Affiliation:
1. Station de Recherches sur la Viande, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Theix, 63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Listeria monocytogenes
is a food-borne pathogen with the ability to grow under conditions of high osmolarity. In a previous study, we reported the identification of 12 proteins showing high induction after salt stress. One of these proteins is highly similar to the general stress protein Ctc of
Bacillus subtilis
. In this study, induction of Ctc after salt stress was confirmed at the transcriptional level by using RNA slot blot experiments. To explore the role of the
ctc
gene product in resistance to stresses, we constructed a
ctc
insertional mutant. No difference in growth was observed between the wild-type strain LO28 and the
ctc
mutant either in rich medium after osmotic or heat stress or in minimal medium after heat stress. However, in minimal medium after osmotic stress, the growth rate of the mutant was increased by a factor of 2. Moreover, electron microscopy analysis showed impaired morphology of the mutant grown under osmotic stress conditions in minimal medium. Addition of the osmoprotectant glycine betaine to the medium completely abolished the osmotic sensitivity phenotype of the
ctc
mutant. Altogether, these results suggest that the Ctc protein of
L. monocytogenes
is involved in osmotic stress tolerance in the absence of any osmoprotectant in the medium.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
52 articles.
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