Targeting motility of Listeria monocytogenes: Alternative strategies to control foodborne illness

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes, a gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacterium, demonstrates remarkable adaptability to various environmental stressors in food processing environments. It can survive and grow under extremely challenging environmental conditions such as low pH and temperatures, high salinity, and UV radiation. Its ability to generate biofilms at multiple stages of the food processing chain poses significant food safety issues. This bacterium is known for causing severe listeriosis, making it a major problem in microbiology and food safety. L. monocytogenes relies on motility to explore surfaces, attach, and build biofilms. It comprises actin-based motility, which is used for cell-to-cell propagation inside host tissues, and flagellar-driven motility, which assists in surface colonization and infection spread. Flagellar motility also plays an important function in increasing virulence throughout infection cycles. L. monocytogenes motility is regulated by a complex network of regulatory proteins that govern the expression of motility-associated genes. These proteins directly impact pathogenicity by influencing motility and biofilm formation, as well as an indirect impact via regulatory pathways. Efforts to control L. monocytogenes infections and decrease food safety impact include a variety of procedures. Natural compounds, synthetic agents, nanomaterials, and conjugates have emerged as intriguing options for inhibiting motility, disrupting biofilm formation, and reducing virulence. These strategies focus on vital elements of the L. monocytogenes life cycle and pathophysiology to improve food safety and public health. This review provides a comprehensive discussion of the regulatory mechanisms governing L. monocytogenes motility, emphasizing their role in pathogenicity, and explores potential strategies for attenuating the motility and virulence properties. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for developing targeted therapeutic approaches against L. monocytogenes infections and improving food safety practices.

Keywords: Antivirulence; Biofilm disruption; Listeria monocytogenes; Motility inhibition; Natural and synthetic compounds; Regulatory proteins.