Glycine betaine confers enhanced osmotolerance and cryotolerance on Listeria monocytogenes

Glycine betaine confers enhanced osmotolerance and cryotolerance on Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive food-borne pathogen that is notably resistant to osmotic stress and can grow at refrigerator temperatures. These two characteristics make it an insidious threat to public health. Like several other organisms, L. monocytogenes accumulates glycine betaine, a ubiquitous and effective osmolyte, intracellularly when grown under osmotic stress. However, it al...

Identification and disruption of BetL, a secondary glycine betaine transport system linked to the salt tolerance of Listeria monocytogenes LO28.

The trimethylammonium compound glycine betaine (N,N, N-trimethylglycine) can be accumulated to high intracellular concentrations, conferring enhanced osmo- and cryotolerance upon Listeria monocytogenes. We report the identification of betL, a gene encoding a glycine betaine uptake system in L. monocytogenes, isolated by functional complementation of the betaine uptake mutant Escherichia coli MK...

Gbu glycine betaine porter and carnitine uptake in osmotically stressed Listeria monocytogenes cells.

The food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes grows actively under high-salt conditions by accumulating compatible solutes such as glycine betaine and carnitine from the medium. We report here that the dominant transport system for glycine betaine uptake, the Gbu porter, may act as a secondary uptake system for carnitine, with a K(m) of 4 mM for carnitine uptake and measurable uptake at carnit...

Osmotic and chill activation of glycine betaine porter II in Listeria monocytogenes membrane vesicles.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen known for its tolerance to conditions of osmotic and chill stress. Accumulation of glycine betaine has been found to be important in the organism's tolerance to both of these stresses. A procedure was developed for the purification of membranes from L. monocytogenes cells in which the putative ATP-driven glycine betaine permease glycine betaine por...

A postgenomic appraisal of osmotolerance in Listeria monocytogenes.