Simple Evaluation of Listeria monocytogenes Pathogenesis Using Caenorhabditis elegans Animal Model

Abstract

<i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> is a major cause of serious foodborne illness in the dairy foods. Although <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> model is well established as a virulence model of pathogenic bacteria, its application on <i>L. monocytogenes</i> is critically unclear. The objective of this study was to carry out an evaluation of <i>L. monocytogenes</i> toxicity using <i>C. elegans</i> nematode as a simple host model. We found that <i>C. elegans</i> nematodes have high susceptibility to <i>L. monocytogenes</i> infection, as a consequence of accumulation of bacteria in the worms' intestine. However, <i>L. innocua</i>, which is known to be non-toxic, is not accumulate in the intestine of worms and is not toxic similarly to <i>Escherichia coli</i> OP50 known as the normal feed source of <i>C. elegans</i>. Importantly, immune-associated genes of <i>C. elegans</i> were intensely upregulated more than 3.0-fold when they exposed to <i>L. monocytogenes</i>. In conclusion, we established that <i>C. elegans</i> is an effective model for studying the toxicity of <i>L. monocytogenes</i> and we anticipate that this system will result in the discovery of many potential anti-listeria agents for dairy foods.