Resistance to benzalkonium chloride, peracetic acid and nisin during formation of mature biofilms by Listeria monocytogenes

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Saá Ibusquiza ◽  
J.J.R. Herrera ◽  
M.L. Cabo
Microbiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 156 (12) ◽  
pp. 3782-3790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stijn van der Veen ◽  
Tjakko Abee

The food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is able to form biofilms in food processing environments. Since biofilms are generally difficult to eradicate during clean-up procedures, they pose a major risk for the food industry. Stress resistance mechanisms involved in L. monocytogenes biofilm formation and disinfectant resistance have, to our knowledge, not been identified thus far. In this study, we investigated the role of hrcA, which encodes the transcriptional regulator of the class I heat-shock response, and dnaK, which encodes a class I heat-shock response chaperone protein, in static and continuous-flow biofilm formation and resistance against benzalkonium chloride and peracetic acid. Induction of both hrcA and dnaK during continuous-flow biofilm formation was observed using quantitative real-time PCR and promoter reporters. Furthermore, in-frame deletion and complementation mutants of hrcA and dnaK revealed that HrcA and DnaK are required to reach wild-type levels of both static and continuous-flow biofilms. Finally, disinfection treatments of planktonic-grown cells and suspended static and continuous-flow biofilm cells of wild-type and mutants showed that HrcA and DnaK are important for resistance against benzalkonium chloride and peracetic acid. In conclusion, our study revealed that HrcA and DnaK are important for L. monocytogenes biofilm formation and disinfectant resistance.


Pathogens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Stoller ◽  
Marc Stevens ◽  
Roger Stephan ◽  
Claudia Guldimann

Listeria monocytogenes can persist in food production facilities, resulting in serious threats to consumers due to the high mortality associated with listeriosis, especially in the very young, old and pregnant. We subtyped 124 strains of L. monocytogenes isolated from a meat processing facility in Switzerland by serotyping, multi locus sequence typing (MLST) typing and whole genome sequencing. We then analyzed their ability to form biofilms and their resistance to the disinfectants benzalkonium chloride (BC) and peracetic acid (PAA). The genotyping results of the strains showed that several clonal populations of L. monocytogenes belonging to CC9, CC204 and CC121 had persisted in this meat processing facility for at least four years. All of the strains showed biofilm forming capacity comparable to a known high biofilm forming strain. Known efflux pumps for BC were present in CC204, CC9 (brcABC) and CC121 (qacH) strains, while strains from other CC showed very low minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for BC. For PAA, minimal bactericidal concentrations of 1.2–1.6% for 20 min and minimal inhibitory concentrations between 0.1 and 0.2% were observed. These values were close to or above the recommended concentration for use (0.5–1%), suggesting that PAA might be ineffective at controlling L. monocytogenes in this and potentially other meat processing facilities.


2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (23) ◽  
pp. 7854-7860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stijn van der Veen ◽  
Tjakko Abee

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen that is able to form biofilms in food processing facilities. Biofilms are generally more resistant to antimicrobial agents, making it difficult to eradicate them during cleanup procedures. So far, little is known about the function of stress resistance mechanisms in biofilm formation and their resistance to disinfectants. In this study, we investigated the role of sigB, which encodes a major transcriptional regulator of stress response genes, in L. monocytogenes static and continuous-flow biofilm formation and its function in the resistance of biofilm cells to the disinfectants benzalkonium chloride and peracetic acid. Quantitative real-time PCR and promoter reporter studies showed that sigB is activated in static and continuous-flow biofilms. Biofilm formation studies using an in-frame sigB deletion mutant and complementation mutant showed that the presence of SigB is required to obtain wild-type levels of both static and continuous-flow biofilms. Finally, disinfection treatments of planktonically grown cells and cells dispersed from static and continuous-flow biofilms showed that SigB is involved in the resistance of both planktonic cells and biofilms to the disinfectants benzalkonium chloride and peracetic acid.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Dimitra Kostoglou ◽  
Parthena Tsaklidou ◽  
Ioannis Iliadis ◽  
Nikoletta Garoufallidou ◽  
Georgia Skarmoutsou ◽  
...  

