In this study, efflux pump-mediated benzalkonium chloride (BC) resistance, including plasmid-encoded (Qac protein family and BcrABC) and chromosome-borne efflux pumps, was investigated in Listeria monocytogenes from retail food in China. Among the 59 L. monocytogenes strains, 13 (22.0%) strains were resistant to BC. The PCR results showed that bcrABC was harbored by 2 of 13 BC resistant strains. However, none of the qac genes were detected among the 59 strains. The bcrABC was absent in both of the plasmid cured strains, indicating that this BC resistance determinant was plasmid-encoded in the two bcrABC-positive strains. In the presence of reserpine, most of the bcrABC-negative strains had decreases in the MICs of BC, suggesting the existence of other efflux pumps and their role in BC resistance. After exposed to reserpine, the reduction in BC MICs was observed in the two cured strains, indicating that efflux pumps located on chromosome was also involved in BC resistance. Our findings suggest that food products may act as reservoirs for BC resistant isolates of L. monocytogenes and plasmid- and chromosome-encoded efflux pumps could mediate the BC resistance of L. monocytogenes, which is especially relevant to the adaption of this organism in food-related environments with frequent BC use.
