0000000000714535
AUTHOR
A. Rousset
Prevalence of Listeria sp. in droppings from urban rooks (Corvus frugilegus)
Droppings from 112 urban rooks (Corvus frugilegus) were cultured for the presence of Listeria sp. Overall, 46% of rooks sampled harboured one or more Listeria species. Of all birds examined, 33%, 24% and 8%, respectively, were infected with Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua and Listeria seeligeri. Differentiation of L. monocytogenes and L. seeligeri carried out by several phenotypic typing methods proved the diversity of strains and the major role of rooks which widely contribute to spreading this bacteria in our environment. The results also suggest that the ability to recover specific Listeria strains from the same sample is at least partially dependent on the methodology. These fi…
Plasmid-Mediated Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents among Listeriae
The resistance to 14 antiseptic-disinfectant and dye compounds of 208 strains of Listeria (132 L. monocytogenes, 63 L. innocua, 8 L. seeligeri, 1 L. ivanovii, 1 L. welshimeri, and 3 Listeria spp.) was tested by the agar-dilution procedure. The Listeria strains were isolated from different varieties of foods, environments of cheese dairies, humans, and wild birds. A total of 14 (6.7%) Listeria strains (12 L. monocytogenes and 2 L. innocua) were resistant to benzalkonium chloride, hexamidine diisethionate, and ethidium bromide. This multiple resistance was observed more frequently from strains of Listeria spp. detected on carcasses of poultry (47%) than strains isolated from human listeriosis…
Optimization of the detection of bacteriophages induced from Listeria sp.
It is necessary to isolate new phages in order to improve the rate of typeability of Listeria monocytogenes strains. We propose a method which increases the detection of induced phages in the presence of inhibitory substances synthesized or liberated by the cells during phage production. Of the 29 phages isolated, 11 (38%) were detected by the spot-on-the-lawn technique and 18 (62%) were revealed by the soft-agar technique. To increase the rate of phage detection, both techniques appear useful. Listeria cultures were subjected to phage typing procedures utilizing these newly isolated phages and the French International set of phages. It appears that the newly isolated phages are good tools …