Hypervirulent clonal complex (CC) of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh produce from urban communities

Nirosha Ruwani Amarasekara; Amrita Subramanya Swamy; Sumit Kumar Paudel; Wentao Jiang; KaWang Li; Cangliang Shen; Yifan Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1307610

Hypervirulent clonal complex (CC) of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh produce from urban communities

Front Microbiol. 2024 Jan 29:15:1307610. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1307610. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Nirosha Ruwani Amarasekara¹, Amrita Subramanya Swamy¹, Sumit Kumar Paudel¹, Wentao Jiang², KaWang Li², Cangliang Shen², Yifan Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States.
² Davis College, Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and virulome of Listeria in fresh produce distributed in urban communities.

Methods: A total of 432 fresh produce samples were collected from farmer's markets in Michigan and West Virginia, USA, resulting in 109 pooled samples. Listeria spp. were isolated and L. monocytogenes was subjected to genoserogrouping by PCR and genotyping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and core-genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) were conducted for clonal identification.

Results: Forty-eight of 109 samples (44.0%) were contaminated with Listeria spp. L. monocytogenes serotype 1/2a and 4b were recovered from radishes, potatoes, and romaine lettuce. Four clonal complexes (CC) were identified and included hypervirulent CC1 (ST1) and CC4 (ST219) of lineage I as well as CC7 (ST7) and CC11 (ST451) of lineage II. Clones CC4 and CC7 were present in the same romaine lettuce sample. CC1 carried Listeria pathogenicity island LIPI-1 and LIPI-3 whereas CC4 contained LIPI-1, LIPI-3, and LIPI-4. CC7 and CC11 had LIPI-1 only.

Discussion: Due to previous implication in outbreaks, L. monocytogenes hypervirulent clones in fresh produce pose a public health concern in urban communities.

Keywords: Listeria; clonal complex; farmer’s market; fresh produce; hypervirulence.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of the article. The project was supported by the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture [Grant No. 2018-70001-28938].