Survival and thermal resistance among four Salmonella serovars inoculated onto flaxseeds.

Thermal resistance among Salmonella serovars has been shown to vary, however, such data are minimal for Salmonella inoculated onto low moisture foods. We evaluated survival and subsequent thermal resistance for 32 strains of Salmonella from four serovars (Agona, Enteritidis, Montevideo, and Tennessee) on flaxseed over 24 weeks. After inoculation, flaxseeds were adjusted to aw = 0.5 and stored at 22 °C. After 24 weeks at 22 °C, strains of serovar Agona had a significantly slower rate of reduction compared to those of Enteritidis and Montevideo (adj. p < 0.05). Inoculated flaxseeds were processed at 71 °C with vacuum steam pasteurization at 4 time points during storage. Average initial D71°C values ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 min were similar across serovars. Over 24 weeks, D71°C varied in a serovar-dependent manner. D71°C at 8, 16, and 24 weeks did not change significantly for Enteritidis and Montevideo but did for Tennessee and Agona. While significant, the differences in D71°C over time were less than 1 min, indicating that storage time prior to heat treatment would have a minimal effect on the processing time required to inactivate Salmonella on flaxseed.

Evidence of hypervirulence in Listeria monocytogenes clonal complex 14.

Purpose. Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that causes central nervous system (CNS) and maternal-neonatal (MN) infections, bacteremia (BAC), and gastroenteritis in humans and ruminants. Specific clonal complexes (CC) have been associated with severe listeriosis cases, however, less is known about differences among subgroup virulence patterns. This study aimed to assess variation in virulence across different CC and clinical outcomes.Methodology. Galleria mellonella larvae were used to compare virulence phenotypes of 34 L. monocytogenes strains representing isolates from CC1, CC6 (from lineage I), and CC7, CC9, CC14, CC37 and CC204 (from lineage II) classified by clinical outcome: BAC, CNS and MN infection. Larvae survival, LD50, cytotoxicity, health index scores and bacterial concentrations post-infection were evaluated as quantifiable indicators of virulence.Results. Isolates belonging to CC14 and MN-associated infections are hypervirulent in G. mellonella as they led to lower G. mellonella survival rates and health index scores, as well as reduced cytotoxic effects when compared to other CC and clinical outcomes included here. CC14 isolates also showed increased bacterial concentrations at 8 and 24 h post-infection, indicating ability to survive the initial immune response and proliferate within G. mellonella larvae.Conclusion. Subgroups of L. monocytogenes possess different virulence phenotypes that may be associated with niche-specificity. While hypervirulent clones have been identified so far in lineage I, our data demonstrate that hypervirulent clones are not restricted to lineage I, as CC14 belongs to lineage II. Identification of subgroups with a higher ability to cause disease may facilitate surveillance and management of listeriosis.

Genetic characterization of Listeria monocytogenes from ruminant listeriosis from different geographical regions in the U.S.

Listeria monocytogenes infections are an important disease of ruminants worldwide, causing encephalitis, septicemia, and abortions. Ruminant listeriosis can also pose a food safety risk due to the potential for L. monocytogenes to enter the food supply via the farm environment. Data on the genetic diversity of L. monocytogenes from ruminant clinical cases in the United States is limited. Our goal was to assess the genetic diversity of clinical listeriosis isolates from ruminants in the Upper Great Plains states, a population not well-studied, and compare this population to isolates from ruminants in New York State. Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) was used to classify and compare the genetic diversity of the isolates from the two regions. Loci sequences were compared to all known sequence types using the Pasteur Institute L. monocytogenes MLST database. Four novel sequence types (ST) were identified among the Upper Great Plains isolates, and four new STs were classified in the New York collection. Five STs were found to be common across the 2 geographical regions; ST 1, 7, 191, and 204. Strains of ST 7 were most frequently isolated (7/46 isolates). Strains of ST 91 were all associated with fetal infections from the Upper Great Plains. Our results demonstrate that while there are some subtypes commonly found between the two geographic regions, there are also subtypes distinct to each region.