Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of Phage-Resistant <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> Serotype 1/2a Strains from Turkey Processing Plants

oleh: Phillip Brown, Yi Chen, Cameron Parsons, Eric Brown, Martin J. Loessner, Yang Shen, Sophia Kathariou

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-02-01

Deskripsi

<i>Listeria</i> monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen and the causative agent of listeriosis, a severe foodborne infection. <i>L. monocytogenes</i> is notorious for its ability to persist in food processing environments (FPEs) via a variety of adaptive traits. Even though traits such as cold tolerance, biofilm formation and sanitizer resistance have been extensively investigated for their roles in persistence of <i>L. monocytogenes</i> in FPEs, much less is known about resistance to bacteriophages. Previous studies explored phage resistance mechanisms in laboratory-created mutants but it is imperative to investigate phage resistance that is naturally exhibited in FPE-derived strains. Here, we integrated the analysis of whole genome sequence data from a panel of serotype 1/2a strains of sequence types 321 and 391 from turkey processing plants, with the determination of cell surface substituents required for phage adsorption and phage infection assays with the four wide-host-range phages A511, P100, 20422-1 and 805405-1. Using a specific set of recombinant phage protein probes, we discovered that phage-resistant strains lacked one or both of the serogroup 1/2-specific wall teichoic acid carbohydrate decorations, <i>N</i>-acetylglucosamine and rhamnose. Furthermore, these phage-resistant strains harbored substitutions in <i>lmo1080</i>, <i>lmo1081</i>, and <i>lmo2550</i>, which mediate carbohydrate decoration of the wall teichoic acids.