A high-throughput microbial growth data assembly and analysis protocol to elucidate the strain-specific NaCl tolerance variation in Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes causes the severe foodborne illness listeriosis and survives in food-associated environments due to its high stress tolerance. A data assembly and analysis protocol for microbial growth experiments was compiled to elucidate the strain variability of L. monocytogenes stress tolerance. The protocol includes 1) measurement of growth ability under stress; 2) selection of a suitable method for growth parameter calculation; 3) comparison of growth patterns between strains; and 4) biological interpretation of the discovered differences. In step 1, L. monocytogenes strains (n = 388) of various serovars and origins grown on media with 9.0% NaCl were measured using Bioscreen C Microbiology Reader. Technical variability of the growth measurements was assessed and eliminated. In step 2, the growth parameters determined by Gompertz, modified-Gompertz, logistic, and Richards models and model-free splines were compared, illustrating differences in the suitability of these methods to describe the experimental data. In step 3, hierarchical clustering was used to describe the NaCl tolerance of L. monocytogenes measured by strain-specific variation in growth ability; tolerant strains had higher growth rates and maximum optical densities and shorter lag phases than susceptible strains. The spline parameter area under the curve best classified “poor”, “average”, and “good” growers. In step 4, the tested L. monocytogenes lineage I strains (serovars 4b and 1/2b) proved to be significantly more tolerant towards NaCl 9.0% than lineage II strains (serovars 1/2a, 1/2c, and 3a). Our protocol provides systematic tools to gain comparable data for investigating strain-specific variation of bacterial growth under stress. IMPORTANCE The pathogen Listeria monocytogenes causes the foodborne disease listeriosis, which can be fatal in immunocompromised individuals. L. monocytogenes tolerates several environmental stressors and can persist in food-processing environments and grow in foodstuffs despite traditional control measures such as high salt content. Nonetheless, L. monocytogenes strains differ in their ability to withstand stressors. Elucidating the intra-species strain variability of L. monocytogenes stress tolerance is crucial for the identification of particularly tolerant strains. To enhance reliable identification of variability in bacterial stress tolerance phenotypes, we compiled a large-scale protocol for the entire data assembly and analysis of microbial growth experiments, providing a systematic approach and check-list for experiments on strain-specific growth ability. Our study illustrated the diversity and strain-specific variation of L. monocytogenes stress tolerance with an unprecedented scope and discovered biologically relevant serovar- and lineage-dependent phenotypes of NaCl tolerance.