Protection Against Heat-Injury in Staphylococcus aureus by Solutes

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Abstract
The effect of solutes on heat-injury in Staphylococcus aureus 196E was studied in 25% ground beef (GB) slurry or distilled water equilibrated at 49 C. Exposure to 49 C for 90 min resulted in a 3–4 log cycle increase in injured cells. The number of injured cells was the difference between bacterial counts on tryptic soy agar (TSA) + 1% pyruvate and TSA + 9% NaCl. Increasing levels of NaCl (1–9%) added to GB slurry gave increasing protection against heat-injury and resulted in a decrease in the number of injured S. aureus; glycerol and sucrose had a similar effect. At 0.85 M (equivalent to 5% NaCl), other compounds such as sodium citrate, KCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, Na2HPO4, NH4Cl, CaCl2, and LiCl were more effective than NaCl in protecting against heat injury; sodium acetate, MgSO4, NaI, MnCl2, MgCl2, NaBr, NaH2PO4, and KI were less effective than NaCl. In the presence of 5% NaCl, it was necessary to raise the temperature from 49 to 55 C to obtain significant heat-injury to S. aureus. Addition of NaCl prevented the leakage of UV-absorbing materials and decreased the extent of magnesium ion leakage from heat-injured staphylococci.