Listeria monocytogenes, a down-to-earth pathogen

International audience; Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of the food-borne life threatening disease listeriosis. This pathogenic bacterium received much attention in the endeavor of deciphering the cellular mechanisms that underlie the onset of infection and its ability to adapt to the food processing environment. Although information is available on the presence of L. monocytogenes in many environmental niches including soil, water, plants, foodstuff and animals, understanding the ecology of L. monocytogenes in outdoor environments has received less attention. Soil is an environmental niche of pivotal importance in the transmission of this bacterium to plants and animals. Soil…

Persistance and adaptation of Listeria monocytogenes in the soil : role of the communication system Agr

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous bacterium responsible for listeriosis, a food-borne disease. This pathogen has been isolated from various environments of which the telluric environment. The presence of L. monocytogenes in soil can increase health hazards due to the risk of transfer to vegetables, animals and animal products and water. Considering the role of soil in the circulation of pathogens from farm environment to plant and animal products and eventually to foodstuff, it is critical to identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors that drive the fate of L. monocytogenes in soil. Genome-wide and transcriptomic analyses found that an important part of the genome of L. monocytogenes (7.…

Réponses adaptatives du Pois protéagineux à une perturbation de la fixation symbiotique d'azote en relation avec le métabolisme carboné

Persistance et adaptation de Listeria monocytogenes dans le sol : rôle du système de communication Agr

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous bacterium responsible for listeriosis, a food-borne disease. This pathog•en has been isolated from varions environments of which the telluric environment. The presence of L. monocytogenes in soi! can increase health hazards due to the risk of transfer to vegetables, animais and animal products and water. Considering the role of soil in the circulation of pathogens from fann environment to plant and animal products and eventually to foodstuff, it is critical to identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors that drive the fate of L. monocytogenes in soi!. Genome-wide and transcriptomic analyses found that an important part of the genome of L. monocytogenes (7…

Microbial diversity and structure are drivers of the biological barrier effect against Listeria monocytogenes in soil

International audience; Understanding the ecology of pathogenic organisms is important in order to monitor their transmission in the environment and the related health hazards. We investigated the relationship between soil microbial diversity and the barrier effect against Listeria monocytogenes invasion. By using a dilution-to-extinction approach, we analysed the consequence of eroding microbial diversity on L. monocytogenes population dynamics under standardised conditions of abiotic parameters and microbial abundance in soil microcosms. We demonstrated that highly diverse soil microbial communities act as a biological barrier against L. monocytogenes invasion and that phylogenetic compos…

Single cell analysis evidence Heterogeneous expression of the Agr communication system of Listeria monocytogenes

http://prodinra.inra.fr/record/271694EAMERSCT3 EJ3; Communication, often referred as Quorum Sensing, is involved in the adaptation of most bacteria to their environment. In the genus Listeria, the agr communication system affects the biology of Listeria monocytogenes during saprophytic life (biofilm formation) and during infection. In the present study, we investigated in situ agr expression of six isolates of L. monocytogenes by combining gfp reporters, flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy during plantonic growth and dynamic flow cell biofilm set ups. Unexpectedly, during growth in TSB homogenised liquid cultures incubated at 25°C, while auto-inducer concentration was uniform, statist…

Survival of Listeria monocytogenes in Soil Requires AgrA-Mediated Regulation

ABSTRACT In a recent paper, we demonstrated that inactivation of the Agr system affects the patterns of survival of Listeria monocytogenes (A.-L. Vivant, D. Garmyn, L. Gal, and P. Piveteau, Front Cell Infect Microbiol 4:160, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2014.00160 ). In this study, we investigated whether the Agr-mediated response is triggered during adaptation in soil, and we compared survival patterns in a set of 10 soils. The fate of the parental strain L. monocytogenes L9 (a rifampin-resistant mutant of L. monocytogenes EGD-e) and that of a Δ agrA deletion mutant were compared in a collection of 10 soil microcosms. The Δ agrA mutant displayed significantly reduced survival in these b…

Listeria monocytogenes Differential Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Temperature-Dependent Agr Regulation and Suggests Overlaps with Other Regulons

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous, opportunistic pathogenic organism. Environmental adaptation requires constant regulation of gene expression. Among transcriptional regulators, AgrA is part of an auto-induction system. Temperature is an environmental cue critical for in vivo adaptation. In order to investigate how temperature may affect AgrA-dependent transcription, we compared the transcriptomes of the parental strain L. monocytogenes EGD-e and its Delta agrA mutant at the saprophytic temperature of 25 degrees C and in vivo temperature of 37 degrees C. Variations of transcriptome were higher at 37 degrees C than at 25 degrees C. Results suggested that AgrA may be involved in the regu…