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AUTOINDUCER‐2‐MEDIATED QUORUM SENSING IS NOT INVOLVED IN LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES ' ADAPTIVE RESPONSES TO THE FOOD PRESERVATIVES LACTIC ACID AND NISIN
Author(s) -
TUROVSKIY YEVGENIY,
ROSENBERG LINDA,
CHIKINDAS MICHAEL L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of food safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1745-4565
pISSN - 0149-6085
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4565.2007.00087.x
Subject(s) - quorum sensing , listeria monocytogenes , nisin , virulence , preservative , microbiology and biotechnology , food preservatives , bacteriocin , bacteria , lactic acid , food science , autoinducer , biology , chemistry , antimicrobial , biochemistry , genetics , gene
Recent reports indicate the presence of autoinducer‐2 (AI‐2)‐like activity in foods such as milk and tofu; it is unclear what effect this molecule may have on virulence and survivability of foodborne pathogens. Quorum sensing has been implicated in stress responses of certain bacteria, and in this study we investigated AI‐2‐mediated quorum sensing as one of the mechanisms through which the general stress response in Listeria monocytogenes could be triggered. In particular, the ability of L. monocytogenes to acquire resistance to the food preservatives nisin and lactic acid was examined. The cells were pre‐exposed to extracellular AI‐2 and then challenged with the specific stresses so the level of adaptation caused by the pre‐exposure could be assessed. Our data suggested that the resistance to the studied antimicrobials was not mediated through AI‐2‐dependent quorum sensing pathways. No evidence was found suggesting that quorum sensing in general was involved in L. monocytogenes response to stress.