Abstract
Escherichia coli and Salmonella Enteritidis are foodborne pathogens forming challenging biofilms that contribute to their virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and survival on surfaces. Interspecies interactions occur between species in mixed biofilms promoting different outcomes to each species. Here we describe the interactions between E. coli and S. Enteritidis strains, and their control using specific phages. Single-species biofilms presented more cells compared to dual-species biofilms. The spatial organization of strains, observed by confocal microscopy, revealed similar arrangements in both single- and dual-species biofilms. The EPS matrix composition, assessed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, disclosed that the spectra extracted from the different dual-species biofilms can either be a combination of both species EPS matrix components or that the EPS matrix of one species predominates. Phages damaged more the single-species biofilms than the mixed biofilms, showing also that the killing efficacy was greatly dependent on the phage growth characteristics, bacterial growth parameters, and bacterial spatial distribution in biofilms. This combination of methodologies provides new knowledge of species-species and phage-host interactions in biofilms of these two major foodborne pathogens.
Highlights
Escherichia coli and Salmonella Enteritidis are foodborne pathogens forming challenging biofilms that contribute to their virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and survival on surfaces
E. coli and Salmonella are two major foodborne pathogens frequently isolated from varied surfaces, such as hard-to-reach areas that are not cleaned regularly[4], soil[5,6], product washing waters[7], and food products[8]
E. coli and Salmonella form single-species biofilms, they coexist in multispecies communities on food processing surfaces or food products[11]
Summary
Escherichia coli and Salmonella Enteritidis are foodborne pathogens forming challenging biofilms that contribute to their virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and survival on surfaces. Phages damaged more the single-species biofilms than the mixed biofilms, showing that the killing efficacy was greatly dependent on the phage growth characteristics, bacterial growth parameters, and bacterial spatial distribution in biofilms This combination of methodologies provides new knowledge of species-species and phage-host interactions in biofilms of these two major foodborne pathogens. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these two species are responsible for millions of illnesses, 2,000 and 23,000 hospitalizations, and 60 and 450 deaths every year in the US alone, respectively[9] Both E. coli and Salmonella have been found in the form of biofilms attached to varied surfaces. Resistance to QAC was due to the EPS produced by Salmonella, which conferred protection to both species[4] The interaction between these two species in biofilms formed on HEp-2 cells showed that Salmonella biofilms outgrew and displaced pre-formed E. coli biofilms[13]. A specific strain of Salmonella unable to form biofilms utilized the curli proteins cross-seeded by E. coli to enhance its adherence to dual-species biofilms[14]
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