Attachment of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to Abiotic Surfaces of Cooking Utensils

Abstract

We examined the attachment of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 to abiotic surfaces of cooking utensils. When the cell suspension in 0.85% NaCl (about 100 cells/mL, 10 mL) was contacted with various abiotic surfaces (square pieces, 25 cm²) at 25 °C for 20 min, the number of attached cells varied depending on the types of abiotic materials. The pathogen well attached to stainless steel (about 50 cells/25 cm²), pure titanium (35 to 45 cells/25 cm²), and glass (about 20 cells/25 cm²), but little attached to aluminum foil and plastics, irrespective of strains used. Fewer cells (below 10 cells/25 cm²) attached to stainless steel, pure titanium, and glass surfaces conditioned with aseptically sliced beef (sirloin) and autoclaved beef tallow at 25 °C for 20 min, but bovine serum albumin did not reduce the number of attached cells. The cells grown at 15 °C to the stationary phase (OD660 = about 2.8) less attached to the abiotic surfaces than those grown at 25 °C and 37 °C. When we pretreated the cells at 37 °C for 2 h with 50 μM N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (HHL), the number of cells attached to stainless steel was reduced by 70%. The number of cells attached to cooking utensils seemed to change depending on types of abiotic materials, adhesion of beef tallow to abiotic surfaces, growth temperature of the pathogen, and HHL-producing bacteria.