Magaly Toro, Ph.D, DVM, MSc.

Portrait of Magaly Toro, Ph.D.
Associate Research Professor - Laboratory Director
5825 University Research Court, Suite 1400
College Park, MD 20740
United States

Dr. Toro received her Veterinary degree from the University of Chile in 2004, where she became interested in food safety. In 2005, she enrolled in the master's program in Food and Nutrition at the University of Chile. She became an associate researcher in the microbiology and probiotics laboratory thanks to a scholarship from the same institution. At the same time, she obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in the application for HACCP in the food industry. Later, she joined the Ph.D. program in Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, and obtained her degree in 2014. That year, she received an ORISE fellowship to conduct research at the microbiology branch at the Center for food safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA (CFSAN), where she started working in whole genome sequencing and genomic analysis of foodborne pathogens. In 2015, Dr. Toro was recruited as an assistant professor at the University of Chile and promoted to associate professor in 2022. In late 2022, Dr. Toro started at the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Dr. Toro's primary interest is food microbiology, specifically in the traditional and molecular microbiology of foodborne pathogens. She has led projects related to non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E.coli and Salmonella spp. and has participated in endeavors to create molecular techniques to detect and quantify foodborne pathogens. She has also led projects evaluating good manufacturing practices (GMP) in food service operations and their relationship with the microbial quality of food produced in those facilities. Her latest interest is water contamination with foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens and the environment. She has published over 30 scientific articles and one book chapter.

Doina Solís, Magaly Toro, Paola Navarrete, Patricio Faúndez, and Angélica Reyes-Jara.“Microbiological quality and presence of foodborne pathogens in raw and extruded canine diets and canine fecal samples”. Frontiers in Veterinary science. 2022. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.799710/full
 
Alan Douglas de Lima Rocha, Rafaela Gomes Ferrari, Walter Esfrain Pereira, Laiorayne Araújo de Lima, Patrícia Emília Naves Givisiez, Andrea I Moreno-Switt, Magaly Toro, Enrique Jesús Delgado Suárez, Jianghong Meng, and Celso José Bruno de Oliveira. “Revisiting the biological behavior of Salmonella enterica in hydric resources: a meta-analysis study addressing the critical role of environmental water on food safety and public health”. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.802625
 
Magaly Toro, Daniel Weller, Romina Ramos, Leonela Diaz, Francisca Álvarez, Angélica Reyes-Jara, Andrea Moreno-Switt, Jianghong Meng, and Aiko Adell. “Environmental and anthropogenic factors associated with the likelihood of detecting Salmonella in agricultural watersheds.” Environmental Pollution. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119298
 
Magaly Toro, Jessica Williams-Vergara, Camila Solar, Ana María Quesille-Villalobos, Hee Jin Kwon, Paola Navarrete, Jianghong Meng, Yi Chen and Angélica Reyes-Jara. “Evaluation of the persistence and characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in foodservice operations”. Foods. 2022. Mar 20;11(6):886. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11060886
 
Leonardo Vásquez, Angel Parra, Ana María Quesille-Villalobos, Gálvez G1., Paola Navarrete, Magaly Toro, Mauricio Latorre, Mauricio González, Angélica Reyes-Jara. “Cobalamin cbiP mutant shows decreased tolerance to low temperature and copper stress in Listeria monocytogenes.” Biological Reserch. 2022. 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40659-022-00376-4
 
Carolina Ramírez, María Soledad Gutiérrez, Lucas Venegas, Catalina Sapag, Carolina Araya, Mario Caruffo, Paulina López, Angélica Reyes-Jara, Magaly Toro, Gerardo González-Rocha, José Manuel Yáñez, Paola Navarrete. “Microbiota composition and susceptibility to florfenicol and oxytetracycline of bacterial isolates from mussels (Mytilus spp.) reared on different years and distance from salmon farms”. Environmental Research. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112068
 
Benjamín Valderrama, José Ruiz, María Soledad Gutiérrez, Katherine Alveal, Mario Caruffo, Marcia Oliva, Héctor Flores, Alfonso Silva, Magaly Toro, Angélica Reyes-Jara, Paola Navarrete. “Cultivable yeast microbiota from the marine fish species Genypterus chilensis and Seriolella violacea”. 2021. J. Fungi 2021, 7(7), 515; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7070515
 
Leonela Díaz, Sebastián Gutiérrez, Xun Yang, Andrea I Moreno Switt, Luis Pablo Hervé, Christopher Hamilton-West, Nora Lía Padola, Angélica Reyes-Jara, Jianghong Meng, Narjol González-Escalona, Magaly Toro. “Diversity of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from cattle”. 2021. Animals 2021, 11(8), 2388; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082388
 
