Nano in Micro: Novel Concepts in Foodborne Pathogen Transmission and Pathogenesis

In this article, we highlight novel components of foodborne pathogens that influence their response, physiology, adaptation, and survival in the face of diverse stresses, and consequently have implications for their transmission in the food chain and their pathogenesis. Recent insights into the role of bacteriophages/prophages, bacterial extracellular vesicles, and bacterial microcompartments, which make up the emerging field we coined as “nano in micro,” are presented, together with the role of understudied food-relevant substrates in pathogen fitness and virulence. These new insights also lead to reflections on generally adopted laboratory conditions in the long-standing research field of adaptive stress response in foodborne pathogens. In addition, selected examples of the impact of diet and microbiota on intestinal colonization and host invasion are discussed. A final section on risk assessment presents an overview of tools for (kinetic) data modeling and perspectives for the implementation of information derived from whole-genome sequencing, combined with advancements in dose-response models and exposure assessments.