Dr. Xianqin Yang

Research Scientist

I am a research scientist, conducting work in the area of meat safety and preservation.

Current research and/or projects

Since 2007, Dr. Yang’s research has been primarily focusing on reduction of microbiological contamination of meat during the primary production and distribution process, i.e. from slaughtering of animals to steaks on the plate, including identification, tracking and control source of contamination, mechanisms of survival and persistence of E. coli in meat processing environments, effective intervention strategies for controlling enteric pathogens, and shelf-life extension of meat.

Current projects

1. Comparative genetic characterization of E. coli O157:H7 from pigs and cattle, feces and carcasses/Alberta Innovates/2019-2022

2. Exploring the potential of using Carnobacterium maltaromaticum A5 as a bioprotective agent in meat plants to improve the safety and shelf life of meat/Beef Cattle Research Council/2019-2020

3. If E. coli shed by cattle is becoming resistant to antimicrobial interventions in abattoirs, how best to raise the hurdles/Beef Cattle Research Council/ 2018-2022

4. Chlorine resistant Escherichia coli in beef processing facilities: selective pressure for heat resistant pathogens/Alberta Innovates/ 2019-2022.

5. Understanding biofilm community dynamics/Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada/2019-2022

6. Beef Quality Canada's National Beef Quality Audit at Retail and Processing/Beef Cluster/2021-2023

Key publications

Goyal, RK; Hannig, A; Yang, X; Pires, AS;Morais,DG and Ramada, MHS.(2023). Peptides with antimicrobial activity can be a good resource to tackle antimicrobial resistance in plants and animals. A case study with peptides identified from the Pisum sativum L. protein database. 11th Peptides and Receptors Meeting, October 2-4, 2023, Lyon, France.
2023 - View publication details
Castro, V.S., Fang, Y., Yang, X., Stanford, K. (2023). Association of resistance to quaternary ammonium compounds and organic acids with genetic markers and their relationship to Escherichia coli serogroup. Food Microbiology, [online] 113 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2023.104267
2023 - View publication details
Britton, A. P., K. A. Visser, V. M. A. Ongenae, P. Zhang, H. Wassink, T. A. Doerksen, C. A. Welke, K. H. Lynch, M. J. v. Belkum, J. J. Dennis, X. Yang, D. Claessen, A. Briegel, and L. A. Martin-Visscher. Characterization of Bacteriophage cd2, a Siphophage Infecting Carnobacterium divergens and a Representative Species of a New Genus of Phage. Microbiology Spectrum. 0:e00973-23.
2023 - View publication details
Castro, V.S., Conte, C.A., De Souza Figueiredo, E.E., Yang, X., Stanford, K. (2023). Efficacy of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds for Control of Individual and Mixed Cultures of Escherichia coli with High- and Low-Quaternary Ammonium Compounds Resistance. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, [online] 20(7), 261-269. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/fpd.2023.0005
2023 - View publication details
Fang, Y., F. Tran, K. Stanford, and X. Yang. 2023. Stress resistance and virulence gene profiles associated with phylogeny and phenotypes of Escherichia coli from cattle. Journal of Food Protection:100122.
2023 - View publication details
Xu, Z. S., T. Zhu, Z. Wang, X. Yang, and M. G. Gänzle. Socializing at the Air-Liquid Interface: a Functional Genomic Analysis on Biofilm-Related Genes during Pellicle Formation by Escherichia coli and Its Interaction with Aeromonas australiensis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 0:e00456-23.
2023 - View publication details
Xu, Z.S., Ju, T., Yang, X., Gänzle, M. (2023). A Meta-Analysis of Bacterial Communities in Food Processing Facilities: Driving Forces for Assembly of Core and Accessory Microbiomes across Different Food Commodities. Microorganisms, [online] 11(6), http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11061575
2023 - View publication details
Yang, X., and L. M. McMullen. 2023. Factors affecting microbial spoilage. In, Reference Module in Food Science Elsevier.
2023 - View publication details
Yang, X., Tran, F., Zhang, P. (2023). Comparative Genomic Analyses of Escherichia coli from a Meat Processing Environment in Relation to Their Biofilm Formation and Persistence. Microbiology Spectrum, [online] 11(3), http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00183-23
2023 - View publication details
Yang, X., Wang, H., Hrycauk, S., Holman, D.B., Ells, T.C. (2023). Microbial Dynamics in Mixed-Culture Biofilms of Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Bacteria Surviving Sanitation of Conveyor Belts of Meat Processing Plants. Microorganisms, [online] 11(2), http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11020421
2023 - View publication details
Liu, X.; Floate, K.D.; Gorzelak, M.A.; Holman, D.B.; Hrycauk, S.; Kubota, H.; Lupwayi, N.; Neilson, J.A.D.; Ortega Polo, R.; Petri, R.M.; Tran, L.; Wang, H.; Wilches, D.; Yang, X.; Zorz, J.; Guarna, M.M. Prairie Agroecosystems: Interconnected Microbiomes of Livestock, Soil and Insects. Agriculture 2023, 13, 326. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020326
2023 - View publication details
Zhang, P., Ruan, E., Holman, D.B., Yang, X. (2022). Effects of a Carnobacterium maltaromaticum strain at natural contamination levels on the microbiota of vacuum-packaged beef steaks during chilled storage. Food Science and Technology - LWT, [online] 168 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.113944
2022 - View publication details
Yuan, F., Kim, S., Xianqin, Y. (2022). Lactic Acid Resistance and Population Structure of Escherichia coli from Meat Processing Environment. Microbiology Spectrum, [online] 10(5), http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01352-22
2022 - View publication details
Hui Wang, Nuria Prieto, Óscar López Campos, Brady Chabot, Xianqin Yang. 2022.The bacterial inactivation effect of amperage-based electrical stimulation in beef carcasses. Canadian Meat Council conference. June 13-15, 2022. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
2022 - View publication details
Nan, Y., Rodas-Gonzalez, A., Stanford, K., Nadon, C., Yang, X., McAllister, T., Narváez-Bravo, C. (2022). Formation and Transfer of Multi-Species Biofilms Containing E. coli O103:H2 on Food Contact Surfaces to Beef. Frontiers in Microbiology, [online] 13 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.863778
2022 - View publication details
Fang, Y., Visvalingam, J., Zhang, P., Yang, X. (2022). Biofilm formation by Non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in monocultures and co-cultures with meat processing surface bacteria. Food Microbiology, [online] 102 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2021.103902
2022 - View publication details
Zhang, P., Yang, X. (2022). Genetic Characteristics of the Transmissible Locus of Stress Tolerance (tLST) and tLST Harboring Escherichia coli as Revealed by Large-Scale Genomic Analysis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, [online] 88(7), http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.02185-21
2022 - View publication details
Alexander Gill, Sandeep Tamber and Xianqin Yang. 2022. Standard Methods for the Bacteriological Analysis of Meat in Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences
2022 - View publication details
Xu, Z.S., Yang, X., Gänzle, M.G. (2021). Resistance of biofilm- and pellicle-embedded strains of Escherichia coli encoding the transmissible locus of stress tolerance (tLST) to oxidative sanitation chemicals. International Journal of Food Microbiology, [online] 359 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109425
2021 - View publication details
Zhang, P., Essendoubi, S., Keenliside, J., Reuter, T., Stanford, K., King, R., Lu, P., Yang, X. (2021). Genomic analysis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 from cattle and pork-production related environments. npj Science of Food, [online] 5(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41538-021-00097-0
2021 - View publication details