Listeria: identification of hypervirulent strains with placental and cerebral tropism

Listeria monocytogenes is the bacterium responsible for human listeriosis, a very severe foodborne infection. A study published in Nature Genetics reveals the high heterogeneity of the pathogenicity of L. monocytogenes strains. This work is based on the study of almost 7,000 strains collected in the frame of the listeriosis surveillance programme in France, and the integrative analysis of epidemiological, clinical and microbiological data. Comparative genomics led to the discovery of new putative virulence genes, one of which was demonstrated experimentally as the first involved in cerebral and fetal-placental listeriosis.