Vargas, O., Gutiérrez, M.S., Caruffo, M., Valderrama, B., Medina, D.A., Garcia, K., Reyes-Jara, A., Toro, M., Feijoo C.G, and Navarrete, P. Probiotic yeasts and Vibrio anguillarum infection modify the microbiome of zebrafish larvae. Front. Microbiol., 2021. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.647977
 
Jayanthi Gangiredla; Hugh Ran; Daniel Benisatto; Justin Payne; Charles Strittmatter; Jimmy Sanders; William J Wolfgang; Kevin Libuit; James B Herrick; Melanie Prarat; Magaly Toro; Thomas Farrell; Errol Strain. “GalaxyTrakr: A Distributed Analysis Tool for Public Health Whole Genome Sequence Data Accessible to Non-Bioinformaticians”. BMC Genomics. 2021. doi:10.1186/s12864-021-07405-8
 
Sebastián Gutiérrez, Leonela Díaz, Angélica Reyes-Jara, Xun Yang, Jianghong Meng, Narjol González-Escalona, Magaly Toro*. “Whole genome phylogenetic analysis reveals wide diversity of non-O157 STEC isolated from ground beef and cattle feces in Chile”. Front. Microbiol., 2021. Doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.622663
 
María Victoria Vélez, Rocio Colello, Analía Etcheverría, Roberto Vidal, David Montero, Patricia Acuña, Rosa Guillen Fretes, Magaly Toro, Nora Padola. “Distribution of locus of adhesion and autoaggregation and hes gene in STEC strains from countries of Latin America”. Curr Microbiol. 2020. doi: 10.1007/s00284-020-02062-8
 
Andrea I Moreno Switt, Dácil Rivera, Patricio Retamal, Paola Navarrete, Angélica Reyes-Jara, ,Magaly Toro. Transduction as a potential dissemination mechanism of a clonal qnrB19-carrying plasmid isolated from Salmonella of multiple serotypes and isolation sources. 2019. Frontiers in Microbiology. 10: 2503. ISSN:1664-302X. IF: 4.259. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.02503
 
Francisco Astorga, María J. Navarrete-Talloni, María P. Miró, Verónica Bravo, Magaly Toro, Carlos Blondel, Luis P. Hervé-Claude. " Antimicrobial resistance in E. coli isolated from dairy calves and bedding material in southern Chile” Heliyon. 2019. 5 (11): e02773. ISSN 2405-8440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02773
 
Ana María Quesille-Villalobos, Ángel Parra, Felipe Maza, Paola Navarrete, Mauricio González, Mauricio Alejandro Latorre, Magaly Toro and Angélica Reyes-Jara. “The combined effect of cold and copper stresses on the proliferation and transcriptional response of Listeria monocytogenes”. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2019. 10: 612. ISSN:1664-302X IF: 4.259. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00612
 
Magaly Toro, Dácil Rivera, Viviana Toledo, Reinaldo Campos-Vargas, Mark Allard, and Christopher Hamilton-West, Andrea I Moreno Switt. Genomics of Salmonella Contaminating Backyard Production Systems Reveals Persistence and Transmission of Genetically-Related Salmonella on a Farm Basis. Zoonosis and Public Health. 2018. 65(8):1008-1014. ISSN: 1863-2378
 
Viviana Toledo, Henk C. den Bakker, Juan Carlos Hormazábal, Gerardo González- Rocha, Helia Bello-Toledo, Magaly Toro y Andrea I Moreno Switt. “Genomic Diversity of Listeria monocytogenes Isolated from Clinical and non-clinical Samples in Chile”. Genes. 2018, 9 (8), 396. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9080396
 
Angel Parra*, Magaly Toro*, Ricardo Jacob, Miriam Troncoso, Guillermo Figueroa, Paola Navarrete, Angelica Reyes-Jara. “Antimicrobial effect of copper surfaces on bacteria isolated from poultry meat”. 2018. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology. 49 (1):113-118
 
Maria-Jose Valenzuela, Mario Caruffo, Yoani Herrera, Daniel A. Medina, Maximo Coronado, Carmen G Feijoo, Salomé Muñoz, Daniel Garrido, Miriam Troncoso, Guillermo Figueroa, Magaly Toro, Angelica Reyes-Jara, Fabien Magne and Paola Navarrete. “Evaluating the capacity of human gut microorganisms to colonize the zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio)”. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2018, 9:1032. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01032
 
Magaly Toro, Daniel Rivera, María Fernanda Jiménez, Leonela Díaz, Paola Navarrete,Angélica Reyes-Jara. “Isolation and characterization of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolated from retail ground beef in Santiago, Chile”. Food Microbiology. 2018: October 2018, 55-60. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2017.10.015
 
Magaly Toro, Patricio Retamal, Shery Ayers, Eric Brown, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona. “Whole genome sequencing analysis of Salmonella Enteritidis isolated in Chile provides insights about possible transmission between gulls, poultry and humans”. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016; 82(20):6223-6232. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01760-16
 
Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona, Gavilan RG, Magaly Toro, Zamudio ML, Jaime Martinez-Urtaza. “Outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus sequence type 120, Peru, 2009”. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Jul; 22(7):1235-1237. doi: 10.3201/eid2207.151896
 
Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona, Magaly Toro, Lydia Rump, Guojie Cao, T.G. Nagaraja, and Jianghong Meng. “Virulence gene profiles and clonal relationships of Escherichia coli O26:H11 isolates from feedlot cattle by whole genome sequencing”. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016; 82(13):3900-3912. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00498-16
 
Julie Haendiges, Jessica Jones, Robert Myers, Clifford Mitchell, Erin Butler, Magaly Toro, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona. "A non-autochthonous US strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated from Chesapeake Bay oysters caused the outbreak in Maryland in 2010". 2016. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 00096-16. 2016/3/18. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00096-16
 
Magaly Toro, Lydia Rump, Jiangong Meng, Eric Brown, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona. “Simultaneous presence of Insertion sequence-excision enhancer (IEE) and insertion sequence IS3 family members promotes increasing diversity and virulence in Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC)”. 2015. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 53 (11):3466-3473. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01349-15
 
Magaly Toro, Lydia Rump, Guojie Cao, Jianghong Meng, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona. “Genome sequences of 64 non-O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains”. 2015. Genome announcements 3 (5): e01067-15. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01067-15
 
Magaly Toro, Patricio Retamal, Eric Brown, Peter Evans, Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona. “Draft sequences of 33 Salmonella enterica isolated in Chile”. 2015. Genome Announcements. 3 (2):e00054-15. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.00054-15
 
Yanhong Liu, Xianghe Yan, Chitrita DebRoy, Pina Fratamico, David Needleman, Robert Li, Wei Wang, Liliana Losada, Lauren Brinkac, Diana Radune, Magaly Toro, Narasimha Hegde, Jianghong Meng. “Escherichia coli O-antigen gene clusters of serogroups O62, O68, O131, O140, O142, and O163: DNA sequences and similarity between O62 and O68, and PCR-based serogrouping”. 2015. Biosensors 5 (1): 51-68. doi: 10.3390/bios5010051
 
Narjol González-Escalona, Nagarajan Thirunavukkarasu, Ajay Singh, Magaly Toro, Eric Brown, Donald Zink, Andreas Rummel, and Shashi Sharma. "Draft Genome Sequence of bivalent Clostridium botulinum strain IBCA10-7060 encoding botulinum neurotoxin B and a new FA mosaic type" 2014. Genome Annoucements 12/2014; 2(6):e01275-14. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01275-14
 
Wenting Ju, Lydia Rump, Magaly Toro, Jinling Shen, Shaohua Zhao, and Jianghong Meng. “Pathogenicity Islands in Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O26, O103 and O111 isolates from human and animals”. Foodborne Pathog Dis, 2014. May 11 (5); 343-345. doi: 10.1089/fpd.2013.1696
 
James Pettengill, Ruth Timme, Rodolphe Barrangou, Magaly Toro, Marc Allard, Errol Strain, Steven Musser, Eric Brown. “The evolutionary history and diagnostic utility of the CRISPR-cas system within Salmonella enterica ssp. enterica”. 2014. PeerJ. 2;e340. doi: 10.7717/peerj.340
 
Magaly Toro, Guojie Cao, Wenting Ju, Marc Allard, Rodolphe Barrangou, Shaohua Zhao, and Jianghong Meng. “Association of CRISPR elements with serotypes and virulence potential of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli”. 2014. Appl. Environ Microbiol. Feb; 80 (4):1411-1420. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03018-13
 
Wenting Ju, Jinling Shen, Magaly Toro, Shaohua Zhao, and Jianghong Meng. “Distribution of Pathogenicity Islands OI-122, OI-43/48, and OI-57 and a High- Pathogenicity Island in Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli”. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2013 Jun; 79 (11):3406-12. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03661-12
 
Magaly A. Toro, Mohamed Najjar, Wenting Ju, Eric Brown, Shaohua Zhao, Jianghong Meng. “Molecular serogrouping of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli using suspension array”. 2013. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. May; 10 (5):478-80. doi: 10.1089/fpd.2012.1352
 
Wenting Ju, Jinling Shen, Yi Li, Magaly A. Toro, Shaohua Zhao, Sherry Ayers, Mohamed Najjar, Jianghong Meng. “Non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in retail ground beef and pork in the Washington D.C. area”. 2012. Food Microbiol. Dec; 32(2):371-7. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2012.07.017
 
Guillermo Figueroa, Miriam Troncoso, Cristian López, Patricia Rivas, Magaly Toro. “Occurrence and enumeration of Campylobacter sp during the processing of Chilean broilers”. 2009. BMC Microbiology, May 15; 9:94. doi: 10.1186/1471-2180-9-94
 
Solving food protection problems locally, regionally, and internationally