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... the fetus in pregnant women, or can present it self as meningitis in the immunocompromised. L. monocytogenes is widespread in the environment and transmission to man can be via infected animals (such as sheep, cattle and pigs) or through ingestion of contaminated foods, especially unpasteurized milk or soft cheese as L. monocytogenes is capable of replication at temperatures as low as 3oC. When ingested L. monocytogenes is internalised within gut epithelial cells or macrophages into a host vacuole, referred to as a phagolysosome. The bacteria escapes from this phagolysosome via, in part, production of listeriolysin O (LLO). LLO is a member of the pore-forming protein family, cytolysin. It can lyse red blood cells, and thus its production can be detected on blood plates. Once in the cytoplasm of the host cell the bacteria replicates and concomitantly becomes covered in host actin filaments. When the actin polymerises at the base of ...