title: Listeria monocytogenes serotype prevalence and biodiversity in diverse food products.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess serotype prevalence and biodiversity of Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from diverse food products, i.e., minced pork, fruits, and vegetables. Three hundred twenty-six samples previously purchased from supermarkets and street markets within the Athens area were studied for L. monocytogenes prevalence. A total of 121 strains were isolated from the 36 samples that were positive for L. monocytogenes. Serotyping was performed with multiplex PCR, and biodiversity was assessed with random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR analysis using M13, UBC155, and HLWL85 as primers and with repetitive element palindromic (rep) PCR analysis using (GTG)5 as the primer. The majority (17 of 22) of the contaminated minced pork samples contained strains identified as serotype 1/2a, either alone or in combination with strains belonging to serotypes 1/2b, 4a, 4c, or 4ab. However, all L. monocytogenes isolates from fruits and vegetables belonged to serotype 4b. Rep-PCR provided better differentiation of the isolates than did RAPD PCR and resulted in discrimination of the isolates into a larger number of unique profiles. Complete differentiation was achieved only with the combination of these subtyping techniques.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, GR-118 55 Athens, Greece. agni_xatz@aua.gr.
authors.forename: Agni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hadjilouka
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, GR-118 55 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Andritsos
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, GR-118 55 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Spiros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paramithiotis
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, GR-118 55 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mataragas
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, GR-118 55 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleftherios H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Drosinos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology*; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D065288:Serogroup; D012703:Serotyping; D013552:Swine; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial