Transcript Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria
monocytogenes
By Christine Dolin
Metabolism:
• Aerobic
• All I could find was that it’s a
“chemoorganotroph” which I’m guessing means
chemoheterotroph
Habitat
• Listeria monocytogenes resides in many birds
and in the intestinal tracts of humans, as well as
other mammals
• Forms colonies in blood
Basic Information
• Family: Listeriaceae,
order: bacillales
• Adaptations: uses
flagella to move
• Grows in short chains
Electron micrograph of a flagellated
Listeria monocytogenes bacterium,
Magnified 41,250X
• It rapidly divides in the cytoplasm of the
host cell, causes protrusions in the host cell
that enable the bacteria to travel to other
nearby cells
• Rod-shaped or coccoid
• Gram-positive
• Endotoxin
Impact on the Environment
• Listeria monocytogenes can infect food
and if consumed will cause meningitis,
encephalitis, or intrauterine infections
• It is especially an issue for pregnant
women, the elderly, or people with poor
immune systems
Wow Facts
• The Center for Disease Control estimates that
2,500 people will become seriously ill with
listerosis each year, and 500 of these people will
die from it
• Listeria monocytogenes is estimated to be
carried in the intestinal tract of 5-10% of the
human population without any disease
symptoms
• Can replicate at 4 degrees C, so it can replicate
even in refrigerated foods
• Mortality rate for infected people is 20-30%
Sources
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http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/05/31/6-types-of-very-common-toxic-bacteria-you-need-to-avoidand-where-theyre-typically-found.htm
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/foodborneillness/foodborneillnessfoodbornepathogensnaturaltoxins/b
adbugbook/ucm070064.htm
http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/Listeria.html
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/220684-overview
pathmicro.med.sc.edu/ghaffar/zoonoses.htm
http://xbase.bham.ac.uk/colibase/phenotype.pl?search=Facultative