Abstract
A community-based sessile life style is the normal mode of growth and survival for many bacterial species. Under such conditions, cell-to-cell interactions are inevitable and ultimately lead to the establishment of dense, complex and highly structured biofilm populations encapsulated in a self-produced extracellular matrix and capable of coordinated and collective behavior. Remarkably, in food processing environments, a variety of different bacteria may attach to surfaces, survive, grow, and form biofilms. Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus are important bacterial pathogens commonly implicated in outbreaks of foodborne diseases, while all are known to be able to create biofilms on both abiotic and biotic surfaces. Particularly challenging is the attempt to understand the complexity of inter-bacterial interactions that can be encountered in such unwanted consortia, such as competitive and cooperative ones, together with their impact on the final outcome of these communities (e.g., maturation, physiology, antimicrobial resistance, virulence, dispersal). In this review, up-to-date data on both the intra- and inter-species interactions encountered in biofilms of these pathogens are presented. A better understanding of these interactions, both at molecular and biophysical levels, could lead to novel intervention strategies for controlling pathogenic biofilm formation in food processing environments and thus improve food safety.
Highlights
For many years it was believed that microorganisms inhabit the planet mainly in a planktonic form, as free-living cells, but it is widely accepted that most of them reside primarily in biofilms
The purpose of this article is to review the intra- and inter-species interactions shown to be encountered in biofilms of the following common foodborne bacterial pathogens: Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus and try to summarize—where possible—their underlying mechanisms, as well as their impact on the physiology and function of these communities
Intercellular Interactions in Biofilms of L. monocytogenes: Current Knowledge and Concepts for Future Research Listeria monocytogenes is considered as an environmental pathogen because it is capable of saprophytic life in the outside environment while maintaining the ability to invade and replicate within mammalian cells (Xayarath and Freitag, 2012)
Summary
For many years it was believed that microorganisms inhabit the planet mainly in a planktonic form, as free-living cells, but it is widely accepted that most of them reside primarily in biofilms. The purpose of this article is to review the intra- and inter-species interactions shown to be encountered in biofilms of the following common foodborne bacterial pathogens: Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus and try to summarize—where possible—their underlying mechanisms, as well as their impact on the physiology and function of these communities Many of these intercellular interactions are governed by cell surface structures (adhesins) and exopolymers that these pathogens carry/produce and are mainly responsible for their ability to bind to different surfaces (including cells) and/or compounds. Salmonella is able to produce (depending on the surrounding conditions) various cell surface structures (especially of proteinaceous and carbohydrate nature) that all may result in the efficient coaggregation of its own cells with each other, as well as with cells of other species, facilitating thereby the formation of either mono- or multispecies biofilm communities. Targeting the QS mechanisms may provide a promising strategy for combatting biofilms and their associated problems
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