Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Survival Strategies and Pathogenic Potential of Under Gastric Acid Stress.

As a common food-borne pathogen, comes into direct or indirect contact with gastric acid after ingestion. However, the mechanisms by which passes through the gastric acid barrier, recovers, and causes pathogenicity remain unclear. In this study, static in vitro digestion simulation experiments showed that some strains can pass through the gastric acid barrier by utilizing microacid tolerance mechanisms and altering their survival state. Food digestion simulation experiments showed that food matrices could help bacteria escape gastric acid stress, with significantly different survival rates observed for bacteria in various food matrices after exposure to gastric acid. Interestingly, surviving showed a significantly shorter growth lag time (LT) during recovery. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses indicated that the bacteria adapted to gastric acid stress by regulating the two-component system through stress proteins secreted via the ribosomal pathway. Pathogenic that successfully passes through the gastric acid barrier potentially exhibits enhanced pathogenicity during recovery due to the significant upregulation of virulence genes such as and F. This study provides a scientific basis for revealing the tolerance mechanisms of food-borne pathogens represented by in the human body.