Surface topography and chemistry of food contact substances, and microbial nutrition affect pathogen persistence and symbiosis in cocktail listeria monocytogenes biofilms

Authors: GU, TINGTING - University Of Florida; Luo, Yaguang - Sunny; JIA, ZHEN - University Of Florida; MEESRISON, APISAK - University Of Massachusetts; LIN, SOPHIA - University Of Massachusetts; VENTRESCAD, ISABELLA - University Of Massachusetts; BROOKSD, SARAH - University Of Massachusetts; SHARMA, ARNAV - Duke University; SIRAM, SITARA - University Of Florida; YANG, MANYUN - Harvard University; PEARLSTEING, ARNE - University Of Illinois; Millner, Patricia; SCHNEIDERA, KEITH - University Of Florida; ZHANG, BOCE - University Of Florida

Submitted to: Food Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2024
Publication Date: 2/19/2024
Citation: Gu, T., Luo, Y., Jia, Z., Meesrison, A., Lin, S., Ventrescad, I.J., Brooksd, S.J., Sharma, A., Siram, S., Yang, M., Pearlsteing, A.J., Millner, P.D., Schneidera, K.R., Zhang, B. 2024. Surface topography and chemistry of food contact substances, and microbial nutrition affect pathogen persistence and symbiosis in cocktail listeria monocytogenes biofilms. Food Control. 161: Article e110391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2024.110391.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2024.110391

Interpretive Summary: Bacterial community can affect the survival of harmful bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. However, little is known about the symbiotic relationship of Listeria with other microorganism at different environmental conditions. In this study, we investigated the effects of topography and chemistry of food contact surfaces on the symbiosis of Listeria and microbial community. We reported that stainless surface properties including the topography, chemistry, symbiont species, and nutrition play significant roles on Listeria persistence. Research findings will benefit the food industry in equipment design, and sanitation for improved food safety.

Technical Abstract: The foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) can form very persistent biofilms on food contact substances, either in monospecies, or in conjunction with background microflora. Although some studies have investigated how bacterial symbiosis facilitates L. monocytogenes survival in complex cocktail biofilms, very little is known about how this core symbiotic relationship is affected by environmental factors. Here, this study investigated how L. monocytogenes persistence on various food contact surfaces is affected by symbiosis with Escherichia coli O157:H7, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Ralstonia insidiosaand how these relationships are impacted by environmental factors, including food contact surface topography and chemistry, and microbial nutrition. The investigation found that symbiosis can significantly enhance L. monocytogenes persistence in four-species cocktail biofilms (5.7 ± 0.0 CFU/cm2) by up to 1.9 Log CFU/cm2 compared to the monospecies biofilms (3.8 ± 0.1 CFU/cm2). This study is also the first to report that surface topography and chemistry, microbial nutrition, and symbiont species significantly impact the symbiotic relationships involving L. monocytogenes, which reveals the intricate and complex nature of cocktail pathogen biofilms. Antagonistic and synergistic interactions involving pathogens in cocktail biofilms, and factors affecting those interactions, are elucidated and can establish a foundation to study symbiosis and its role in mitigating pathogen persistence in food systems.