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Listeria monocytogenes Can Form Biofilms in Tap Water and Enter Into the Viable but Non-Cultivable State

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that can be transmitted through contaminated raw food or by ready-to-eat products that have been in contact with contaminated surfaces. Tap water (TW) is used to wash produce, as a processed food constituent and to wash processing surfaces and floors. The main aim of this work was to investigate the formation and survival of L. monocytogenes biofilms on stainless steel (SS) coupons in TW at 4, 22, 30 and 37 °C. For that, coupons with biofilm were visualised in situ while other coupons were scraped to quantify total cells by SYTO 9, cultivable numbers by plating onto brain heart infusion agar and viable numbers by the direct viable count method. Results showed that L. monocytogenes can form biofilms on SS surfaces in TW at any temperature, including at 4 °C. The number of total cells was similar for all the conditions tested while cultivable numbers varied between the level of detection (<8.3 CFU cm−2) and 3.5 × 105 CFU cm−2, meaning between 7.0 × 104 and 1.1 × 107 cells cm−2 have entered the viable but non-cultivable (VBNC) state. This work clearly demonstrates that L. monocytogenes can form biofilms in TW and that sessile cells can remain viable and cultivable in some conditions for at least the 48 h investigated. On the other hand, VBNC adaptation suggests that the pathogen can remain undetectable using traditional culture recovery techniques, which may give a false indication of processing surface hygiene status, leading to potential cross-contamination of food products.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ms. Sonia Porta and Dr. Jose Belenguer from ainia—Centro Tecnologico (Spain)—and Mrs. Nuria de la Fuente and Dr. Enrique Orihuel from Betelgeux, S. L. (Spain) for the technical advice. This work was supported by the European Commission within the Seventh Framework Programme, ‘BioliSME—Speedy system for sampling and detecting Listeria monocytogenes in agri-food and related European industries’, no. FP7-SME-232037. The author is solely responsible for the work. It does not represent the opinion of the community, and the community is not responsible for any use that might be made of data appearing therein.

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  1. Environmental Healthcare Unit, Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Life Sciences Building, Highfield Campus, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Maria S. Gião & Charles W. Keevil

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  1. Maria S. Gião
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  2. Charles W. Keevil
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Correspondence to Maria S. Gião.

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Gião, M.S., Keevil, C.W. Listeria monocytogenes Can Form Biofilms in Tap Water and Enter Into the Viable but Non-Cultivable State. Microb Ecol 67, 603–611 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-013-0364-3

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