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Volume 7, Issue 10

Nonculturable O157 in horticultural compost: a public health concern Open Access

Abstract

Fresh produce-associated outbreaks of the foodborne pathogen O157 are responsible for a number of disease cases, hospitalizations and deaths. In many cases, the source of contamination can be linked to the growing media of the food, although pathogen detection is problematic in these complex soil ecosystems. In this study, direct quantitative real-time PCR without pre-enrichment was used to detect 310 copies of the Tir gene, using a primer sequence specific to O157, in horticultural compost purchased from a commercial supplier. The pathogen could not be cultured on selective media but was visualized using peptide nucleic acid fluorescence hybridization and cell elongation viability assay, confirming the viability. Enumeration of elongated O157 determined that there were 205 live cells per gram of compost. The nonculturability and confirmation of viability of the pathogen indicates its viable but nonculturable (VBNC) status. The detection of VBNC foodborne pathogens in environmental samples challenges current understanding of the nature of foodborne pathogen contamination.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Escherichia coli O157 , microbial detection and viable but nonculturable (VBNC)
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/K012797/1)
    • Principal Award Recipient: CallumHighmore
© 2025 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2025-10-16
2025-11-10

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Nonculturable Escherichia coli O157 in horticultural compost: a public health concern
Access Microbiology 7, 001090.v4 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.001090.v4
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.001090.v4
/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.0.001090.v4
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