Listeria monocytogenes By Christine Dolin

Metabolism: Aerobic All I could find was that it’s a “chemoorganotroph” which I’m guessing means chemoheterotroph Listeria monocytogenes resides in many birds and in the intestinal tracts of humans, as well as other mammals Forms colonies in blood Habitat

Basic Information Family: Listeriaceae, order: bacillales Adaptations: uses flagella to move Grows in short chains Electron micrograph of a flagellated Listeria monocytogenes bacterium, Magnified 41,250X

It rapidly divides in the cytoplasm of the host cell, causes protrusions in the host cell that enable the bacteria to travel to other nearby cells Rod-shaped or coccoid Gram-positive Endotoxin

Impact on the Environment Listeria monocytogenes can infect food and if consumed will cause meningitis, encephalitis, or intrauterine infections It is especially an issue for pregnant women, the elderly, or people with poor immune systems

Wow Facts The Center for Disease Control estimates that 2,500 people will become seriously ill with listerosis each year, and 500 of these people will die from it Listeria monocytogenes is estimated to be carried in the intestinal tract of 5-10% of the human population without any disease symptoms Can replicate at 4 degrees C, so it can replicate even in refrigerated foods Mortality rate for infected people is 20-30%

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