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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 1999, p. 2765-2769, Vol. 65, No. 6
Department of Life
Sciences1 and Department of Plant and
Soil Science,2 Alabama A&M University, Normal,
Alabama 35762, and Department of Food Science, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana 479073
Received 8 October 1998/Accepted 10 March 1999
Interaction of Listeria monocytogenes with mammalian
intestinal cells is believed to be an important first step in
Listeria pathogenesis. Transposon (Tn916)
mutagenesis provided strong evidence that a 104-kDa surface protein,
designated the Listeria adhesion protein (LAP), was
involved in adherence of L. monocytogenes to a human
enterocyte-like Caco-2 cell line (V. Pandiripally, D. Westbrook, G. Sunki, and A. Bhunia, J. Med. Microbiol. 48:117-124, 1999). In
this study, expression of LAP in L. monocytogenes at various growth temperatures (25, 37, and 42°C) and in various growth
phases was determined by performing an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and Western blotting with a specific monoclonal antibody (monoclonal antibody H7). The ELISA and Western blot results indicated that there was a significant increase in LAP expression over time only
at 37 and 42°C and that the level of LAP expression was low during
the exponential phase and high during the stationary phase. In
contrast, there were not significant differences in LAP expression between the exponential and stationary phases at 25°C. Examination of
the adhesion of L. monocytogenes cells from
exponential-phase (12-h) or stationary-phase (24-h) cultures grown at
37°C to Caco-2 cells revealed that there were not significant
differences in adhesion. Although expression of L. monocytogenes LAP was different at different growth temperatures
and in different growth phases, enhanced expression did not result in
increased adhesion, possibly because only a few LAP molecules were
sufficient to initiate binding to Caco-2 cells.
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Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Influence of Temperature and Growth Phase on
Expression of a 104-Kilodalton Listeria Adhesion Protein in
Listeria monocytogenes

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Food Science, 1160 Food Science Building, Purdue University, West
Lafayette, IN 47907-1160. Phone: (765) 494-5443. Fax: (765) 494-7953. E-mail: bhuniaa{at}foodsci.purdue.edu.
Present address: Pure Produce, Inc., Somis, CA 93066.
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