title: Influence of planktonic and sessile Listeria monocytogenes on Caenorhabditis               elegans.
abstract: Listeria monocytogenes is the etiologic agent of listeriosis, a food-borne disease affecting humans and a variety of animals. In order to combat this pathogen, it is crucial to have an understanding of its natural interplay with the environment. For this reason, the free soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was focused upon because of its shared natural habitat with Listeria and its potential as a model organism for Listeria pathogenesis. Previous studies have generated some contradictory results on Listeria's ability to kill C. elegans, making additional interaction studies such as this more attractive. In our study, we carried out a series of killing assays in a systematic manner using different Listeria strains under different growth conditions. In addition to studying the effects of planktonic cells, we examined the interaction between C. elegans and sessile listerial cells. Our findings suggest that, rather than causing infection and death, L. monocytogenes may extend the life span of C. elegans. This indicates that Listeria is not pathogenic to C. elegans. We also found that C. elegans can feed and ingest sessile cells, as well as carry the pathogen in its gut, implying that C. elegans could be a vehicle for L. monocytogenes spread in the environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
authors.forename: Sujay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guha
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klees
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000382:microbiology*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000502:physiology*; D008136:Longevity; D016019:Survival Analysis