Biofilm-Mediated Persistence of Salmonella in Poultry Processing: A Comprehensive Review of Isolate Heterogeneity, Stress Adaptation, and Antimicrobial Resistance.

Summary

This comprehensive review examines Salmonella enterica persistence in poultry-processing environments, focusing on biofilm-mediated survival mechanisms. The authors integrate knowledge on isolate-specific phenotypic and genotypic traits, processing-associated stress adaptation, and antimicrobial resistance, whilst highlighting the role of mixed-species interactions (particularly with Pseudomonas spp.) in enhancing biofilm resilience. The review critically evaluates existing detection and control approaches, including emerging antibiofilm technologies, to provide a framework for developing targeted mitigation strategies.

Regional applicability

This review is internationally applicable to poultry processing across the United Kingdom, European Union, and other regions with comparable sanitation standards and cold-chain infrastructure. However, UK-specific implementation would require adaptation to current Food Standards Agency guidance, environmental monitoring protocols, and industrial regulatory frameworks governing antimicrobial use and emerging technologies like bacteriophage interventions.

Key measures

Biofilm formation traits, stress adaptation mechanisms (temperature, desiccation, nutrient limitation, sanitizer exposure), antimicrobial resistance phenotypes and genotypes, viable but nonculturable (VBNC) population quantification, mixed-species biofilm architecture

Outcomes reported

This review critically examines phenotypic and genotypic determinants of Salmonella biofilm formation in poultry-processing environments and evaluates their contributions to persistence, stress adaptation, and antimicrobial resistance. It assesses current detection methods (including digital droplet PCR for VBNC populations) and emerging control technologies (enzymatic treatments, bacteriophages, UV-LED systems) for industrial mitigation of Salmonella persistence.

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