Food safety – persistence of Listeria monocytogenes in food production environments

The food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is a great concern for food safety because of the high mortality rate associated with listeriosis and also because of the wide occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes in food production environments. Furthermore, the long-term survival of Listeria monocytogenes in food production plants – which is also called “persistence”, poses additional risks on food safety. However, the molecular mechanisms enabling the persistence of Listeria monocytogenes are still largely unknown. To elucidate molecular mechanisms of Listeria monocytogenes persistence, we apply community characterization and whole genome sequencing as hypothesis-generating tools and post-genomic analyses, such as functional characterization of deletion mutants to identify genetic determinants possibly involved in persistence, to verify hypotheses generated during genome sequencing. In order to improve food safety, a detailed knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying survival of Listeria monocytogenes is needed.

Selected publications:

  • Anast JM, Etter AJ, Schmitz-Esser S. 2022. Comparative analysis of Listeria monocytogenes plasmid transcriptomes reveals common and plasmid-specific gene expression patterns and high expression of noncoding RNAs. MicrobiologyOpen. (5):e1315. doi: 10.1002/mbo3.1315
  • Anast JM, Schmitz-Esser S. 2021. Certain Listeria monocytogenes plasmids contribute to increased UVC ultraviolet light stress. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 368(17):fnab123.
  • Wagner M, Slaghuis J, Göbel W, Vázquez-Boland JA, Rychli K, Schmitz-Esser S. 2021. Virulence pattern analysis of three Listeria monocytogenes lineage I epidemic strains with distinct outbreak histories. Microorganisms 9(8):1745.
  • Schmitz-Esser S, Anast JM, Cortes BW. 2021. A Large-Scale Sequencing-Based Survey of Plasmids in Listeria monocytogenes Reveals Global Dissemination of Plasmids. Front Microbiol. 12:653155.
  • Anast JM, Bobik TA, Schmitz-Esser S. 2020. The Cobalamin-Dependent Gene Cluster of Listeria monocytogenes: Implications for Virulence, Stress Response, and Food Safety. Front Microbiol; 11:601816. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.601816.
  • Anast JM, Schmitz-Esser S. 2020. The transcriptome of Listeria monocytogenes during co-cultivation with cheese rind bacteria suggests adaptation by induction of ethanolamine and 1,2-propanediol catabolism pathway genes. PLoS One. 15(7):e0233945.
  • Cortes BW, Naditz AL, Anast JM, Schmitz-Esser S. 2020. Transcriptome sequencing of Listeria monocytogenes reveals major gene expression changes in response to lactic acid stress exposure but a less pronounced response to oxidative stress. Front Microbiol. 10:3110
  • Naditz AL, Dzieciol M, Wagner M, Schmitz-Esser S. 2019. Plasmids contribute to food processing environment-associated stress survival in three Listeria monocytogenes ST121, ST8, and ST5 strains. Int J Food Microbiol. 299:39-46.
  • Muhterem-Uyar M, Ciolacu L, Wagner KH, Wagner M, Schmitz-Esser S, Stessl B. 2018. New Aspects on Listeria monocytogenes ST5-ECVI Predominance in a Heavily Contaminated Cheese Processing Environment. Front Microbiol. 9:64.
  • Rychli K, Wagner EM, Ciolacu L, Zaiser A, Tasara T, Wagner M, Schmitz-Esser S. 2017. Comparative genomics of human and non-human Listeria monocytogenes sequence type 121 strains. PLoS One. 12(5):e0176857.
  • Schön K, Schornsteiner E, Dzieciol M, Wagner M, Müller M, Schmitz-Esser S. 2016. Microbial communities in dairy processing environment floor-drains are dominated by product-associated bacteria and yeasts. Food Control. 70, 210-215.
  • Dzieciol M, Schornsteiner E, Muhterem-Uyar M, Stessl B, Wagner M, Schmitz-Esser S. 2016. Bacterial diversity of floor drain biofilms and drain waters in a Listeria monocytogenes contaminated food processing environment. Int J Food Microbiol. 223:33-40.
  • Schmitz-Esser S., Müller A., Wagner M. Genomes of sequence type 121 Listeria monocytogenes strains harbor highly conserved plasmids and prophages. 2015. Front. Microbiol. 28;6:380.
  • Müller A, Rychli K, Zaiser A, Wieser C, Wagner M, Schmitz-Esser S. 2014. The Listeria monocytogenes transposon Tn6188 provides increased tolerance to various quaternary ammonium compounds and ethidium bromide. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 361(2):166-73.
  • Rychli K., Müller A., Zaiser A., Schoder D., Allerberger F., Wagner M., Schmitz-Esser S. 2014. Genome sequencing of Listeria monocytogenes "Quargel" listeriosis outbreak strains reveals two different strains with distinct in vitro virulence potential. PLoS One. 9:e89964.
  • Müller A., Rychli K., Muhterem-Uyar M., Zaiser A., Stessl B., Guinane C. M., Cotter P. D., Wagner M., Schmitz-Esser S. 2013. Tn6188 - a novel transposon in Listeria monocytogenes responsible for tolerance to benzalkonium chloride. PLoS One. 8:e76835.

Funding Organization: National Institute of Food and Agriculture/USDA

Award Number: 2019-67017-29687