Biofilm Formation and Control in the Food Industry

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 269

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biofilms, complex communities of microorganisms encased in a self-produced extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix of lipids, DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides, present significant challenges to the food industry. These structures enable pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 to persist on food matrices and processing equipment, resisting even rigorous cleaning and sanitation. This persistence leads to food safety risks, cross-contamination, and foodborne illness outbreaks, compromising consumer trust and causing economic losses. Traditional cleaning methods often prove inadequate against biofilms, necessitating innovative control strategies. Food processing facilities, with their varied environments of wet surfaces and nutrient-rich residues, offer ideal conditions for biofilm formation. Furthermore, biofilms exhibit enhanced resistance to antimicrobials and environmental stresses, complicating effective control efforts. This Special Issue, "Biofilm Formation and Control in the Food Industry", will highlight recent advancements in understanding biofilm formation, detection techniques, and control strategies.

Dr. Kidon Sung
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biofilm formation
  • control
  • anti-biofilm method
  • detection
  • foodborne pathogens
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • food industry
  • food safety

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 3377 KiB  
Article
The Virulence Factor LLO of Listeria monocytogenes Can Hamper Biofilm Formation and Indirectly Suppress Phage-Lytic Effect
by Banhong Liu, Mei Bai, Wuxiang Tu, Yanbin Shen, Jingxin Liu, Zhenquan Yang, Hongduo Bao, Qingli Dong, Yangtai Liu, Ran Wang, Hui Zhang and Liangbing Hu
Foods 2025, 14(15), 2554; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14152554 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 90
Abstract
Listeria monocytogenes is a life-threatening bacterial foodborne pathogen that can persist in food-processing facilities for years. Although phages can control L. monocytogenes during food production, phage-resistant bacterial subpopulations can regrow in phage-treated environments. In this study, an L. monocytogenes hly defective strain, NJ05-Δ [...] Read more.
Listeria monocytogenes is a life-threatening bacterial foodborne pathogen that can persist in food-processing facilities for years. Although phages can control L. monocytogenes during food production, phage-resistant bacterial subpopulations can regrow in phage-treated environments. In this study, an L. monocytogenes hly defective strain, NJ05-Δhly, was produced, which considerably regulated the interactions between L. monocytogenes and phages. Specifically, we observed a 76.92-fold decrease in the efficiency of plating of the defective strain following infection with the Listeria phage vB-LmoM-NJ05. The lytic effect was notably diminished at multiplicities of infection of 1 and 10. Furthermore, the inactivation of LLO impaired biofilm formation, which was completely suppressed and eliminated following treatment with 108 PFU/mL of phage. Additionally, phages protected cells from mitochondrial membrane damage and the accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species induced by L. monocytogenes invasion. Transcriptomic analysis confirmed these findings, revealing the significant downregulation of genes associated with phage sensitivity, pathogenicity, biofilm formation, and motility in L. monocytogenes. These results underscore the vital role of LLO in regulating the pathogenicity, phage susceptibility, and biofilm formation of L. monocytogenes. These observations highlight the important role of virulence factors in phage applications and provide insights into the potential use of phages for developing biosanitizers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofilm Formation and Control in the Food Industry)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop