Aquatic environment drives the emergence of cell wall-deficient dormant forms in Listeria

Filipe Carvalho, Alexis Carreaux, Anna Sartori-Rupp, Stéphane Tachon, Anastasia D. Gazi, Pascal Courtin, Pierre Nicolas, Florence Dubois-Brissonnet, Aurélien Barbotin, Emma Desgranges, Matthieu Bertrand, Karine Gloux, Catherine Schouler, Rut Carballido-López, Marie-Pierre Chapot-Chartier, Eliane Milohanic, Hélène Bierne and Alessandro Pagliuso ()
Additional contact information
Filipe Carvalho: Micalis Institute
Alexis Carreaux: Micalis Institute
Anna Sartori-Rupp: NanoImaging Core Facility, Institut Pasteur
Stéphane Tachon: NanoImaging Core Facility, Institut Pasteur
Anastasia D. Gazi: Ultrastructural Bioimaging Facility, Institut Pasteur
Pascal Courtin: Micalis Institute
Pierre Nicolas: INRAE, Université Paris-Saclay, MaIAGE
Florence Dubois-Brissonnet: Micalis Institute
Aurélien Barbotin: Micalis Institute
Emma Desgranges: Micalis Institute
Matthieu Bertrand: Micalis Institute
Karine Gloux: Micalis Institute
Catherine Schouler: INRAE, Université de Tours, ISP
Rut Carballido-López: Micalis Institute
Marie-Pierre Chapot-Chartier: Micalis Institute
Eliane Milohanic: Micalis Institute
Hélène Bierne: Micalis Institute
Alessandro Pagliuso: Micalis Institute

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Stressed bacteria can enter a dormant viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. VBNC pathogens pose an increased health risk as they are undetectable by growth-based techniques and can wake up back into a virulent state. Although widespread in bacteria, the mechanisms governing this phenotypic switch remain elusive. Here, we investigate the VBNC state transition in the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. We show that bacteria starved in mineral water become VBNC by converting into osmotically stable cell wall-deficient coccoid forms, a phenomenon that occurs in other Listeria species. We reveal the bacterial stress response regulator SigB and the autolysin NamA as major actors of VBNC state transition. We lastly show that VBNC Listeria revert to a walled and virulent state after passage in chicken embryos. Our study provides more detail on the VBNC state transition mechanisms, revealing wall-free bacteria naturally arising in aquatic environments as a potential survival strategy in hypoosmotic and oligotrophic conditions.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52633-7

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