Shuyan Wu

Citation

Thesis Title
Persistence of Listeria monocytogenes in response to a natural antimicrobial, nisin

Read article at Massey Research Online:

The persistence of Listeria monocytogenes can be defined by its prolonged existence in food environments, and the surviving minority, known as persister cells, poses a risk to food safety. Persisters could switch back to a growing state in a stress free environment as susceptible as their parental strain. Ms Wu investigated persister formation Listeria monocytogenes under lethal nisin (which is the most widely used biopreservative) from an in vitro study, and found that the environmental nutrition may be associated with a stochastic change, which could define the size or composition of the persistent group during survival. She obtained an adequate number of persister cells without losing their dormant properties. Beyond the general idea of dormancy, she provided the genetic regulation evidence on how persister cells survive the action of lethal nisin and suggested molecular routes of impeding/controlling the listeria persistence.

Supervisors
Professor Steve Flint
Associate Professor Pak Yu