Pathogenic bacteria of the genus Campylobacter and Listeria are foodborne bacteria capable of adhering to various inert surfaces used in industry, which is the first stage of biofilm formation. The biofilm protects the cells from adverse conditions and allows them to survive and remain in the food chain, where cross-contamination and transmission to the next host can occur. The World Health Organization reports an increase in campylobacteriosis and listeriosis as a result of consumption of inadequately processed contaminated meat, milk or water. In the Master thesis, we investigated the adhesion of Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria innocua on: (i) abiotic model surfaces of polystyrene found in food crops, (ii) biotic model surfaces of mucin, fibronectin and collagen found in the human digestive tract. We also investigated the modulation of adhesion to biotic and abiotic surfaces after addition of 10 fungal lectins. The results showed a different/specific ability of adhesion between Campylobacter and Listeria, and a greater ability of adhesion on biotic surfaces. Thus, the lectins Tectonin2 (C. jejuni) and ABL (L. monocytogenes in L. innocua) represent effective agents of natural origin that allow the development of new control strategies against pathogenic bacteria by reducing/preventing adhesion.
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