Addition of lime juice and NaCl to minced seafood may stimulate the expression of Listeria monocytogenes virulence, adhesion, and stress response genes

• Published in: Food science & nutrition Vol. 12; no. 7; pp. 4615 - 4622
• Main Authors: Hosseini, Hedayat, Abdollahzadeh, Esmail, Pilevar, Zahra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adhesion; Food; Food contamination & poisoning; Foodborne pathogens; Gene expression; Genes; Health risks; Intervention; Juices; lime juice; Listeria; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; minced seafood; NaCl; Nutrition; Opportunist infection; Original; Pathogens; Physiology; Product recalls; Public health; Seafood; Shellfish; Shrimps; Sodium chloride; Stress response; Virulence; virulence and adhesion genes; Listeria monocytogenes; NaCl; virulence and adhesion genes; minced seafood; lime juice
• ISSN: 2048-7177; 2048-7177
• DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.4064

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous opportunistic bacterium responsible for deadly listeriosis outbreaks. This pathogen has been recognized as a significant food‐borne pathogen in seafood products. The present study aimed to investigate the transcript levels of virulence, adhesion, and stress response genes of L. monocytogenes upon exposure to sublethal levels of lime juice and NaCl in shrimp matrix. For this purpose, minced and broth shrimp samples (control, 2% NaCl, 5% NaCl, 25 μL/mL lime, and 50 μL/mL lime, as well as 2% NaCl+25 μL/mL lime) were inoculated with approximately 107 CFU/g or ml of L. monocytogenes, and subsequently, the samples were stored at 12°C or 37°C. For the minced samples, the transcription of one stress‐related (sigB), two adhesion (imo1634 and imo1847), and four virulence (hly, prf, intA, and plc) genes was assessed by RT‐qPCR after different storage times (0 and 48 h). Results showed that the transcript levels of sigB, imo1847, and imo1634 genes increased with increasing storage temperatures of shrimp broth (12°C to 37°C). At the beginning, the transcription of the studied genes decreased in all treatments of minced shrimp; however, after 48 h of storage at 12°C, the transcript levels of hly, prf, imo1847, imo1634, and intA genes were significantly upregulated up to 0.5–9 log2 fold‐change in all treatments compared to the control group (p < .05). These results highlight that the survived L. monocytogenes after exposure to moderate salt content or lime juice could represent enhanced virulence and adhesion capabilities, posing a significant public health risk. Temperature plays a crucial role in the expression of adhesion and stress genes Effect of lime juice and NaCl on expression of stress, adhesion, and virulence genes