Genetic and virulence differences of Listeria monocytogenes strains

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen capable of causing serious invasive disease, including abortion, septicemia, meningitis, and meningoencephalitis in humans and animals. Subtyping of L. monocytogenes strains can prove to be crucial in epidemiological investigations, source tracking contamination from food processing plants and determining evolutionary relationships between different strains. In this paper L. monocytogenes strains and genetic and virulence differences among L. monocytogenes strains are reviewed