The presence of virulence-related genes among Listeria Monocytogenes strains and their correlation with pathogenic potential

Brankica Lakićević; Branko Velebit; Vesna V. Janković; Radmila Mitrović; Lazar Milojević; Dunja Mišić; Boris Mrdović

doi:10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.58

Brankica Lakićević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0175-5830
Branko Velebit Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7577-8074
Vesna V. Janković Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0095-1498
Radmila Mitrović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2912-2784
Lazar Milojević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6901-6033
Dunja Mišić Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2213-2612
Boris Mrdović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9964-4317

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.58

Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes, virulence factors, pathogenicity islands, listeriosis

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes remains a significant public health concern due to its high mortality rate in susceptible individuals. Contaminated food, particularly ready-to-eat products, are the primary route of transmission to humans. Previous studies have shown that L. monocytogenes exhibits heterogeneous virulence, with strains ranging from hypervirulent to hypovirulent. L. monocytogenes has been found to have pathogenicity islands and other virulence factors scattered across the bacterial genome (e.g. inlAB locus). Further, the inlA-inlB locus and LIPI-1 are conserved in almost all L. monocytogenes isolates, emphasizing their important role for pathogenicity. Literature data showed that using genetic virulence profiles to predict virulence potential offers useful information for risk assessment in the food sector, although it also has drawbacks. Also, the use of whole-genome sequencing as the gold standard approach, enhances quantitative microbiological risk assessment and improve listeriosis control.