Abstract
Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most important foodborne pathogens that may be present in food and in food processing environments. In the present study, 91 L. monocytogenes isolates of serogroup IVb from raw meat, ready-to-eat food and food production environments in Poland were characterized by whole genome sequencing (WGS). The strains were also compared, using core genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) analysis, with 186 genomes of L. monocytogenes recovered worldwide from food, environments, and from humans with listeriosis. The L. monocytogenes examined belonged to three MLST clonal complexes: CC1 (10; 11.0% isolates), CC2 (70; 76.9%), and CC6 (11; 12.1%). CC1 comprised of two STs (ST1 and ST515) which could be divided into five cgMLST, CC2 covered two STs (ST2 and ST145) with a total of 20 cgMLST types, whereas CC6 consisted of only one ST (ST6) classified as one cgMLST. WGS sequences of the tested strains revealed that they had several pathogenic markers making them potentially hazardous for public health. Molecular comparison of L. monocytogenes strains tested in the present study with those isolated from food and human listeriosis showed a relationship between the isolates from Poland, but not from other countries.
Highlights
CC1 comprised of two sequence types (STs), i.e., ST1 (9; 9.9% isolates) and ST515 (1; 1.1%), which could be divided into 5 core genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST)
L. monocytogenes isolated from RTE food (n = 62) belonged to 26 different cgMLST types, mainly to SL2-ST2-CT4325 and SL2-ST2-CT4380 (9 isolates of each; 14.5%)
All genome sequences of the L. monocytogenes isolates used in the present study were deposited in the BIGSdb-Lm database under the accession numbers 47065-47116 and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data analysis allows the molecular diversity, genetic relationships and identification of pathogenic, survival, and resistance markers of L. monocytogenes isolates from food and food production environments to be explored
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Listeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic foodborne pathogen responsible for invasive listeriosis, one of the most severe foodborne diseases with a high mortality rate [1]. The infection usually results from the consumption of contaminated food, especially ready-to-eat (RTE) foods of plant and animal origins [2,3]. According to a recent European Food Safety
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