Taxonomy, ecology, and relevance to food safety of the genus with a particular consideration of new species described between 2010 and 2022.

Martin Wiedmann, Renato H Orsi, Jingqiu Liao, Catharine R Carlin

Journal: mBio 2024;15(2):e0093823

PMID: 38126771

Abstract

Since 2010, the genus has had the addition of 22 new species that more than tripled the number of species identified until 2010. Sixteen of these 22 new species are distantly related to the type species, , and several of these present phenotypes that distinguish them from classical species (, , , , and ). These 22 newly described species also show that is more genetically diverse than previously estimated. While future studies and surveys are needed to clarify the distribution of these species, at least some of these species may not be widely spread, while other species may be frequently found spread to human-related settings (e.g., farms and processing facilities), and others may be adapted to specific environmental habitats. Here, we review the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and ecological characteristics of these new species identified since 2010 and re-iterate the suggestion of re-classification of some species into three new genera: , , and . We also provide a review of current detection issues and the relevance to food safety related to the identification of these new species. For example, several new non-pathogenic species could be misidentified as the pathogen , based on methods that do not target -specific virulence genes/factors, leading to unnecessary product recalls. Moreover, eight species in the proposed new genus are not good indicators of environmental conditions that could allow to grow since species are unable to grow at low temperatures.

Address: Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.; Mérieux NutriSciences, Crete, Illinois, USA.
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