When Listeria monocytogenes goes to sleep…

A serious infection of dietary origin that is caused by the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium, listeriosis is associated with severe clinical symptoms and a high mortality rate in individuals whose immune system is weakened. INRA scientists, working in collaboration with their colleagues at Institut Pasteur, have demonstrated the novel capacity of L. monocytogenes to generate dormant intracellular forms that could be harboured, unsuspected, by their host. These findings are published in PLoS Pathogens. 

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