Smith-Palmer, A.Stewart, J.Fyfe, Lorna2018-06-292018-06-292002-07Smith-Palmer, A., Stewart, J. & Fyfe, L. (2002) Inhibition of listeriolypin O and phosphatidylcholine - specific phospholipase C production in Listeria monocytogeres by subinhibitory concentrations of plant essential oils. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 51(7), pp. 567-574.0022-2615https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-51-7-567https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/2932Successful infection by Listeria monocytogenes is dependent upon a range of bacterial extracellular proteins including a cytolysin termed listeriolysin O and phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C. Five plant essential oils--bay, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and thyme--significantly reduced the production of listeriolysin O by L. monocytogenes. The greatest change was observed after culture with oil of thyme, which reduced haemolysis to 52.1 haemolytic units (HU)/ml compared with 99.8 HU/ml observed with the control. Oil of clove was the only oil that also significantly reduced phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C activity. These changes were observed despite the oils causing no change to the final bacterial concentration or total extracellular protein concentration.567-574article10.1099/0022-1317-51-7-567