Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments
Listeria monocytogenes is a serious human pathogen and an enduring challenge to control for the ready-to-eat food processing industry. Cost-effective tools that can be deployed by commercial or in-house laboratories to rapidly investigate and resolve contamination events in the built food processing...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Food Protection |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2306831X |
| _version_ | 1797674903661445120 |
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| author | Nicholas Andrews Evonne McCabe Patrick Wall James F. Buckley Séamus Fanning |
| author_facet | Nicholas Andrews Evonne McCabe Patrick Wall James F. Buckley Séamus Fanning |
| author_sort | Nicholas Andrews |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Listeria monocytogenes is a serious human pathogen and an enduring challenge to control for the ready-to-eat food processing industry. Cost-effective tools that can be deployed by commercial or in-house laboratories to rapidly investigate and resolve contamination events in the built food processing environment are of value to the food industry. Multilocus variable number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) is a molecular subtyping method, which along with other same-generation methods such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is being superseded in disease tracking and outbreak investigations by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). In this paper, it is demonstrated that MLVA can continue to play a valuable role as a valid, fast, simple, and cost-effective method to identify and track Listeria monocytogenes subtypes in factory environments, with the method being highly congruent with MLST. Although MLVA does not have the discriminatory power of WGS to identify truly persistent clones, with careful interpretation of results alongside isolate metadata, it remains a powerful tool in situations and locations where WGS may not be readily available to food business operators. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:06:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6dfad9b3c49e414ea470152c1990e03c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0362-028X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:06:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Food Protection |
| spelling | doaj.art-6dfad9b3c49e414ea470152c1990e03c2023-09-25T04:11:59ZengElsevierJournal of Food Protection0362-028X2023-10-018610100147Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing EnvironmentsNicholas Andrews0Evonne McCabe1Patrick Wall2James F. Buckley3Séamus Fanning4UCD-Centre for Food Safety, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin D04 N2E5, IrelandUCD-Centre for Food Safety, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin D04 N2E5, IrelandUCD-Centre for Food Safety, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin D04 N2E5, IrelandUCD-Centre for Food Safety, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin D04 N2E5, IrelandUCD-Centre for Food Safety, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin D04 N2E5, Ireland; Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast BT5 6AG, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.Listeria monocytogenes is a serious human pathogen and an enduring challenge to control for the ready-to-eat food processing industry. Cost-effective tools that can be deployed by commercial or in-house laboratories to rapidly investigate and resolve contamination events in the built food processing environment are of value to the food industry. Multilocus variable number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) is a molecular subtyping method, which along with other same-generation methods such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is being superseded in disease tracking and outbreak investigations by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). In this paper, it is demonstrated that MLVA can continue to play a valuable role as a valid, fast, simple, and cost-effective method to identify and track Listeria monocytogenes subtypes in factory environments, with the method being highly congruent with MLST. Although MLVA does not have the discriminatory power of WGS to identify truly persistent clones, with careful interpretation of results alongside isolate metadata, it remains a powerful tool in situations and locations where WGS may not be readily available to food business operators.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2306831XFactory environmental monitoringMLVAProblem-solvingSubtypingWGS |
| spellingShingle | Nicholas Andrews Evonne McCabe Patrick Wall James F. Buckley Séamus Fanning Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments Journal of Food Protection Factory environmental monitoring MLVA Problem-solving Subtyping WGS |
| title | Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments |
| title_full | Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments |
| title_fullStr | Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments |
| title_short | Validating the Utility of Multilocus Variable Number Tandem-repeat Analysis (MLVA) as a Subtyping Strategy to Monitor Listeria monocytogenes In-built Food Processing Environments |
| title_sort | validating the utility of multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis mlva as a subtyping strategy to monitor listeria monocytogenes in built food processing environments |
| topic | Factory environmental monitoring MLVA Problem-solving Subtyping WGS |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X2306831X |
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