Variations in the motility and biofilm formation abilities of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during noodle processing

Xiaohua He; Heer Ding; Zenghui Gao; Xiaofeng Zhang; Rong Wu; Ke Li

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112670

Variations in the motility and biofilm formation abilities of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during noodle processing

Food Res Int. 2023 Jun:168:112670. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112670. Epub 2023 Mar 9.

Authors

Xiaohua He¹, Heer Ding², Zenghui Gao², Xiaofeng Zhang³, Rong Wu⁴, Ke Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
² College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
³ Zhejiang Academy of Science & Technology for Inspection & Quarantine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310016, China.
⁴ Hangzhou Customs, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310016, China.
⁵ Zhejiang Academy of Science & Technology for Inspection & Quarantine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310016, China. Electronic address: lk@zaiq.org.cn.

PMID: 37120241
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112670

Abstract

Motility and biofilm formation help to protect bacteria from host immune responses and facilitate tolerance of environmental stimuli to improve their adaptability. However, few reports have investigated the adaptability of bacteria that live in food substrates undergoing food processing-induced stress. In this study, variations in the surface morphology, bacterial count, motility, and biofilm formation abilities of Escherichia coli O157:H7 NCTC12900 were investigated during noodle processing, including the kneading, squeezing, resting, and sheeting phases. The results showed that bacterial surface morphology, count, and motility were impaired in the squeezing phase, whereas biofilm biomass continuously increased across all processing phases. Twenty-one genes and sRNAs were measured using RT-qPCR to reveal the mechanisms underlying these changes. Of these, the genes adrA, csrA, flgM, flhD, fliM, ydaM, and the sRNA McaS were significantly upregulated, whereas the genes fliA, fliG, and the sRNAs CsrC, DsrA, GcvB, and OxyS were evidently repressed. According to the correlation matrix results based on the reference gene adrA, we found that csrA, GcvB, McaS, and OxyS were the most relevant genes and sRNAs for biofilm formation and motility. For each of them, their overexpressions was found to inhibit bacterial motility and biofilm formation to varying degrees during noodle processing. Among these, 12900/pcsrA had the highest inhibitory potential against motility, yielding a minimum of 11.2 mm motility diameter in the resting phase. Furthermore, 12900/pOxyS showed the most significant inhibitory effect against biofilm formation, yielding a minimum biofilm formation value of 5% of that exhibited the wild strain in the sheeting phase. Therefore, we prospect to find an effective and feasible novel approach to weaken bacterial survival during food processing by regulating the genes or sRNAs related to motility and biofilm formation.

Keywords: Biofilm; Escherichia coli O157:H7; Motility; Noodle processing; Overexpression; Small RNA.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biofilms
Escherichia coli O157*
Escherichia coli Proteins* / metabolism
Food Handling
RNA-Binding Proteins / pharmacology
Repressor Proteins / pharmacology

Substances

CsrA protein, E coli
Repressor Proteins
RNA-Binding Proteins
Escherichia coli Proteins