Pectin and Xyloglucan Influence the Attachment of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes to Bacterial Cellulose-Derived Plant Cell Wall Models

Abstract

bMinimally processed fresh produce has been implicated as a major source of foodborne microbial pathogens globally. These pathogens must attach to the produce in order to be transmitted. Cut surfaces of produce that expose cell walls are particularly vulnerable. Little is known about the roles that different structural components (cellulose, pectin, and xyloglucan) of plant cell walls play in the attachment of foodborne bacterial pathogens. Using bacterial cellulose-derived plant cell wall models, we showed that the presence of pectin alone or xyloglucan alone affected the attachment of three Salmonella enterica strains (Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis ATCC 13076, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 14028, and Salmonella enterica subsp. indica M4) and Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644. In addition, we showed that this effect was modulated in the presence of both polysaccharides. Assays using pairwise combinations of S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028 and L. monocytogenes ATCC 7644 showed that bacterial attachment to all plant cell wall models was dependent on the characteristics of the individual bacterial strains and was not directly proportional to the initial concentration of the bacterial inoculum. This work showed that bacterial attachment was not determined directly by the plant cell wall model or bacterial physicochemical properties. We suggest that attachment of the Salmonella strains may be influenced by the effects of these polysaccharides on physical and structural properties of the plant cell wall model. Our findings improve the understanding of how Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes attach to plant cell walls, which may facilitate the development of better ways to prevent the attachment of these pathogens to such surfaces.A ccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 1.5 million cases of human salmonellosis are reported globally every year (1-3). Fresh produce is an important vehicle for the transmission of human pathogens and a major source of foodborne microbial outbreaks worldwide. While Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were historically linked to the majority of the outbreaks from food of animal origin, a number of Salmonella serovars have now been strongly linked to fresh produce (4-6).Pathogenic bacteria associated with fresh produce may establish themselves on plant surfaces and cause disease; therefore, the initial process of bacterial attachment is a crucial step in their transmission (7,8). A study by Saggers et al. (9) suggested that plant cell wall (PCW) components at the PCW junction, particularly pectin, may provide receptor sites for bacterial attachment. In addition to the structural components of the PCW, the physicochemical properties (such as hydrophobicity and charge) of both the attachment surface and the attaching bacteria influence bacterial adhesion. For example, it has been suggested that bacteria that exhibit greater surface hydrophobicity than other strains at...

Role of Fimbriae, Flagella and Cellulose on the Attachment of Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 14028 to Plant Cell Wall Models

“…Saggers et al [ 19 ] suggested that PCW components at the PCW junction, particularly pectin, may provide receptor sites for Salmonella attachment. Our previous findings [ 20 ] also showed that pectin alone and pectin in combination with xyloglucan both increased the attachment of Salmonella strains.…”

“…BC-based PCW models were produced as described in our previous paper [ 20 ]. Briefly, a primary inoculum of G .…”

Oligosaccharides and Complex Carbohydrates: A New Paradigm for Cranberry Bioactivity

“…Oligosaccharides from multiple dietary sources have anti-adhesion properties [192,193,201,202]. These include pectins, β-glucans, and xyloglucans with similar base structures as those of the cranberry oligosaccharides [77,[190][191][192][193]202,203]. General mechanisms for oligosaccharide anti-adhesion activity include [99,192,203]: (1) direct interactions with bacterial adhesion receptors through adhesin mimicry, (2) indirect effects on bacterial adhesins through interactions with other structural components of fimbriae or cell surfaces, or (3) non-specific aggregation with bacteria by non-covalent binding to bacterial surfaces.…”

“…Multiple compounds found in cranberry are known to have a variety of effects on different microbes. For example, organic acids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and complex carbohydrates are all known to have different effects on microbial growth, adhesion, and biofilm formation [3,7,99,193,[202][203][204][205]212,[294][295][296][297][298][299]. These effects would combine in different ways to influence overall microbiome profiles in vivo.…”

Colonisation of lettuce by Listeria Monocytogenes

“…Tan et al . () showed that pectin and xyloglucan, which are major structural components of the cell wall, help Listeria to attach to plant surfaces.…”