Director

• Dr. William Gillis

• Dr. Chiquita Briley

• Renee Matich

● Postdoctoral (Food Microbiology), Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas
● Ph.D. (Food Microbiology), Dept. Bioscience & Biotechnology, Univ. of Strathclyde, UK
● M.S. (Agriculture and Plant Pathology), G.B.P.U. Agriculture & Technology, India

Member of American Society for Microbiology
Member of International Association for Food Protection
Member of Institute of Food Technologists

Member, Institutional Biosafety Committee, Mississippi State University (2009-2012)
Associate Center Director, Center for Detection Technologies, National Alliance for Food Safety and Security (NAFSS (2007-2008)
Center Director, Center for Detection Technologies, National Alliance for Food Safety and Security (NAFSS) (2008-2009)

Newly emerging stress-hardened and antimicrobial resistant subpopulations of foodborne bacterial pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli O157:H7 for safety of raw, raw-further processed and ready-to-eat food products

● Microbial Stress-Adaptation and Proteomics
● Natural Antimicrobials and Emerging Food Processing Technologies
● Antimicrobial Resistant Subpopulations of Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens
● Integration of Cultural, Immunological & Molecular Diagnostic methods
● Integration of the “–Omics” Approaches

● Food Microbiology
● Advanced Food Microbiology

Current Research Program

 My lab’s focus is in understanding how foodborne pathogenic bacteria sense, adapt, resist and recover from different food processing stresses and antimicrobials on raw, raw-further processed and ready-to-eat food products of animal and plant origin  using “whole-cell” models and “‑omics” approaches and consists of the following five objectives:

(1)  Quantitative modeling of their survival, growth, persistence and ecological fitness of stress-hardened and antimicrobial resistant foodborne bacterial pathogens in various food products and environments.
(2)  Induction of cold tolerance and subsequent interactions with other stress environments on persistence of foodborne pathogens and spoilage bacteria in various food products.
(3)  Inactivation models for destruction of stress-adapted and antimicrobial resistant foodborne bacterial pathogens in various food products by combining with newly discovered GRAS antimicrobials and emerging food processing technologies.
(4)  Improving methodologies for isolation, detection, and enumeration of injured, stress-hardened, viable, and antimicrobial resistant foodborne bacterial pathogen subpopulations surviving in foods and environments using a combination of cultural, immunological and molecular tools.
(5)  Integration of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, lipomic and metabolomic data governing specific stress-response adaptation and antimicrobial resistance of foodborne bacterial pathogens and their applications to food processing industries.

Also, I have an active research program on new monoclonal antibody production for foodborne bacterial pathogens, immunodiagonstics and in developing novel therapeutic agents for Biodefense Category B priority pathogens.

Publications

Soni, K., R. Nannapaneni, and S. Hagens. 2009. Reduction of Listeria monocytogenes on the surface of fresh channel catfish fillets by bacteriophage Listex P100. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease (in press).

Soni, K. and R. Nannapaneni. 2009. Bacteriophage Listex P100 significantly reduces Listeria monocytogenes on raw salmon fillet tissue. Journal of Food Protection (in press).

Soni, K., and R. Nannapaneni.  2009. Removal of Listeria monocytogenes biofilms with bacteriophage Listex P100 (submitted).

Soni, K., R. Nannapaneni, and T. Tasara. 2009. Proteomic analysis in stress adaptation of Listeria monocytogenes (submitted).

Nannapaneni, R.  2009. Methods for identification of bacterial foodborne pathogens.In: An Introduction to Food Safety, O. Orzabal (ed.) Springer (submitted).

Nannapaneni, R., O. Orzabal, S.C. Ricke, and M.G. Johnson.  2009.Fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter jejuni in raw poultry products. In: Perspectives on Food Safety Issues of Food Animal Derived Foods, S.C. Ricke and F.T. Jones (eds.) University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, AR  (in press).

Nannapaneni, R. and M.G. Johnson. 2009. Advances in antibody-based technologies for Listeria monocytogenes. In: Perspectives on Food Safety Issues of Food Animal Derived Foods, S.C. Ricke and F.T. Jones (eds.) University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, AR  (in press).

Nannapaneni, R. V. I. Chalova, R. Story , K.C. Wiggins, P. G. Crandall, S.C. Ricke, and M.G. Johnson. 2009. Ciprofloxacin-sensitive and ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter jejuni are equally susceptible to natural orange oil-based antimicrobials. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B, Vol. B44 (No.6): 571-577.

Nannapaneni, R., V.I. Chalova, P.G. Crandall, S.C. Ricke, M.G. Johnson, and C.A. O'Bryan. 2009. Campylobacter and Arcobacter species sensitivity to commercial orange oil fractions. International Journal of Food Microbiology 129: 43-49.

Nannapaneni, R., I. Hanning, K.C. Wiggins, R.P. Story, S.C. Ricke, and M.G. Johnson. 2009. Ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter persists in raw retail chicken after the fluoroquinolone ban.  Food Additives & Contaminants Part A 26:1348-1353

Heo, S.A., R. Nannapaneni, M.G. Johnson, J.S. Park, and K.H. Seo. 2009. Production and characterization of a monoclonal antibody to Campylobacter jejuni. Journal of Food Protection 72: 870–875

Huff, G.R., V. Dutta, W. E. Huff, M.G. Johnson, R. Nannapaneni, and R. J. Sayler. 2009. Co-infection of market-age turkeys with Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes in two stress models. Avian Diseases (In Press).

