Occurrence of genetic variants of Listeria monocytogenes strains.

Isolates of Listeria monocytogenes saved from outbreaks of listeriosis, cases of sporadic listeriosis, and similar events do not always belong to a solitary genetic variant. Variants of the same strain may have evolved from a unique clone, and plasmid loss or gain and phage-mediated genetic changes are suggested as the main mechanism. Some of these reports are summarized in this short communication.