Fresh vegetables and salads are increasingly implicated in outbreaks of foodborne infections, such as those caused by Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous pathogen that can attach to the surfaces of the equipment creating robust biofilms withstanding the killing action of disinfectants. In this study, the antimicrobial efficiency of a natural plant terpenoid (thymol) was evaluated against a sessile population of a multi-strain L. monocytogenes cocktail developed on stainless steel surfaces incubated in lettuce broth, under optimized time and temperature conditions (54 h at 30.6 °C) as those were determined following response surface modeling, and in comparison, to that of an industrial disinfectant (benzalkonium chloride). Prior to disinfection, the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of each compound were determined against the planktonic cells of each strain. The results revealed the advanced killing potential of thymol, with a concentration of 625 ppm (= 4 × MBC) leading to almost undetectable viable bacteria (more than 4 logs reduction following a 15-min exposure). For the same degree of killing, benzalkonium chloride needed to be used at a concentration of at least 20 times more than its MBC (70 ppm). Discriminative repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) also highlighted the strain variability in both biofilm formation and resistance. In sum, thymol was found to present an effective anti-listeria action under environmental conditions mimicking those encountered in the salad industry and deserves to be further explored to improve the safety of fresh produce.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Gelbicova ◽  
Martina Florianova ◽  
Lucie Hluchanova ◽  
Alžběta Kalova ◽  
Kristýna Korena ◽  
...  

Environmental adaptation of Listeria monocytogenes is a complex process involving various mechanisms that can contribute to their survival in the environment, further spreading throughout the food chain and the development of listeriosis. The aim of this study was to analyze whole-genome sequencing data in a set of 270 strains of L. monocytogenes derived from human listeriosis cases and food and environmental sources in order to compare the prevalence and type of genetic determinants encoding cadmium, arsenic, and benzalkonium chloride resistance. Most of the detected genes of cadmium (27.8%), arsenic (15.6%), and benzalkonium chloride (7.0%) resistance were located on mobile genetic elements, even in phylogenetically distant lineages I and II, which indicates the possibility of their horizontal spread. Although no differences were found in the prevalence of these genes between human and food strains, they have been detected sporadically in strains from the environment. Regarding cadmium resistance genes, cadA1C1_Tn5422 predominated, especially in clonal complexes (CCs) 121, 8, and 3 strains. At the same time, qacH_Tn6188-encoding benzalkonium chloride resistance was most frequently detected in the genome of CC121 strains. Genes encoding arsenic resistance were detected mainly in strains CC2 (located on the chromosomal island LGI2) and CC9 (carried on Tn554). The results indicated a relationship between the spread of genes encoding resistance to cadmium, arsenic, and benzalkonium chloride in certain serotypes and CCs and showed the need for a more extensive study of L. monocytogenes strains to better understand their ability to adapt to the food production environment.


LWT ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 109608
Author(s):  
Chae-Hun Lee ◽  
Ji-Hoon Kang ◽  
Hyuk-Je Woo ◽  
Kyung Bin Song

Pathogens ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Rodríguez-Campos ◽  
Cristina Rodríguez-Melcón ◽  
Carlos Alonso-Calleja ◽  
Rosa Capita

Some strains of Listeria monocytogenes can persist in food-processing environments, increasing the likelihood of the contamination of foodstuffs. To identify traits that contribute to bacterial persistence, a selection of persistent and sporadic L. monocytogenes isolates from a poultry-processing facility was investigated for biofilm-forming ability (crystal violet assay). The susceptibility of sessile cells to treatments (five minutes) with sodium hypochlorite having 10% active chlorine (SHY: 10,000 ppm, 25,000 ppm, and 50,000 ppm) and benzalkonium chloride (BZK: 2500 ppm, 10,000 ppm, and 25,000 ppm) was also studied. All isolates exhibited biofilm formation on polystyrene. Persistent strains showed larger (p < 0.001) biofilm formation (OD580 = 0.301 ± 0.097) than sporadic strains (OD580 = 0.188 ± 0.082). A greater susceptibility to disinfectants was observed for biofilms of persistent strains than for those of sporadic strains. The application of SHY reduced biofilms only for persistent strains. BZK increased OD580 in persistent strains (2500 ppm) and in sporadic strains (all concentrations). These results indicate that the use of BZK at the concentrations tested could represent a public health risk. Findings in this work suggest a link between persistence and biofilm formation, but do not support a relationship between persistence and the resistance of sessile cells to disinfectants.


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