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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Molecular Characterization of Foodborne Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #295685

Title: Construction of Listeria monocytogenes mutants with in-frame Deletions in the phosphotransferase transport system (PTS) and analysis of their growth under stress conditions

Author
item Liu, Yanhong

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2013
Publication Date: 7/17/2013
Citation: Liu, Y. 2013. Construction of Listeria monocytogenes mutants with in-frame Deletions in the phosphotransferase transport system (PTS) and analysis of their growth under stress conditions. Meeting Abstract. pp.6-7.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Background: Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne pathogen that is difficult to eliminate due to its ability to survive under different stress conditions such as low pH and high salt. To better control this pathogen in food, it is important to understand its survival mechanisms under these stress conditions. LMOf2365_0442, 0443, 0444 encode for PTS permease (fructose-specific IIABC components) that is responsible for sugar transport. LMOf2365_0445 encodes for glycosyl hydrolase. These genes were induced by high pressure and inhibited under salt treatments; therefore, we hypothesized that genes encoding these PTS proteins may be involved in general stress responses. To study the function of these genes, deletion mutants of the PTS genes (LMOf2365_0442, LMOf2365_0443, LMOf2365_0444) and the downstream gene LMOf2365_0445 were created in L. monocytogenes strain F2365. These deletion mutants were tested under different stress conditions. The growth of delta LMOf2365_0445 was increased under nisin (125 µg/ml) treatments compared to the wild type (p<0.01). The growth of delta LMOf2365_0442 in salt (brain heart infusion medium with 5% NaCl) was significantly increased (p< 0.01), and delta LMOf2365_0442 showed increased growth under acidic conditions (pH 5.0) compared to the wild type (p<0.01). The results from phenotypic arrays demonstrated that some of these mutants showed slightly slower growth under different carbon sources and basic conditions. The results indicate that deletion mutants delta LMOf2365_0442 and delta LMOf2365_0445 were more resistant to multiple stress conditions compared to the wild type, suggesting that they may contribute to the general stress response in L. monocytogenes. An understanding of the growth of these mutants under multiple stress conditions may assist in the development of intervention strategies to control L. monocytogenes in food.