Effect of salt addition on acid resistance response of Escherichia coli O157:H7 against acetic acid.

A combination of salt and acid is commonly used in the production of many foods, such as pickles and fermented foods. However, in our previous studies, addition of salt significantly reduced the inhibitory effect of acetic acid against E. coli O157:H7 in laboratory media and pickled cucumbers. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of salt addition on the acid resistance (AR) response of E. coli O157:H7 after treatment with acetic acid. The combined effect of acetic acid and salt showed different results depending on media tested. Organic compounds such as yeast extract and tryptone were required to observe the antagonistic effect of salt and acetic acid in combination. However, use of an rpoS mutant or addition of chloramphenicol resulted in no changes in the antagonistic effect of acetic acid and salt. The addition of glutamate to phosphate buffer significantly increased the survival levels of E. coli O157:H7 after the acetic acid treatment; however, the survival levels were lower than those after the treatment with acetic acid alone. Thus, the addition of salt may increase the AR response of E. coli O157:H7; however, these survival mechanisms were not proven clearly. Therefore, further studies need to be performed to better understand the antagonism of acetic acid salt against E. coli O157:H7.

Bae YM ，Lee SY 《-》

Survival mechanism of Escherichia coli O157:H7 against combined treatment with acetic acid and sodium chloride.

The combination of salt and acid is commonly used in the production of many foods, including pickles and fermented foods. However, in our previous studies, the addition of salt significantly reduced the inhibitory effect of acetic acid on Escherichia coli O157:H7 in laboratory media and pickled cucumbers. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the mechanism by which salt confers resistance against acetic acid in E. coli O157:H7. The addition of high concentrations (up to 9% or 15% [w/v]) of salt increased the resistance of E. coli O157:H7 to acetic acid treatment. Combined treatment with acetic acid and salt showed varying results among different bacterial strains (an antagonistic effect for E. coli O157:H7 and Shigella and a synergistic effect for Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus). The addition of salt increased the cytoplasmic pH of E. coli O157:H7, but decreased the cytoplasmic pH of L. monocytogenes and S. aureus on treatment with acetic acid. Therefore, the addition of salt increases the acid resistance of E. coli O157:H7 possibly by increasing its acid resistance response and consequently preventing the acidification of its cytoplasm by organic acids.

Lee SY ，Kang DH 《-》

Antagonistic effect of acetic acid and salt for inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7 in cucumber puree.

Lee SY ，Rhee MS ，Dougherty RH ，Kang DH ... -  《-》

Identifying the mechanism of Escherichia coli O157:H7 survival by the addition of salt in the treatment with organic acids.

In this study, the effects of the addition of salt to treatment with acids (one of several organic acids and salt in various solutions including rich or minimal broth, buffer, or distilled water) on the reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were investigated. The protein expression profiles corresponding to acid stress (acetic acid) with or without salt addition were studied using a comparative proteomic analysis of E. coli O157:H7. When acetic, lactic, or propionic acid was combined with 3% NaCl, mutually antagonistic effects of acid and salt on viability of E. coli O157:H7 were observed only in tryptone and yeast extract broth. After exposure to acetic acid alone or in combination with salt, approximately 851 and 916 protein spots were detected, respectively. Analysis of 10 statistically significant differentially expressed proteins revealed that these proteins are mainly related to energy metabolism. When we compared protein expression of E. coli O157:H7 treated with acetic acid and the combination of the acid and salt, the differentially expressed proteins were not related to acid stress- and salt stress-inducible proteins such as stress shock proteins. According to these results, the increased resistance of E. coli O157:H7 to acetic acid after the addition of salt may not be the result of synthesis of proteins related to these phenomena; therefore, further research needs to be conducted to identify the mechanism of the mutually antagonistic effect of some organic acids and salt.

Bae YM ，Yoon JH ，Kim JY ，Lee SY ... -  《-》

Combined effects of mustard flour, acetic acid, and salt against Esherichia coil O157:H7 stored at 5 and 22 degrees C.

Rhee MS ，Dougherty RH ，Kang DH 《JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION》