Recent Advances in the Study of the Genotypic Diversity and Ecology of Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular pathogen, is the causative agent of listeriosis, a serious epidemic and sporadic food-borne disease. The clinical manifestations of listeriosis include meningitis, meningoencephalitis, septicemia, spontaneous abortion, perinatal infections, and gastroenteritis. Although rare in comparison to other food-borne diseases, listeriosis has a high rate of lethality (about 30%), making L. monocytogenes an important pathogen. L. monocytogenes can survive in a broad range of ecological niches, including farm environments and food-processing plants and in a wide range of hosts, including humans and many species of mammals. Furthermore, the capacity to adapt and survive under extreme conditions allows this bacterium to exist ubiquitously in the environment and to survive and proliferate under conditions within the food supply. Although the study of L. monocytogenes has already been extensively reviewed, knowledge about this pathogen has been expanding rapidly. Against the background of the growing body of information on this bacterium, the present review mostly discusses advances made in the study of this pathogen over the last 5 years.