Rapid method for the isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from experimentally infected mice.

Listeria monocytogenes was successfully isolated from experimentally infected mice by placing homogenized tissues in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), trypsin, peptone, or pepsin followed by incubation at 37 C for 24 hr. A larger number of Listeria isolates were recovered from the trypsin or PBS splenic homogenate suspensions incubated at 37 C for 2 hr than from the other diluent suspensions. Holding infected tissues at 4 C for at least 3 months did not increase the efficiency of Listeria isolation. Listeria L-forms were not isolated from mice injected with the bacterial form. The in vitro viability of Listeria L-forms suspended in PBS or PBS splenic homogenate was greatly reduced when held at 4 C.