Enhanced formation of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli persister variants in environments relevant to leafy greens production.

Enhanced formation of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli persister variants in environments relevant to leafy greens production. Food Microbiol. 2019 Dec;84:103241 Authors: Thao S, Brandl MT, Carter MQ Abstract Bacterial persistence is a form of phenotypic heterogeneity in which a subpopulation, persisters, has high tolerance to antibiotics and other stresses. Persisters of enteric pathogens may represent the subpopulations capable of surviving harsh environments and causing human infections. Here we examined the persister populations of several shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) outbreak strains under conditions relevant to leafy greens production. The persister fraction of STEC in exponential-phase of culture varied greatly among the strains examined, ranging from 0.00003% to 0.0002% for O157:H7 strains to 0.06% and 0.08% for STEC O104:H4 strains. A much larger persister fraction (0.1-11.2%) was observed in STEC stationary cells grown in rich medium, which was comparable to the persister fractions in stationary cells grown in spinach lysates (0.6-3.6%). The highest persister fraction was measured in populations of cells incubated in field water (9.9-23.2%), in which no growth was detected for any of the STEC strains examined. Considering the high tolerance of persister cells to antimicrobial treatments and their ability to revert to normal cells, the presence of STEC persister cells in leafy greens production environ...
Source: Food Microbiology - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Food Microbiol Source Type: research