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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioinform.
Sec. Genomic Analysis
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbinf.2025.1572241
Genomic analysis of Listeria monocytogenes strains from dairy products in Ethiopia
Provisionally accepted- 1 College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
- 2 Department of Biology, College of Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
- 3 College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Gondar, Gondor, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
- 4 School of Biomedical and Laboratory Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
This study explored virulence genes, antibiotic resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements in 14 Listeria monocytogenes strains from milk and dairy products collected from different regions of Ethiopia. The strains were classified into two MLST sequence types (ST2 and ST45) and further grouped into clonal complexes (CC2) and different cgMLST types. Twenty-nine virulence genes were identified across all 14 strains, with lplA1 detected at higher levels in all strains except SAMN28661660. All Listeria monocytogenes strains also carried four antibiotic resistance genes (fosX, lin, norB, mprF), contributing to their ability to withstand multiple antimicrobial agents.Notably, no plasmids or mobile genetic elements were detected. Stress resistance genes, including stress survival islet 1 (SSI1_lmo0447), lmo1800, and lmo1799, were identified in all strains.However, genes encoding for disinfectant resistance were not identified from all strains. LGI-2 was found in all the strains and none of the studied strains harbored LGI-1 and LGI-3. Conserved CRISPR-Cas systems in was found some strains. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that inlA and inlB genes facilitate bacterial internalization through host actin polymerization. Overall, the study provided crucial insights into the genomic features of Listeria monocytogenes in the Ethiopian dairy chain. It is crucial to establish continuous monitoring of Listeria monocytogenes in dairy products, improve sanitation, enforce stricter antibiotic usage and food safety regulations, and raise public awareness of associated risks.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance genes, Dairy Products, Listeria monocytogenes, mobile genetic elements, virulence genes
Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kinde, Kerisew, Gessese and Eshetu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mebrie Zemene Kinde, College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
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