The occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes is associated with built environment microbiota in three tree fruit processing facilities

Abstract

Background Multistate foodborne disease outbreaks and recalls of apples and apple products contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes demonstrate the need for improved pathogen control in the apple supply chain. Apple processing facilities have been identified in the past as potential sources of persisting L . monocytogenes contamination. In this study, we sought to understand the composition of microbiota in built apple and other tree fruit processing environments and its association with the occurrence of the foodborne pathogen L . monocytogenes . Results Analysis of 117 samples collected from three apple and other tree fruit packing facilities (F1, F2, and F3) showed that facility F2 had a significantly higher L . monocytogenes occurrence compared to F1 and F3 ( p < 0.01). The microbiota in facility F2 was distinct compared to facilities F1 and F3 as supported by the mean Shannon index for bacterial and fungal alpha diversities that was significantly lower in F2, compared to F1 and F3 ( p < 0.01). Microbiota in F2 was uniquely predominated by bacterial family Pseudomonadaceae and fungal family Dipodascaceae. Conclusions The composition and diversity of microbiota and mycobiota present in the investigated built food processing environments may be indicative of persistent contamination with L . monocytogenes . These findings support the need for further investigation of the role of the microbial communities in the persistence of L . monocytogenes to support the optimization of L . monocytogenes control strategies in the apple supply chain. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-019-0726-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effect of Washing, Waxing and Low-Temperature Storage on the Postharvest Microbiome of Apple

“…The composition of the postharvest microbiome of apple can also be impacted by bacterial and fungal communities present in packing houses that process fruit for market and storage after harvest. A recent study reported substantial differences in both the composition and diversity of the environmental microbiota present in different tree fruit processing facilities, and revealed that the presence of Pseudomonadaceae and Diplodascaceae families was associated with an increased occurrence and persistence of the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes [15]. Further research on this topic may lead to a better understanding of the interactions that occur between pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms found on harvested fruits and the optimization of fruit handling strategies.…”

Microbiome-Informed Food Safety and Quality: Longitudinal Consistency and Cross-Sectional Distinctiveness of Retail Chicken Breast Microbiomes

“…Microbiome analyses of meat and seafood products provided a microbiological dissection of food spoilage to study microbial origin and population dynamics of the complex process (2). Besides targeted investigations of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, overall food microbiome profiles have been investigated to suggest how agricultural and food processing practices affect resident food microbial communities in the context of food safety and spoilage (3)(4)(5). In addition to taxonomic compositions, particular microbiome constituents such as antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), or resistomes, have been profiled to indicate the ecological impact of antimicrobial usage at various stages of beef (6) and poultry (7,8) production.…”

Comparison of biofilm formation between non-pathogenic Listeria strains under different stress conditions

“…This can correspond to either mixed biofilm enhancement or inhibition (Carpentier and Chassaing, 2004;Fox et al, 2014). Nevertheless, a recent study by Tan et al (2019) proved that the composition and diversity of microbiota from food processing surfaces indicates the persistence of the Listeria monocytogenes. This reiterates the need for further investigation on microbiota characterization particularly, on the role of the harmless bacteria in the food safety.…”