Enhanced Surface Colonization by <i>Escherichia coli</i> O157:H7 in Biofilms Formed by an <i>Acinetobacter calcoaceticus</i> Isolate from Meat-Processing Environments

Abstract

A meat factory commensal bacterium, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, affected the spatial distribution of Escherichia coli O157:H7 surface colonization. The biovolume of E. coli O157:H7 was 400-fold higher (1.2 x 10(6) microm(3)) in a dynamic cocultured biofilm than in a monoculture (3.0 x 10(3) microm(3)), and E. coli O157:H7 colonized spaces between A. calcoaceticus cell clusters.