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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1517732
This article is part of the Research Topic Bacterial Persister Cells in the Food Industry View all 4 articles

Inter-and intra-species interactions between meat plant environmental bacteria and a non-biofilm forming Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain in co-culture biofilms

Provisionally accepted
Jeyachchandran Visvalingam Jeyachchandran Visvalingam Peipei Zhang Peipei Zhang Xianqin Yang Xianqin Yang *
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Ottawa, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study evaluated the impact of meat processing environmental bacteria (MPB) on biofilm formation by Escherichia coli O157:H7 in dual-species cultures. Biofilm development by 50 MPB and E. coli O157:H7 was assessed using crystal violet staining. Four MPB and E. coli O157:H7 combinations were evaluated further for viable cell numbers. A chlorinated alkaline agent and a quaternary ammonium-based agent were evaluated for their ability to remove biofilms. The E. coli O157:H7 strain was a non-biofilm former. In dual-species biofilms, if the companion MPB did not produce detectable biofilm, then the pairing did not produce measurable biofilms either. Interaction effect between MPB and E. coli O157: H7 was predominantly no-effect (neutral). Among four MPB isolates, only generic E. coli genotype 136 was able to reduce viable numbers of E. coli O157:H7 in dual-strain biofilm. Sequential treatment with cleaning and sanitizing treatment provided a better removal of biofilm than a single-agent treatment.

    Keywords: Escherichia coli, E. coli O157, Biofilm, meat processing environmental bacteria, Sanitation

    Received: 27 Oct 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Visvalingam, Zhang and Yang. 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: Xianqin Yang, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Ottawa, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.