O’Bryan, C.A., M. L. Sostrin, R. Nannapaneni, M.G. Johnson, S.C. Ricke, and P.G. Crandall. 2009. Differential sensitivity of Listeria monocytogenes to nisin and diacetyl after a starvation period in sodium phosphate buffered saline. Journal of Food Science (In press).

Nannapaneni, R., A. Muthaiyan, P.G. Crandall, M.G. Johnson, C.A. O’Bryan, V.I. Chalova, T.R. Callaway, J.A. Carroll, J.D. Arthington, D.J. Nisbet, and S.C. Ricke. 2008. Antimicrobial activity of commercial citrus-based natural extracts against Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates and mutant strains. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 5: 695-699.

Wesley, I. V.,  S. Larsen, H. Scott Hurd, J. D. McKean, R. Griffith, F. Rivera, R. Nannapaneni, M. Cox,, M. G. Johnson, D. Wagner, and M. de Martino. 2008. Low prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in cull sows and pork. Journal of Food Protection 71: 545-549.

Huff, G.R., W.E. Huff, V. Dutta, M.G. Johnson, and R. Nannapaneni. 2008. Pathogenicity of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A after oral and oculonasal challenges of day-old turkey poults. Avian Diseases 52:444-50.

Dutta, V. G.R. Huff, W.E. Huff, M.G. Johnson, R. Nannapaneni, and R.J. Sayler. 2008. The effects of stress on respiratory disease and resulting colonization of turkeys with Listeria monocytogenes Scott A. Avian Diseases 52: 581-589.

Kannan A, N. Hettiarachchy, M.G. Johnson, and R. Nannapaneni. 2008. Human colon and liver cancer cell proliferation inhibition by peptide hydrolysates derived from heat-stabilized defatted rice bran. J Agric Food Chem. 56(24):11643-11647.

Heo, S.A., R. Nannapaneni, R. Story, and M.G. Johnson. 2007. Characterization of new hybridoma clones producing monoclonal antibodies reactive against both live and heat-killed Listeria monocytogenes. Journal of Food Science 72:M008-M015.

Osman, M., M.E. Janes, R. Story, R. Nannapaneni, M. G. Johnson. 2006. Differential killing activity of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) with or without bacto neutralizing buffer quench, against frimly adhered Salmonella Gaminara and Shigella sonnei on cut lettuce stored at 4 C. Journal of Food Protection 69: 1286-1291.

Nannapaneni R., R. Story, K.C. Wiggins, and M.G. Johnson. 2005. Concurrent quantitation of total Campylobacter and total ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter loads in rinses from retail raw chicken carcasses from 2001 to 2003 by direct plating at 42ºC. Applied Environmental Microbiology 71:4510-4515.

Huff, G. R., W.E. Huff, J. N. Beasley, N.C. Rath, M.G. Johnson and R. Nannapaneni. 2005. Respiratory infection of turkeys with Listeria monocytogenes Scott A. Avian Diseases 49: 551-557.

Mendonca, A.F., M.G. Romero, M.A. Lihono, R. Nannapaneni and M.G. Johnson. 2004. Radiation resistance and virulence of L. monocytogenes Scott A following starvation in physiological saline. Journal of Food Protection 67: 470-474.

Zhu, M. I.V. Wesley, R. Nannapaneni, M. Cox, A. Mendonca , M.G. Johnson and D. U. Ahn. 2003. The role of vitamin E in experimental Listeria monocytogenes infections in turkeys. Poultry Science 82: 1559-1564.

Varshney, M., Y. Li, R. Nannapaneni, M.G. Johnson, C.L. Griffis. 2003. A chemiluminescence biosensor coupled with immunomagnetic separation for rapid detection of Salmonella typhimurium. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology 11: 111-131.

Janes, M.E. R. Nannapaneni, and M.G. Johnson. 1999. Identification and characterization of two bacteriocin-producing bacteria isolated from garlic and ginger root. Journal of Food Protection 62: 899-904.

Nannapaneni, R., R. Story, A.K. Bhunia, and M.G. Johnson. 1998. Unstable expression and thermal instability of a species-specific cell surface epitope associated with a 66-kilodalton antigen recognized by monoclonal antibody EM-7G1 within serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes grown in non-Selective and selective broths. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64: 3070-3074.

Nannapaneni, R., R. Story, A.K. Bhunia, and M.G. Johnson. 1998. Reactivities of genus-specific monoclonal antibody EM-6E11 against Listeria species and serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes grown in non-selective and selective enrichment broth media. Journal of Food Protection 61:1195-1198.

Janes, M. E., R. Nannapaneni, A. Proctor, and M.G. Johnson. 1998. Rice hull ash and silicic acid as adsorbents for concentration of bacteriocins. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64: 4403-4409.