Large-scale phenotypic and genomic analysis of Listeria monocytogenes reveals diversity in the sensitivity to quaternary ammonium compounds but not to peracetic acid

Ivanova, Mirena (author), Kragh, Martin Laage (author), Szarvas, Judit (author), Tosun, Elif Seyda (author), Holmud, Natacha Friis (author), Gmeiner, Alexander (author), Amar, Corinne (author), Guldimann, Claudia (author), Zdovc, Irena (author), Papić, Bojan (author)

Listeria monocytogenes presents a significant concern for the food industry due to its ability to persist in the food processing environment. One of the factors contributing to its persistence is decreased sensitivity to disinfectants. Our objective was to assess the diversity of L. monocytogenes sensitivity to food industry disinfectants by testing the response of 1,671 L. monocytogenes isolates to quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) and 414 isolates to peracetic acid (PAA) using broth microdilution and growth curve analysis assays, respectively, and to categorize the isolates into sensitive and tolerant. A high phenotype-genotype concordance (95%) regarding tolerance to QACs was obtained by screening the genomes for the presence of QACtolerance-associated genes bcrABC, emrE, emrC, and qacH. Based on this high concordance, we assessed the QAC genes’ dissemination among publicly available L. monocytogenes genomes (n = 39,196). Overall, QAC genes were found in 23% and 28% of the L. monocytogenes collection in this study and in the global data set, respectively. bcrABC and qacH were the most prevalent genes, with bcrABC being the most detected QACgene in the USA, while qacH dominated in Europe. No significant differences (P > 0.05) in the PAA tolerance were detected among isolates belonging to different lineages, serogroups, clonal complexes, or isolation sources, highlighting limited variation in the L. monocytogenes sensitivity to this disinfectant. The present work represents the largest testing of L. monocytogenes sensitivity to important food industry disinfectants at thephenotypic and genomic level, revealing diversity in the tolerance to QACs while all isolates showed similar sensitivity to PAA.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes, food industry, disinfectants, quaternary ammonium compounds, peracetic acid
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: VF - Veterinary Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 24 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 91, iss. 4, art. e01829-24
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-169042
• UDC: 579
• ISSN on article: 1098-5336
• DOI: 10.1128/aem.01829-24
• COBISS.SI-ID: 234778627
• Publication date in RUL: 08.05.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Applied and environmental microbiology
• Shortened title: Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• ISSN: 1098-5336
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2926612

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes, živilska industrija, razkužila, kvarterne amonijeve spojine, perocetna kislina