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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2009, p. 2433-2438, Vol. 75, No. 8
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02480-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Temperature-Dependent Phage Resistance of Listeria monocytogenes Epidemic Clone II{triangledown}

Jae-Won Kim{dagger} and Sophia Kathariou*

North Carolina State University, Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7624

Received 29 October 2008/ Accepted 16 February 2009

Listeria monocytogenes epidemic clone II (ECII) has been responsible for two multistate outbreaks in the United States in 1998-1999 and in 2002, in which contaminated ready-to-eat meat products (hot dogs and turkey deli meats, respectively) were implicated. However, ecological adaptations of ECII strains in the food-processing plant environment remain unidentified. In this study, we found that broad-host-range phages, including phages isolated from the processing plant environment, produced plaques on ECII strains grown at 37°C but not when the bacteria were grown at lower temperatures (30°C or below). ECII strains grown at lower temperatures were resistant to phage regardless of the temperature during infection and subsequent incubation. In contrast, the phage susceptibility of all other tested strains of serotype 4b (including epidemic clone I) and of strains of other serotypes and Listeria species was independent of the growth temperature of the bacteria. This temperature-dependent phage susceptibility of ECII bacteria was consistently observed with all surveyed ECII strains from outbreaks or from processing plants, regardless of the presence or absence of cadmium resistance plasmids. Phages adsorbed similarly on ECII bacteria grown at 25°C and at 37°C, suggesting that resistance of ECII strains grown at 25°C was not due to failure of the phage to adsorb. Even though the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated, temperature-dependent phage resistance may represent an important ecological adaptation of L. monocytogenes ECII in processed, cold-stored foods and in the processing plant environment, where relatively low temperatures prevail.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7624. Phone: (919) 513-2075. Fax: (919) 513-0014. E-mail: skathar{at}ncsu.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 27 February 2009.

{dagger} Present address: Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2009, p. 2433-2438, Vol. 75, No. 8
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02480-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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