Listeria monocytogenes is able to form biofilms on various surfaces and this ability is thought to contribute to persistence in the environment and on contact surfaces in the food industry. Extracellular DNA (eDNA) is a component of the biofilm matrix of many bacterial species and was shown to play a role in biofilm establishment of L. monocytogenes. In the present study, the effect of DNaseI treatment on biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes EGD-e was investigated under static and dynamic conditions in normal or diluted complex medium at different temperatures. Biofilm formation was quantified by crystal violet staining or visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Biomass of surface-attached L. monocytogenes varies depending on temperature and dilution of media. Interestingly, L. monocytogenes EGD-e forms DNase-sensitive biofilms in diluted medium whereas in full strength medium DNaseI treatment had no effect. In line with these observations, eDNA is present in the matrix of biofilms grown in diluted but not full strength medium and supernatants of biofilms grown in diluted medium contain chromosomal DNA. The DNase-sensitive phenotype could be clearly linked to reduced ionic strength in the environment since dilution of medium in PBS or saline abolished DNase sensitivity. Several other but not all species of the genus Listeria display DNase-sensitive and -resistant modes of biofilm formation. These results indicate that L. monocytogenes biofilms are DNase-sensitive especially at low ionic strength, which might favor bacterial lysis and release of chromosomal DNA. Since low nutrient concentrations with increased osmotic pressure are conditions frequently found in food processing environments, DNaseI treatment represents an option to prevent or remove Listeria biofilms in industrial settings.

Macrophages are an important line of defence against invading pathogens. Human macrophages derived by different methods were tested for their suitability as models to investigate Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) infection and compared to macrophage-like THP-1 cells. Human primary monocytes were isolated by either positive or negative immunomagnetic selection and differentiated in the presence of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) into pro- or anti-inflammatory macrophages, respectively. Regardless of the isolation method, GM-CSF-derived macrophages (GM-Mφ) stained positive for CD206 and M-CSF-derived macrophages (M-Mφ) for CD163. THP-1 cells did not express CD206 or CD163 following incubation with PMA, M- or GM-CSF alone or in combination. Upon infection with Lm, all primary macrophages showed good survival at high multiplicities of infection whereas viability of THP-1 was severely reduced even at lower bacterial numbers. M-Mφ generally showed high phagocytosis of Lm. Strikingly, phagocytosis of Lm by GM-Mφ was markedly influenced by the method used for isolation of monocytes. GM-Mφ derived from negatively isolated monocytes showed low phagocytosis of Lm whereas GM-Mφ generated from positively selected monocytes displayed high phagocytosis of Lm. Moreover, incubation with CD14 antibody was sufficient to enhance phagocytosis of Lm by GM-Mφ generated from negatively isolated monocytes. By contrast, non-specific phagocytosis of latex beads by GM-Mφ was not influenced by treatment with CD14 antibody. Furthermore, phagocytosis of Lactococcus lactis, Escherichia coli, human cytomegalovirus and the protozoan parasite Leishmania major by GM-Mφ was not enhanced upon treatment with CD14 antibody indicating that this effect is specific for Lm. Based on these observations, we propose macrophages derived by ex vivo differentiation of negatively selected human primary monocytes as the most suitable model to study Lm infection of macrophages.

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