Inhibition of different serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes by enterocins in solid and liquid media.

Twenty-one enterocinogenic strains of enterococci were examined for their ability to inhibit 51 strains of Listeria monocytogenes belonging to eight different serotypes; 50 strains of L. monocytogenes were uniformly inhibited on solid media and in broth cultures by strains of Streptococcus faecium. However, only four strains of L. monocytogenes were inhibited by strains of Streptococcus faecalis, S. faecalis v. zymogenes or S. faecalis v. liquefaciens. Enterocin E1A prepared from the supernant fluid of S. faecium strain E1 rapidly killed sensitive cells of L. monocytogenes but did not lyse them.