation. However, recent reports indicate that ingested Salmonella can stimulate host-derived nitrate accumulation in the mucosal microenvironment, thereby enabling growth through nitrate respiration. Sodium tungstate is an effective treatment [...] Read more.
Salmonella in gut habitats have traditionally been thought to conserve energy for growth via fermentation. However, recent reports indicate that ingested Salmonella can stimulate host-derived nitrate accumulation in the mucosal microenvironment, thereby enabling growth through nitrate respiration. Sodium tungstate is an effective treatment that inhibits the growth of certain nitrate-respiring bacteria, including Escherichia coli, Paracoccus and Proteus, when cultured under gut simulating conditions or within the gut of experimentally treated mice. This inhibitory effect is hypothesized to occur by inactivation of molybdenum-containing enzymes required for nitrate metabolism. Information is lacking on whether tungstate can inhibit the growth of Salmonella, particularly in the presence of culturable gut microbiota. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of sodium tungstate on Salmonella during pure culture or when cultured with freshly collected bovine rumen microbiota and to assess its impact on fermentation as well as nitrate and nitrite metabolism within the rumen microbial cultures. Our results indicate that 50 mM sodium tungstate treatment, whether alone or in combination with 5 mM nitrate, markedly increased the growth of Salmonella serovars Newport, Dublin and Typhimurium during pure culture. Moreover, during in vitro incubation, increased growth of experimentally inoculated S. Newport as well as wildtype E. coli and lactic acid bacteria was observed with ruminal microbiota treated with 100 mM tungstate when compared to non-tungstate-treated controls. Effects of tungstate on nitrate and nitrite metabolism were as expected during pure and mixed culture. When cultured with reduced tungsten rather than tungstate, the latter being bound to four oxygen atoms, an inhibitory effect on the growth of S. Newport was observed and effects on nitrate and nitrite metabolism were consistent with those observed with tungstate. These results suggest that, under conditions used in the present experiments, tungstate may have served as a source of oxygen for respiration above that achieved with nitrate alone. While this hypothesis has yet to be proven, it is supported by an adverse effect of tungstate, whether alone or in combination with 5 mM nitrate, on methane and volatile fatty acid production by the ruminal microbiota when compared to untreated or nitrate-only-treated microbiota. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zoonotic Salmonella Infections: Transmission Dynamics and Control)
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