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Multipathogen detection on a single-assay platform not only reduces the cost for testing but also provides data on the presence of pathogens in a single experiment. To achieve this detection, a multipathogen selective enrichment medium is essential to allow the concurrent growth of pathogens. SEL broth was formulated to allow the simultaneous growth of Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes. The results were compared to those obtained with the respective individual selective enrichment broths, RappaportVassiliadis (RV) for S. enterica, modified E. coli broth with 20 mg of novobiocin/liter for E. coli O157:H7, and Fraser broth for L. monocytogenes, and a currently used universal preenrichment broth (UPB). The growth of each pathogen in SEL inoculated at 10 1 or 10 3 CFU/ml was superior to that in the respective individual enrichment broth, except in the case of RV, in which Salmonella cells inoculated at both concentrations grew equally well. In mixed-culture experiments with cells of the three species present in equal concentrations or at a 1:10:1,000 ratio, the overall growth was proportional to the initial inoculation levels; however, the growth of L. monocytogenes was markedly suppressed when cells of this species were present at lower concentrations than those of the other two species. Further, SEL was able to resuscitate acid-and cold-stressed cells, and recovery was comparable to that in nonselective tryptic soy broth containing 6% yeast extract but superior to that in the respective individual selective broths. SEL promoted the growth of all three pathogens in a mixture in ready-to-eat salami and in turkey meat samples. Moreover, each pathogen was readily detected by a pathogen-specific immunochromatographic lateral-flow or multiplex PCR assay. Even though the growth of each pathogen in SEL was comparable to that in UPB, SEL inhibited greater numbers of nontarget organisms than did UPB. In summary, SEL was demonstrated to be a promising new multiplex selective enrichment broth for the detection of the three most prominent food-borne pathogens by antibody-or nucleic acid-based methods.

BackgroundListeria adhesion protein (Lap), an alcohol acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (lmo1634) promotes bacterial paracellular translocation through epithelial cell junctions during gastrointestinal phase of infection. Secreted Lap is critical for pathogenesis and is mediated by SecA2 system; however, if strain dependent variation in Lap secretion would affect L. monocytogenes paracellular translocation through epithelial barrier is unknown.MethodsAmounts of Lap secretion were examined in clinical isolates of L. monocytogenes by cell fractionation analysis using Western blot. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to verify protein expression profiles. Adhesion and invasion of isolates were analyzed by in vitro Caco-2 cell culture model and paracellular translocation was determined using a trans-well model pre-seeded with Caco-2 cells.ResultsWestern blot revealed that expression of Lap in whole cell preparation of isolates was very similar; however, cell fractionation analysis indicated variable Lap secretion among isolates. The strains showing high Lap secretion in supernatant exhibited significantly higher adhesion (3.4 - 4.8% vs 1.5 - 2.3%, P < 0.05), invasion and paracellular translocation in Caco-2 cells than the low secreting isolates. In cell wall fraction, Lap level was mostly uniform for both groups, while Lap accumulated in cytosol in low secreting strains indicating that Lap distribution in cellular compartments is a strain-dependent phenomenon, which may be controlled by the protein transport system, SecA2. ΔsecA2 mutants showed significantly reduced paracellular translocation through epithelial barrier (0.48 ± 0.01 vs 0.24 ± 0.02, P < 0.05). qRT-PCR did not show any discernible variation in lap transcript levels in either high or low secreting isolates.ConclusionThis study revealed that secreted Lap is an important determinant in Lap-mediated L. monocytogenes translocation through paracellular route and may serve as an indicator for pathogenic potential of an isolate.

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