The May edition of the Journal of Food Protection discusses Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli, or STEC.
STEC causes gastrointestinal disease worldwide, so an understanding of how the bacteria attaches to surfaces hopes to provide insight into how food may become contaminated.
Initial experiments were performed to determine whether attachment differed among STEC strains and between the two modes of growth.
The study found that loosely attached cells were of higher concentrations than those that were strongly attached.
The mean concentrations for strongly attached bacteria for planktonic and sessile cultures were significantly higher on adipose than on muscle tissue. They also found that STEC cells in sessile culture had a greater potential to strongly attach to meat surfaces than those in planktonic culture.