Microbiologia Médica e Diagnóstico

Listeria monocytogenes under the influence of food plants

Abstract

Marina Sidorenko and Vladislav Sidorenko

Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of human and animal listeriosis. It is known that the classical bacterial forms of Listeria, being saprophytes, have high stability in the external environment, they are able to reproduce in various environmental objects, including in soils and plants. It is known that plants can be a natural reservoir of pathogenic Listeria and a source of human infection. Volatile organic emissions of germinating seeds, due to the high penetrating ability in the soil, availability for assimilation, can be a source of carbon and energy for soil microorganisms. It is known that not all bacteria are capable of assimilating the volatile metabolites of germinating seeds, and the specificity of the action of volatile organic compounds depends on both the type of bacteria and the type of germinated seeds. Therefore, the volatile metabolites of germinating seeds of cultivated plants were studied, which are factors of transmission of L. monocytogenes - lettuce (Zactuca sativa), corn (Zea mays L.). As a result, it is proved that the volatile metabolites of germinating plant seeds stimulate the growth and reproduction of pathogenic listeria in soils. The specificity of the action of volatile organic compounds of plants on the reproduction of the studied bacteria is noted. The main volatile fraction that affects the growth and reproduction of L. monocytogenes is methanol, which bacteria use as their sole source of carbon and energy.