[The ecological aspects of listeriosis in the Maritime Territory]

In the process of batch cultivation the strains under study are capable of prolonged growth at low temperature in rich and poor nutrient media (with the term of observation equal to 4 months), while at a temperature of 37 degrees C microbial populations quickly die (in 8-35 days). In the absence of compounds containing carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen in the nutrient medium, Listeria can proliferate under such conditions. As established with the use of gas chromatography and the radioisotopic method, they can uptake carbon dioxide, hydrogen and nitrogen from the air gas mixture, using carbon of the first gas for the synthesis of the main biopolymers (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, DNA and RNA) and the second one as the source of energy. During the cultivation of Listeria at low temperature in poor nutrient media (soil microecosystems, synthetic mineral media) they are capable of preserving and under favorable conditions also increasing their virulence. Its increase is facilitated by capsule formation, mobility, chemotaxis, adhesion and invasion enhancing under such conditions.