Survival of Listeria monocytogenes in simulated gastrointestinal system and transcriptional profiling of stress- and adhesion-related genes

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Food ingestion is the major route of exposure to the important human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. An in vitrogastrointestinal model was used to (1) compare the survival rates of L. monocytogenes strains of serotypes 1=2a,1=2c, and 4b; and (2) examine the transcription of stress- and adhesion-related genes after exposure to the conditions similar to those encountered in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine. None of the L. monocytogenes strains investigated could survive in the gastric juice at pH 2.5 or 3.0. Their survival increased at higher pH (3.5 and 4.0) in the gastric stress. Relative survival of L. monocytogenes serotypes 4b and 1=2a strains were higher than that of serotype 1=2c, suggesting that pathogenicity might be related to the viability in the gastrointestinal tract.The transcription levels of prfA and the general stress-related genes clpC, clpE, and clpP were upregulated afterpassing through the simulated gastrointestinal tract, whereas that of the adhesion-related gene ami was downregulated. Taken together, this study revealed that L. monocytogenes strains enhanced the expression of stressrelated genes and decreased the transcription of adhesion-related gene in order to survive in the diverse microenvironments

Original languageEnglish
JournalFoodborne Pathogens and Disease
Volume7
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)267-274
Number of pages8
ISSN1535-3141
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

ID: 15862941