This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vihavainen, E.
Right arrow Articles by Björkroth, K. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vihavainen, E.
Right arrow Articles by Björkroth, K. J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Vihavainen, E.
Right arrow Articles by Björkroth, K. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2007, p. 1136-1145, Vol. 73, No. 4
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01644-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of Broiler Carcasses and Processing Plant Air in Contamination of Modified-Atmosphere-Packaged Broiler Products with Psychrotrophic Lactic Acid Bacteria{triangledown}

Elina Vihavainen,1* Hanna-Saara Lundström,1 Tuija Susiluoto,1 Joanna Koort,1 Lars Paulin,2 Petri Auvinen,3 and K. Johanna Björkroth1

Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene,1 DNA Sequencing Laboratory,2 DNA Microarray Laboratory, Institute of Biotechnology, P.O. Box 56, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland3

Received 14 July 2006/ Accepted 18 November 2006

Some psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are specific meat spoilage organisms in modified-atmosphere-packaged (MAP), cold-stored meat products. To determine if incoming broilers or the production plant environment is a source of spoilage LAB, a total of 86, 122, and 447 LAB isolates from broiler carcasses, production plant air, and MAP broiler products, respectively, were characterized using a library of HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of the 16 and 23S rRNA genes as operational taxonomic units in numerical analyses. Six hundred thirteen LAB isolates from the total of 655 clustered in 29 groups considered to be species specific. Sixty-four percent of product isolates clustered either with Carnobacterium divergens or with Carnobacterium maltaromaticum type strains. The third major product-associated cluster (17% of isolates) was formed by unknown LAB. Representative strains from these three clusters were analyzed for the phylogeny of their 16S rRNA genes. This analysis verified that the two largest RFLP clusters consisted of carnobacteria and showed that the unknown LAB group consisted of Lactococcus spp. No product-associated LAB were detected in broiler carcasses sampled at the beginning of slaughter, whereas carnobacteria and lactococci, along with some other specific meat spoilage LAB, were recovered from processing plant air at many sites. This study reveals that incoming broiler chickens are not major sources of psychrotrophic spoilage LAB, whereas the detection of these organisms from the air of the processing environment highlights the role of processing facilities as sources of LAB contamination.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, P.O. Box 66, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Phone: 358-9-19157118. Fax: 358-9-19157101. E-mail: elina.vihavainen{at}helsinki.fi.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 December 2006.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2007, p. 1136-1145, Vol. 73, No. 4
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01644-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Pitkala, A., Koort, J., Bjorkroth, J. (2008). Identification and Antimicrobial Resistance of Streptococcus uberis and Streptococcus parauberis Isolated from Bovine Milk Samples. J DAIRY SCI 91: 4075-4081 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»