Enhanced Surface Colonization by Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Biofilms Formed by an Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Isolate from Meat-Processing Environments

A meat factory commensal bacterium, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, affected the spatial distribution of Escherichia coli O157:H7 surface colonization. The biovolume of E. coli O157:H7 was 400-fold higher (1.2 x 10(6) mu m(3)) in a dynamic cocultured biofilm than in a monoculture (3.0 x 10(3) mu m(3)), and E. coli O157: H7 colonized spaces between A. calcoaceticus cell clusters.