Listeria monocytogenes in foods—From culture identification to whole‐genome characteristics

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes is an important foodborne pathogen, which is able to persist in the food production environments. The presence of these bacteria in different niches makes them a potential threat for public health. In the present review, the current information on the classical and alternative methods used for isolation and identification of L. monocytogenes in food have been described. Although these techniques are usually simple, standardized, inexpensive, and are routinely used in many food testing laboratories, several alternative molecular‐based approaches for the bacteria detection in food and food production environments have been developed. They are characterized by the high sample throughput, a short time of analysis, and cost‐effectiveness. However, these methods are important for the routine testing toward the presence and number of L. monocytogenes, but are not suitable for characteristics and typing of the bacterial isolates, which are crucial in the study of listeriosis infections. For these purposes, novel approaches, with a high discriminatory power to genetically distinguish the strains during epidemiological studies, have been developed, e.g., whole‐genome sequence‐based techniques such as NGS which provide an opportunity to perform comparison between strains of the same species. In the present review, we have shown a short description of the principles of microbiological, alternative, and modern methods of detection of L. monocytogenes in foods and characterization of the isolates for epidemiological purposes. According to our knowledge, similar comprehensive papers on such subject have not been recently published, and we hope that the current review may be interesting for research communities.

Evaluation of Long-Read Sequencing Simulators to Assess Real-World Applications for Food Safety

“…Isolation and confirmation of L. monocytogenes from meat, egg, or environmental samples by FSIS involves a combination of culturing, molecular methods, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and takes six days to complete [ 10 ]. Molecular identification methods generally target the hly gene, which encodes the hemolysin, listeriolysin O [ 11 ]. The FDA method involves culture isolation, biochemical or RT-PCR confirmation, and serological and genetic subtyping and takes at least 5 days, but likely more depending on the tests selected and incubation times needed [ 12 ].…”

Characterisation of Listeria monocytogenes Isolates from Hunted Game and Game Meat from Finland

“…The consumption of contaminated food has been linked to both epidemic and sporadic listeriosis. Poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitation procedures in the food processing industry can lead to listeriosis outbreaks [ 4 , 7 ].…”

Listeria monocytogenes—How This Pathogen Uses Its Virulence Mechanisms to Infect the Hosts

“…Crucial factors for listeriosis prevention cover rapid and specific detection of L. monocytogenes in food with classical or alternative methods and determination of the infection sources [264]. L. monocytogenes is not only able to persist, but also multiply in a wide range of adverse conditions present in food production environments and create biofilms on various surfaces.…”