OBJECTIVETo study the virulent gene prevalence of foodborne Listeria monocytogenes (LM) isolated from China.

METHODS78 LM isolates derived from raw meat, cooked food, aquatic products and vegetables of 13 provinces and cities.LM isolates were investigated for prevalence of virulence genes (LIPI-1 (prfA, plcA, hly, mpl, actA, plcB); LIPI-2 (inlA, inlB), and iap) by PCR method.

RESULTS87.2% (68/78) of the isolates were prfA positive, 98.7% (77/78) of the isolates were plcA, actA and plcB positive, 97.4% (76/78) of the isolates were hly positive, 87.2% (68/78) of the isolates were mpl positive, 92.3% (72/78) of the isolates were inlA positive, 100% (78/78) of the isolates were inlB positive, 98.7% (77/78) of the isolates were iap positive. Among 21 virulent gene negative isolates, there was 7 isolates lack of two or more virulence genes. The rate of virulence genes deletion isolates from cooked meat was 31.3% (10/32), the rate of virulence genes deletion isolates from raw meat was 16.1% (5/31), the rate of virulence genes deletion isolates from vegetables was 36.4% (4/11) and rate of virulence genes deletion isolates from seafood was 50% (2/4). No significant difference was found (χ(2) = 3.721, P > 0.05). The virulence gene array-1 strains were dominant among these isolates.

CONCLUSIONAmong 78 LM isolates, prevalent of virulent genes were different except inlB, virulence genes of LIP-1 were deleted prevalently among isolates, virulence gene deletion patterns were diverse.