Researchers at the Institute for Genomic Research and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service have taken an important first step in understanding the genetic makeup of Listeria, a bacterium that causes serious food-borne illness.
Similar to efforts to understand the structure of the human genome, researchers have examined individual fragments of the genome of Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b, the strain responsible for most listeriosis outbreaks and 50 percent of sporadic cases. The next step is to assemble the fragments into a complete genomic map, so that researchers can better understand how the bacterium persists in animals, in and on foods, and in processing plants. Researchers also hope to determine how the bacterium affects people.