The Virulence Factor LLO of Listeria monocytogenes Can Hamper Biofilm Formation and Indirectly Suppress Phage-Lytic Effect

Listeria monocytogenes is a life-threatening bacterial foodborne pathogen that can persist in food-processing facilities for years. Although phages can control L. monocytogenes during food production, phage-resistant bacterial subpopulations can regrow in phage-treated environments. In this study, an L. monocytogenes hly defective strain, NJ05-∆hly, was pro- duced, which considerably regulated the interactions between L. monocytogenes and phages. Specifically, we observed a 76.92-fold decrease...