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The effects of organic acids and microcolony formation on the adhesion of meat spoilage organisms /

Beef tendons were sectioned into 60 mum-thick slices (1cm 2) and deposited onto glass cover slips. These meat slices were flooded with a cell suspension of either Pseudomonas fluorescens, Enterobacter agglomerans, or Moraxella osloensis in distilled water and adhesion allowed to occur. The adhesion experiments were also conducted on agar-covered slides to evaluate the effect of the nature of the substratum on adhesion. The non-adherent organisms found on either surface tested (meat or agar) were removed by flushing liquid over the slide. The slides were then incubated in a moist atmosphere at 30°C. Once the presence of microcolonies had been established microscopically, the slides were mounted into flow chambers and the surface flushed with distilled water to ascertain the effects of bacterial proliferation on adhesion. In other experiments, the influence of acetic, citric, and lactic acid rinses on cell adhesion and subsequent cell proliferation was evaluated. Microcolony formation was shown to reduce the adhesion strength of Enterobacter agglomerans and, to a lesser extent, that of Moraxella osloensis while increasing that of Pseudomonas fluorescens. The probable determinant of adhesion strengths of microcolonies is exopolymer synthesis. A minimal decrease in bacterial adhesion and microcolony formation was observed with the use of organic acid rinses. The bactericidal activity and effect on bacterial proliferation increased with increasing concentration and rinse times of the organic acids. The extent of the adhesion reductions suggests that the preservation action of organic acids is due to cell death and not adhesion inhibition.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.20812
Date January 1998
CreatorsD'Aoust, Frédéric.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Science (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001610179, proquestno: MQ44153, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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