The influence of sanitizers on the lipopolysaccharide composition of Escherichia coli O111

This study focused on the influence of typical sanitizers on the composition of the lipopolysaccharides (LPS) produced by the verocytotoxin-producing (VTEC) Escherichia coli O111. We also aimed to cast light on the applicability of O-antigen-based serotyping and endotoxin based Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assays applied in the food industry for the identification and quantification of Gram-negative bacteria. E. coli O111 was propagated in the presence of three typical commercially applied sanitizing solutions that included a Clean in Place (CIP) chlorinated sanitizer (bacteriocidal), heavy-duty alkaline sanitizer (bacteriocidal) and a phenolic hand wash solution (bacteriostatic). After the required growth phase was reached the LPS from both the intact cells and debris was extracted and methanolysed followed by trifluoroacetylation. Subsequently GC–MS analysis and the chromogenic LAL assay were applied to assess both the ultra-structure and the toxicity of the extracted LPS. The viability and debris formation during growth was also evaluated to verify the bacteriocidial and static effect of the applied sanitizers as well as to assess its relationship with LPS formation. The total LPS produced was quantified at 1.3 × 106 [KDO] · OD620 nm− 1 for the control samples, 6.5 × 103 [KDO] · OD620 nm− 1 for E. coli grown in the presence of CIP chlorinated sanitizer and 2.1 × 105 and 2.85 × 106 [KDO] · OD620 nm− 1 for the organisms grown in the presence of heavy-duty alkaline sanitizer and phenolic hand wash solution respectively (KDO = 2-keto-3-deoxy-octulosonic acid). A negative correlation (r2 = − 0.880) between the [KDO] and Δviability was evident and indicated that E. coli O111 responds to factors that hinder viability by producing more LPS in its outer membrane. Subsequent assessment of the LPS ultra-structure revealed a definite change in both the total assessed saccharide and lipid fractions. The cumulative change of the LPS in response to the sanitizers further appeared to influence the toxicity of the LPS as the latter change could not be related to an individual compound within any of the assessed fractions. This emphasised the fact that the quantity of LPS obtained from E. coli O111 in this study, did not seem to determine the toxicity of the organism. From the results we further propose a coefficient that could be applied to describe the response of E. coli O111 LPS to sanitizers and caution against the application of serotyping (based on the O-antigen) and the LAL assay to quantify and identify E. coli O111 obtained from food strata where the possibility of sanitizer contamination exists.