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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Meat Safety and Quality » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #370508
Research Project: Mitigation Approaches for Foodborne Pathogens in Cattle and Swine for Use During Production and Processing

Location: Meat Safety and Quality

Title: Impact of mixed biofilm formation with environmental microorganisms on E. coli O157:H7 survival against sanitization

Author
item DASS, SAPNA - Texas A&M University
item Bosilevac, Joseph - Mick
item Weinroth, Margaret - Maggie
item ELOWSKY, CHRISTIAN - University Of Nebraska
item ZHOU, YOU - University Of Nebraska
item ANANDAPPA, ANGELA - University Of Nebraska
item Wang, Rong

Submitted to: NPJ Science of Food
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/11/2020
Publication Date: 10/14/2020
Citation: Dass, S.C., Bosilevac, J.M., Weinroth, M., Elowsky, C.G., Zhou, Y., Anandappa, A., Wang, R. 2020. Impact of mixed biofilm formation with environmental microorganisms on E. coli O157:H7 survival against sanitization. NPJ Science of Food. 4:16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-020-00076-x.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-020-00076-x

Interpretive Summary: E. coli O157:H7 is the most commonly identified Shiga toxin – producing E. coli that can cause severe clinical diseases and foodborne outbreaks. Meat processing plants harbor a wide variety of microorganisms and occasional foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, thus, the processing plant environmental microbial community might influence the prevalence of pathogen contamination. Since floor drains at meat plants may contain a wide variety of environmental microorganisms, we collected floor drain samples from two meat plants with different E. coli O157:H7 prevalence histories. The results showed that biofilm forming ability and bacterial species composition varied considerably based on the processing plants and drain locations. The presence of certain bacterial species in the processing plant environment may affect the ability of E. coli O157:H7 to survive and persist and might be associated with pathogen persistence in meat plants.

Technical Abstract: Biofilm formation by foodborne pathogens is a serious threat to food safety and public health. Meat processing plants may harbor various microorganisms and occasional foodborne pathogens; thus, the environmental microbial community might impact pathogen survival via mixed biofilm formation. We collected floor drain samples from two beef plants with different E. coli O157:H7 prevalence history and investigated the effects of the environmental microorganisms on pathogen sanitizer tolerance. The results showed that biofilm forming ability and bacterial species composition varied considerably based on the plants and drain locations. E. coli O157:H7 cells obtained significantly higher sanitizer tolerance in mixed biofilms by samples from the plant with recurrent E. coli O157:H7 prevalence than those mixed with samples from the other plant. The mixed biofilm that best protected E. coli O157:H7 also had the highest species diversity. The percentages of the species were altered significantly after sanitization, suggesting that the community composition affects the role and tolerance level of each individual species. Therefore, the unique environmental microbial community, their ability to form biofilms on contact surfaces and interspecies interactions all play roles in E. coli O157:H7 persistence by either enhancing or reducince pathogen survival within the biofilm community.