The Influence of the Recovery Medium and the Incubation Temperature on the Survival of Damaged Bacteria

Modelling the influence of the incubation temperature upon the estimated heat resistance of heated bacillus spores

AIMS

In this study, the influence of the incubation temperature on the D-values was described according to a simple Bigelow-like model.

METHODS

Model parameters were estimated from different sets of data from the literature and from our own data. For different Bacillus species and heat-treatment conditions, the influence of the recovery temperature was quantified and the optimal recovery temperature was determined.

RESULTS

The impacts of species, bacterial strains belonging to the same species, heat-treatment temperature and composition of recovery media on the model parameters were analysed. The optimum recovery temperatures differ greatly from one species to another; however, no difference appears clearly between strains belonging to the same species. D values were significantly affected by recovery temperature. This influence of recovery temperature was dependent on the species, and affected by the composition of recovery media but not by the heating temperature.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The developed model could be useful for determining the optimal incubation temperature and quantifying the weight of the recovery temperature influence for safe security control in the canning industry.

Comparison of two commercial preparations of buffered peptone water for the recovery and growth of Salmonella bacteria from foods

This study compared the performance of two commercial preparations of buffered peptone water. Performance was assessed in terms of ability to resuscitate and recover low numbers of stressed cells, buffering capacity, growth of Salmonella bacteria in pure culture and growth of Salmonella in food pre-enrichments. Although both the preparations of BPW had similar chemical compositions, differences in their recovery performance were found. Brand A recovered significantly higher numbers of heat-injured Salmonella (mean = 0.57 log10 cfu ml(-1) difference) in pure culture compared with brand B when dealing with very low inoculum levels. Although brand B had higher buffering capacity, the pH at the end of the pre-enrichment was found to be similar in both media, even in foods such as milk powder which showed the greatest decline in pH. Both brands were comparable in their ability to grow unstressed Salmonella from different food types. In unstressed cell studies, similar cell numbers were recovered at the end of a 24 h incubation period from both media, although brand B yielded a higher biomass. In the food study with unstressed cells, performance was related more to the food type and the likely association between this and the level and type of competitor organisms present, rather than to the brand of medium used.

Development of a simple recovery-enrichment system for enhanced detection of heat-injured Listeria monocytogenes in pasteurized milk

A simple anaerobic recovery-enrichment system, semisolid Penn State University (ssPSU) broth, that enhances recovery of heat-injured Listeria monocytogenes, was rapidly achieved in 10-ml screw-capped tubes by adding Bacto-agar (2.5 g/liter) and L-cysteine (0.5 g/liter) to Penn State University broth. Glucose was removed from the formulation for ssPSU broth to prevent the growth of thermoduric lactobacilli. Ferric ammonium citrate was added to ssPSU broth to detect esculin hydrolysis and to indicate the presumptive presence of L. monocytogenes. Replacement of phosphate buffer with 3-[N-morpholino]propanesulfonic acid (MOPS) buffer and addition of magnesium sulfate (15 mM) enhanced recovery and detection of L. monocytogenes heat treated at 62.8 degrees C for 20 min. D-Serine, at a concentration of 150 mM, was found to inhibit germination of Bacillus spp. spores but did not inhibit severely heat-injured L. monocytogenes. Finally, ssPSU broth was modified (to mPSU broth) to contain the following: (i) Bacto-agar, 2.5 g/liter; (ii) ferric ammonium citrate, 0.5 g/liter; (iii) MOPS buffer, pH 7.0; (iv) D-serine, 13.7 g/liter; (v) D-alanine, 11.6 g/liter; and (iv) magnesium sulfate, 1.81 g/liter. Incubation temperature significantly affected the recovery and detection of severely heat-injured L. monocytogenes. L. monocytogenes that were heat challenged in filter-sterilized whole milk at 62.8 degrees C for 20, 25, and 30 min could not be detected at incubation temperatures > or = 30 degrees C but were consistently detected after incubation at 25 degrees C for 174, 199, and 330 h, respectively. Heat-injured cells of L. monocytogenes that were added to various commercial brands of pasteurized whole milk were also detected using mPSU broth. When clostridial spores (10(4) spores per ml) were added to filter-sterilized milk containing either heat-injured or non-heat-injured L. monocytogenes, only the latter could be detected in mPSU broth. The mPSU broth system requires no purging with nitrogen gas to create anaerobic conditions and permits recovery, growth, and detection of L. monocytogenes in one vessel in the presence of thermoduric background microflora commonly found in pasteurized milk.

Factors influencing a suspension test method for antimicrobial activity of disinfectants

Factors influencing the numbers of Escherichia coli DSM 682 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 surviving exposure to disinfectants were evaluated by factorial design. Aerobic conditions during pre-cultivation rendered E. coli more resistant to the lethal activity of benzalkonium chloride (BC) and a disinfectant containing grape fruit extract (GSE), whereas Staph. aureus became more sensitive. The degree of shaking and the pre-growth medium (tryptone soy broth or Mueller-Hinton broth) did not influence the result of the bactericidal test. The number of E. coli surviving BC treatment was significantly lower if the neutralizing broth contained thiosulphate, plate pouring was used instead of plate spreading, or the plates were incubated at 37 instead of 30 degrees C. The negative effect of plate pouring was also found with Staph. aureus. The use of filtration without prior neutralization of the disinfectant decreased the numbers of chlorine-treated, but not BC-treated, E. coli. The results showed that rigorous standardization is necessary to obtain good reproducibility of bactericidal suspension tests.

RHYTHMIC RESPONSE OF SERRATIA MARCESCENS TO ELEVATED TEMPERATURE

Dimmick, Robert L. (University of California, Berkeley). Rhythmic response of Serratia marcescens to elevated temperature. J. Bacteriol. 89:791-798. 1965.-Populations of Serratia marcescens of varied ages and pretreatments, which had been grown in a chemically defined medium, were subjected to thermal stress at 50 to 56 C. The numbers of survivors were plotted vs. time to form survivor curves, and the curves were assembled to form three-dimensional models. The manner in which survivors varied as a function of age and time of heating was variable and often rhythmic. Different three-dimensional patterns were found when different inoculum for the test culture was used. Apparently some "dead" cells again produced colonies after extended heating periods (recuperation); this tendency varied with the age of the culture. Diminutive colony forms, which produced normal colonies upon transfer, appeared and disappeared during heating; this tendency fluctuated with age. It is suggested that survivor curves represent a distribution of resistant forms within the population, and that this distribution varies in a manner best described in terms of servomechanistic response within each cell and within a given culture. Difficulties of attempting to relate changes in specific molecular species to subsequent whole-cell responses are discussed.

Heat injury and recovery of Streptococcus faecium associated with the souring of chub-packed luncheon meat

The presence of NaCl in the heating medium provided some protection from lethal heat damage for cells of a Streptococcus faecium strain isolated from luncheon meat whereas the presence of NaNO2 either alone or in addition to NaCl, had no significant effect on cell survival. Subsequent recovery and growth of heat-damaged cells was retarded by the presence of NaCl. When NaNO2 was present in addition to NaCl the inhibitory effect of the latter was reduced. These principal components of the luncheon-meat-cure are apparently opposed in their activities on post-heating recovery and growth of Strep. faecium. Product stability, i.e. duration of the lag before growth occurs, is directly related to the severity of the heat treatment and to the concentration of NaCl in the product. Therefore the resistance of pasteurized chub-packed luncheon meat to streptococcal spoilage during storage at temperatures conducive to microbial growth results from a prolonged heat-induced salt-maintained pre-growth adjustment phase rather than to any inherent inhibitory property of the luncheon meat to the growth of non-heat-damaged Strep. faecium cells.

