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Resistance to essential oils affects survival of S almonella enterica serovars in growing and harvested basil
Author(s) -
Kisluk Guy,
Kalily Emmanuel,
Yaron Sima
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.12139
Subject(s) - biology , salmonella enterica , outbreak , sweet basil , serotype , ocimum , salmonella , food science , essential oil , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , bacteria , basilicum , virology , genetics
Summary The number of outbreaks of food‐borne illness associated with consumption of fresh products has increased. A recent and noteworthy outbreak occurred in 2007. Basil contaminated with S almonella enterica serovar S enftenberg was the source of this outbreak. Since basil produces high levels of antibacterial compounds the aim of this study was to investigate if the emerging outbreak reflects ecological changes that occurred as a result of development of resistance to ingredients of the basil oil. We irrigated basil plants with contaminated water containing two S almonella serovars, T yphimurium and S enftenberg, and showed that S almonella can survive on the basil plants for at least 100 days. S . S enftenberg counts in the phyllosphere were significantly higher than S . T yphimurium, moreover, S . S enftenberg was able to grow on stored harvested basil leaves. Susceptibility experiments demonstrated that S . S enftenberg is more resistant to basil oil and to its antimicrobial constituents: linalool, estragole and eugenol. This may indicate that S . S enftenberg had adapted to the basil environment by developing resistance to the basil oil. The emergence of resistant pathogens has a significant potential to change the ecology, and opens the way for pathogens to survive in new niches in the environment such as basil and other plants.