Xu Zhaohui S, Pham Vi D, Yang Xianqin, Gänzle Michael G
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe, AB, Canada.
Microbiome. 2025 Jan 27;13(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s40168-024-02026-1.
Microbial spoilage in meat impedes the development of sustainable food systems. However, our understanding of the origin of spoilage microbes is limited. Here, we describe a detailed longitudinal study that assesses the microbial dynamics in a meat processing facility using high-throughput culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches to reveal the diversity, dispersal, persistence, and biofilm formation of spoilage-associated microbes.
Culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches revealed a large diversity of microbes within the meat facility, including 74 undescribed bacterial taxa and multiple spoilage-associated microbes. Ten out of 10 reconstituted microbial communities formed biofilms, and the biofilm biomass was generally higher at 4 °C than at 25 °C. Isolates obtained at different sampling times or from different sampling sites that differed in fewer than 10 genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms were considered the same (persistent) strains. Strains of Carnobacterium maltaromaticum and Rahnella rivi persisted over a period of 6 months across sampling sites and time, stemming from floor drains in the cooler room. Meat isolates of Carnobacterium divergens, Rahnella inusitata, and Serratia proteamaculans originated from food contact and non-food contact environments of the packaging area.
Culture-dependent isolation, complemented by culture-independent analyses, is essential to fully uncover the microbial diversity in food processing facilities. Microbial populations permanently resided within the meat processing facility, serving as a source of transmission of spoilage microbes. The ability of these microbes to coexist and form biofilms facilitates their persistence. Our data together with prior data on persistence of Listeria monocytogenes indicates that microbial persistence in food processing facilities is the rule rather than an exception. Video Abstract.
肉类中的微生物腐败阻碍了可持续食品系统的发展。然而，我们对腐败微生物来源的了解有限。在此，我们描述了一项详细的纵向研究，该研究使用高通量培养依赖性和非培养依赖性方法评估肉类加工设施中的微生物动态，以揭示与腐败相关微生物的多样性、传播、持久性和生物膜形成。
培养依赖性和非培养依赖性方法揭示了肉类加工设施内存在大量微生物，包括74个未描述的细菌分类群和多种与腐败相关的微生物。10个重构的微生物群落中有10个形成了生物膜，且生物膜生物量在4℃时通常高于25℃。在不同采样时间或不同采样地点获得的、全基因组单核苷酸多态性差异少于10个的分离株被视为同一（持久）菌株。麦芽香肉杆菌和里氏拉恩菌的菌株在6个月的时间里在不同采样地点和时间持续存在，源自冷藏室的地漏。分歧肉杆菌、罕见拉恩菌和变形斑沙雷氏菌的肉类分离株源自包装区域的食品接触和非食品接触环境。
培养依赖性分离辅以非培养依赖性分析对于全面揭示食品加工设施中的微生物多样性至关重要。微生物种群长期存在于肉类加工设施内，是腐败微生物的传播源。这些微生物共存和形成生物膜的能力促进了它们的持久性。我们的数据以及先前关于单核细胞增生李斯特菌持久性的数据表明，微生物在食品加工设施中的持久性是常态而非例外。视频摘要。