Enumeration of indicator bacteria exposed to chlorine

Stress resulting from a variety of chemical and physical environments has been recognized in indicator bacteria. A review by Busta (1976) summarizes the extensive work that has been carried out to describe indicator microorganisms sublethally impaired due to a variety of causes associated with foods. Workers in the area of water microbiology are also gaining an appreciation of the importance of these stressed cells in the assessment of water quality using bacterial indicators. Chemical agents, including chlorine, that are employed in water disinfection processes are important causes of bacterial stress injury. As a result, a significant portion of the total population of indicator bacteria in water might not be enumerated (using the selective procedures that are currently employed) and inaccurate water quality determinations could result. Alternative water disinfection agents that are being suggested, such as ozone, chlorine dioxide, and ultraviolet irradiation, will also probably lead to the same result. In addition, heat from thermal pollution and interactions with other microorganisms or chemicals (including disinfectants and metals) also exert stress that could further debilitate indicator bacteria in various waters and effluents. A need for improved enumeration procedures has accompanied the recognition of injured indicator bacteria in chlorinated waters and wastewaters. This movement has also stimulated interest in the underlying mechanism of cellular damage that is responsible for the submaximal recovery of coliforms from disinfected waters. Various groups have reported that a number of biochemical, genetic, and physiological processes are impaired by chlorine exposure under differing conditions. Evidence from our laboratory and elsewhere implicates functions associated with the cell envelope, i.e., the uptake of extracellular organic substrates, as the primary cellular target of chlorine under conditions that are similar to those in the field. Additional data from our group indicate that sublethal damage from chlorine can be reversed under suitable nonselective conditions. Recent efforts have led to the development of new methods to enumerate injured fecal streptococcus, total and fecal coliform bacteria from chlorinated waters and wastewater. These procedures each yield data that are comparable with that obtained using the more cumbersome MPN method. As a result, the best characteristics of both methods may now be found in three relatively simple MF procedures. Some of these advances have been described in a new section (#921) of the fifteenth edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater" entitled "Stressed Organisms" (APHA, 1981). However, it is anticipated that new and better water quality assessment methodologies will emerge from the growing literature concerning the physiological and biochemical behavior of indicator microorganisms in water and wastewater.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Increasing the probability of sterility of medicinal products

Calculations show that official tests for sterility offer unacceptably low degrees of assurance of sterility. Some batches of heat treated articles with 10% contamination can pass the E.P. test on about 92% of occasions. It is proposed that viable counts be made on products immediately before the terminal inactivation procedure and that upper limits be set for the level of contamination. Samples of the product should be inoculated with spores of known resistance characteristics and also with samples of swabs from the production area. Such inoculated products should then be tested for absence of viable organisms, after being subjected to the terminal inactivation procedure. This test should be coupled with close environmental and process control and personnel education. It is recommended that these procedures replace the conventional test for sterility. The use of spores as direct and independent indicators of sterility, especially where the lethal conditions cannot be monitored instrumentally is recommended. A flexible approach is proposed for the use of the ‘lethality factor’ suitable for a terminal heat inactivation procedure; this would depend on the nature of the product and the standard of monitoring facilities and personnel. A change in the language is proposed. A medicinal product processed such that an acceptable probability of sterility exists, should be designated not as sterile but as safe.

Toxic effect of water-soluble fractions of crude, refined, and weathered oils on the growth of a marine bacterium

The water-soluble fractions of three crude and two refined oils reduced the growth rate and maximum cell density of the marine bacterium Serratia marinorubra grown in batch culture. The weathering of a crude and a refined oil was simulated in the laboratory. The water-soluble fractions remaining from this process were more toxic to S. marinorubra than were the parent unweathered oils. Increases in the magnitude of toxic effect of 3 to 30 times were observed as a function of decreasing the concentration of yeast extract in the cultures from 0.1 to 0.05 and 0.01%. The toxicity did not correlate with the concentration of total water-soluble fraction or of aromatic hydrocarbons in the water-soluble fraction. Affected cultures did not exhibit a residual toxicity after being back-inoculated into control media.

