Genomic characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from ready-to-eat meat and meat processing environments in Poland

Monika Kurpas (1) , Jacek Osek (1) , Alexandra Moura (2) , Alexandre Leclercq (2) , Marc Lecuit (2, 3) , Kinga A. Wieczorek (1)

1 NVRI - National Veterinary Research Institute [Pulawy, Pologne]
2 Biologie des Infections - Biology of Infection
3 Service des Maladies infectieuses et tropicales [CHU Necker]

Listeria monocytogenes is one of the major foodborne pathogens. Isolates of PCR-serogroups IIb (n = 17) and IVb (n = 31) recovered from food (n = 33) and food processing environment (n = 15) in Poland were characterized using whole genome sequencing. Most isolates belonged to Multi-Locus Sequence Type (MLST) ST2 (31.3%) and ST5 (22.9%). Core genome MLST (cgMLST) analysis classified isolates into 7 sublineages (SL) and 25 different cgMLST types (CT). Consistent with the MLST results, most sublineages were SL2 and SL5. Eleven isolates harboured aacA4 encoding resistance to aminoglycosides, 3 isolates harboured emrC (n = 3) and one brcABC (n = 1) encoding tolerance to benzalkonium chloride. Isolates belonging to SL5 CT2323 carried a so far unreported inlB allele with a deletion of 141 nucleotides encoding the β-repeat sheet and partially the GW1 domain of InlB. Comparison with publicly available genome sequences from L. monocytogenes isolated from human listeriosis cases in Poland from 2004 to 2013 revealed 5 common CTs, suggesting a possible epidemiological link with these strains. The present study contributes to characterize the diversity of L. monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and meat processing environments in Poland and unravels previously unnoticed links with clinical cases in Europe.

Mots clés: WGS; Listeria monocytogenes; Food; Meat; cgMLST

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Monika Kurpas, Jacek Osek, Alexandra Moura, Alexandre Leclercq, Marc Lecuit, et al.. Genomic characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from ready-to-eat meat and meat processing environments in Poland. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020, 11, pp.1412. ⟨10.3389/fmicb.2020.01412⟩. ⟨pasteur-02863609⟩