Influence of planktonic and sessile Listeria monocytogenes on Caenorhabditis elegans
Influence of planktonic and sessile Listeria monocytogenes on Caenorhabditis elegans
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DOI：
10.1007/s00203-012-0841-y
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发表时间：
2013-01-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Cao, Min
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Guha, Sujay;Klees, Miranda;Cao, Min
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.
