Uncovering Listeria monocytogenes hypervirulence by harnessing its biodiversity

Marc Lecuit, Sylvain Brisse and colleagues combine Listeria monocytogenes population genomic data with human epidemiological and clinical data to study human listeriosis. They report new putative virulence factors and demonstrate that some clones are hypervirulent in a humanized mouse model of listeriosis and have enhanced neural and placental tropism.