Identification and genotyping of Listeria monocytogenes in the chicken shredding line

The present research was carried out to determine the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the equipment, staff, and products in the chicken shredding facilities operating in Samsun, and to serotype and genotype the isolates by PCR and PFGE analysis, respectively. Of the total of 192 samples tested, 25 were found to be L. monocytogenes positive from which 51 isolates were acquired. In serotyping of the 51 isolates; 47 (92.2%) and four isolates (7.8%) were identified as 1/2a (3a) and 1/2c (3c), respectively. Twenty-six of the 51 isolates (51%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic, and 13 (25.5%) were resistant to more than one antibiotic. In the PFGE evaluation, at least 80% similarity was taken as a basis, and in the dendrogram, it was determined as a result of restricting with the Apal enzyme that the isolates were distributed to 25 different clusters and 45 subsets, and as a result of restricting with the AscI enzyme, they were distributed to 29 different clusters and 36 subsets. Practical Application Listeria monocytogenes constitutes a major problem for the food industry due to its widespread availability in nature and its role as an environmental contaminant in food processing plants.