Effects of several factors on the heat-shock-induced thermotolerance of Listeria monocytogenes.

The influence of the temperature at which Listeria monocytogenes had been grown (4 or 37 degrees C) on the response to heat shocks of different durations at different temperatures was investigated. For cells grown at 4 degrees C, the effect of storage, prior to and after heat shock, on the induced thermotolerance was also studied. Death kinetics of heat-shocked cells is also discussed. For L. monocytogenes grown at 37 degrees C, the greatest response to heat shock was a fourfold increase in thermotolerance. For L. monocytogenes grown at 4 degrees C, the greatest response to heat shock was a sevenfold increase in thermotolerance. The only survival curves of cells to have shoulders were those for cells that had been heat shocked. A 3% concentration of sodium chloride added to the recovery medium made these shoulders disappear and decreased decimal reduction times. The percentage of cells for which thermotolerance increased after a heat shock was smaller the milder the heat shock and the longer the prior storage.