The use of inactivators in the evaluation of disinfectants

Since the earliest days of disinfectant testing bacteriostatic effect has misled many workers in this field. This problem has long been appreciated by some and a considerable battery of neutralizers has been employed, often with great success. Other anti-bacteriostatic measures, used without control, fail to revive damaged though viable organisms.This paper sets out to describe some of the problems that are encountered in this confused field and the means whereby they may be overcome.

Thermal death of a hydrocarbon bacterium in a nonaqueous fluid

A hydrocarbon-utilizing Brevibacterium which grew into the oil phase of an oil-water system was tested for survival at elevated temperature. Cells suspended in oil and cells that had been resuspended in aqueous solution were tested by placing 1-ml samples of the cell suspension in small test tubes immersed in a controlled-temperature water bath. The resultant survival curves in oil consisted of two parts, a flat shoulder obtained in the first half of the heating period, followed by a break indicating rapid die-off. The break in the curves occurred after 50% of the cells were killed. This occurred at exposures of 25, 15, and 8 min for 78, 88.6, and 96.2 C, respectively. The survival curve for 63.5 C in the aqueous solution was a rapid, exponential die-off. The actual increase in survival of the organism in oil is reflected by the length of the shoulder portion. The shoulder occurs only in an oil medium and is increased by decreasing temperature and increasing age of the culture.

Recovery of viability and radiation resistance by heat-injured conidia of Penicillium expansum Lk. ex Thom

Spores heated in water at 54 C for up to 1 hr were plated on nutrient agar immediately or held for 3 days in aerated water at 23 C and then plated. Under these conditions, holding was optimal for recovery, increasing survival percentage up to 20-fold over values for immediate plating. Recovery was prevented partially or completely, however, when spores were held in any of the following solutions: glucose, potassium phosphate, ammonium or sodium acetate, sodium azide, or 2,4-dinitrophenol, or in the sodium or potassium salts of pyruvate, and tricarboxylic acid cycle acids. Both anaerobiosis and incubation at 0 C prevented recovery. Survivors of a heat treatment were more sensitive to gamma radiation than were unheated spores. Conditions which affected the recovery of viability had the same effect on restoration of radiation resistance. Thus, many of the processes for restoration of radiation resistance seem involved also in recovery of viability after heating. After a 99% inactivating treatment (about 30 min at 54 C), heated spores respired as fast as unheated spores, or faster. Malate, citrate, succinate, and acetate stimulated respiration in unheated spores and inhibited it in heated spores.

Repair of thermal injury of Staphylococcus aureus

Iandolo, John J. (University of Illinois, Urbana), and Z. John Ordal. Repair of thermal injury of Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 91:134-142. 1966.-Exposure of Staphylococcus aureus MF 31 to sublethal temperatures produced a temporary change in the salt tolerance and growth of the organism. After sublethal heat treatment at 55 C for 15 min, more than 99% of the viable population was unable to reproduce on media containing 7.5% NaCl. The data presented demonstrate that thermal injury, in part, occurred owing to changes in the cell membrane, which allowed soluble cellular components to leak into the heating menstruum. When the cells were placed in a limiting medium, complete recovery did not occur, regardless of the incubation time. The temperature and the pH which produced the optimal rate of recovery were similar to those described previously for the multiplication of uninjured cells. However, the rate of recovery as well as the unchanging total count during recovery indicated that cell multiplication was not a factor during the recovery process. The nutrient requirements for the complete recovery of injured cells consisted of a solution containing an energy source, such as glucose, a mixture of amino acids, and phosphate. The use of the metabolic inhibitors, penicillin, cycloserine, 2,4-dinitrophenol, and chloramphenicol, did not inhibit recovery. Actinomycin D, however, completely suppressed recovery. This result implied that ribonucleic acid synthesis was particularly involved; this inference was substantiated by radio tracer experiments. The rate at which label was incorporated in the nucleic acid fraction paralleled that of recovery and the return of salt tolerance.