TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of sublethal concentrations of benzalkonium chloride on the LuxS/AI-2 quorum sensing system, biofilm formation and motility of Escherichia coli
AU - Yu, Tao
AU - Ma, Muyuan
AU - Sun, Yaxi
AU - Xu, Xiaobo
AU - Qiu, Shuxing
AU - Yin, Junlei
AU - Chen, Leishan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province ( 202300410018 ) and the Key Project of Natural Science of the Education Department of Henan Province ( 20A180027 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/9/2
Y1 - 2021/9/2
N2 - Escherichia coli can survive improper disinfection processes, which is a potential source of contamination of food products. Benzalkonium chloride (BC) is a common disinfectant widely used in food industry. Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) plays a major role in food spoilage, biofilm formation and food-related pathogenesis. Understanding QS can help to control the growth of undesirable food-related bacteria. The LuxS/AI-2 QS system of E. coli has been confirmed to regulate many important phenotypes including biofilm formation and motility. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of sublethal concentrations of BC on the LuxS/AI-2 system of E. coli isolates from retail meat samples, as well as bacterial biofilm formation and motility. Our results showed that sublethal concentrations of BC promoted AI-2 production in four test E. coli isolates. The results from microplate assay and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analysis indicated that sublethal concentrations of BC enhanced biofilm formation of E. coli. When treated with sublethal concentrations of BC, exopolysaccharides (EPS) production during biofilm development increased significantly and swimming motility of tested isolates was also promoted. The expression levels of luxS, biofilm-associated genes and flagellar motility genes were increased by BC at sublethal concentrations. Our findings underline the importance of proper use of the disinfectant BC in food processing environments to control food contamination by E. coli.
AB - Escherichia coli can survive improper disinfection processes, which is a potential source of contamination of food products. Benzalkonium chloride (BC) is a common disinfectant widely used in food industry. Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) plays a major role in food spoilage, biofilm formation and food-related pathogenesis. Understanding QS can help to control the growth of undesirable food-related bacteria. The LuxS/AI-2 QS system of E. coli has been confirmed to regulate many important phenotypes including biofilm formation and motility. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of sublethal concentrations of BC on the LuxS/AI-2 system of E. coli isolates from retail meat samples, as well as bacterial biofilm formation and motility. Our results showed that sublethal concentrations of BC promoted AI-2 production in four test E. coli isolates. The results from microplate assay and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analysis indicated that sublethal concentrations of BC enhanced biofilm formation of E. coli. When treated with sublethal concentrations of BC, exopolysaccharides (EPS) production during biofilm development increased significantly and swimming motility of tested isolates was also promoted. The expression levels of luxS, biofilm-associated genes and flagellar motility genes were increased by BC at sublethal concentrations. Our findings underline the importance of proper use of the disinfectant BC in food processing environments to control food contamination by E. coli.
KW - Benzalkonium chloride
KW - Biofilm formation
KW - Escherichia coli
KW - LuxS/AI-2
KW - Quorum sensing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108406121&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109313
DO - 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109313
M3 - Article
C2 - 34175578
AN - SCOPUS:85108406121
SN - 0168-1605
VL - 353
JO - International Journal of Food Microbiology
JF - International Journal of Food Microbiology
M1 - 109313
ER -