Affiliation:
1. 1Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30605
2. 2Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia 30223, USA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains produce extracellular cellulose and colanic acid, which may influence stress tolerance. This study investigates the role of these extracellular polymers on the tolerance of STEC to chlorine treatment after attachment to lettuce and spinach. Four STEC strains, two wild-type cellulose-producing and their cellulose-deficient derivatives, were used. One strain pair produced colanic acid in addition to cellulose. Spinach and lettuce with attached cells were treated with chlorinated water (50 and 150 ppm of free chlorine). The production of the extracellular polymers by the planktonic cells had small, but significant, effects on the survival of the attached pathogen when subjected to chlorine treatment. On the lettuce surface, the colanic acid–producing, cellulose-negative mutant (49d) was most susceptible to the treatment, declining significantly (P < 0.05) in population by 0.9 and 1.4 log units after treatment with 50 and 150 ppm of chlorine, respectively. Chlorine treatment reduced populations of cellulose-deficient cells on the intact spinach surface 1.2 log units more than the wild type when treated with 150 ppm of chlorine (P < 0.05). However, populations of cellulose-producing cells were reduced by 1.5 log units more than their mutant counterparts when the cells also produced colanic acid (P < 0.05). A greater proportion of cells attached to the spinach leaf edge were injured by chlorine treatment compared with attached to the leaf surface. These results indicate that extracellular polymers do not generally increase the ability of STEC to survive chlorine treatment and that any effects on survival are influenced by location of attachment, type of leafy green, and concentration of chlorine.
Publisher
International Association for Food Protection
Subject
Microbiology,Food Science
Cited by
14 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献