Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a ubiquitous bacterium that causes listeriosis, a serious foodborne illness. In the nature-to-human transmission route, Lm can prosper in various ecological niches. Soil and decaying organic matter are its primary reservoirs. Certain clonal complexes (CCs) are over-represented in food production and represent a challenge to food safety. To gain new understanding of Lm adaptation mechanisms in food, the genetic background of strains found in animals and environment should be investigated in comparison to that of food strains. Twenty-one partners, including food, environment, veterinary and public health laboratories, constructed a dataset of 1484 genomes originating from Lm strains collected in 19 European countries. This dataset encompasses a large number of CCs occurring worldwide, covers many diverse habitats and is balanced between ecological compartments and geographic regions. The dataset presented here will contribute to improve our understanding of Lm ecology and should aid in the surveillance of Lm. This dataset provides a basis for the discovery of the genetic traits underlying Lm adaptation to different ecological niches.

AGES Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Spargelfeldstrasse 191 1220 Vienna Austria

Agroscope Food Microbial Systems Berne Liebefeld Bern Switzerland

Animal Health Department NEIKER Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development Basque Research and Technology Alliance Bizkaia Science and Technology Park 812 L 48160 Derio Spain

ANSES Antibiotics Biocides Residues and Resistance Unit 10 B rue Claude Bourgelat Javené CS 40608 35306 Fougères France

ANSES Laboratory for Food Safety Paris Est University 14 rue Pierre et Marie Curie 94701 Maisons Alfort France

ANSES Ploufragan Plouzané Niort Laboratory Viral Genetics and Bio Security Unit Université Européenne de Bretagne Ploufragan France

Chair of Food Safety Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Ludwig Maximilians University Munich Oberschleissheim Germany

Department of Applied Microbiology and Human Nutrition Physiology West Pomeranian University of Technology Szczecin Poland

Department of Biology Swedish Food Agency Uppsala Sweden

Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Helsinki Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2 00790 Helsinki Finland

DTU Technical University of Denmark National Food Institute Lyngby Denmark

French Agency for Food Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory for Food Safety Salmonella and Listeria Unit Paris Est University 14 rue Pierre et Marie Curie 94701 Maisons Alfort France

INRAE Agroecologie AgroSup Dijon INRA Univ Bourgogne Franche Comté 21000 Dijon France

INRAE UCA UMR MEDiS F 63122 Saint Genès Champanelle France

INRAE Unité de recherche OPAALE 35000 Rennes France

Institute of Food Safety and Food Hygiene Working Group Meat Hygiene Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany

Institute of Food Safety Animal Health and Environment BIOR Riga Latvia

Institute of Microbiology and Parasitology Veterinary Faculty University of Ljubljana Gerbičeva 60 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia

IZSAM Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G CaporaleVia Campo Boario 64100 Teramo Italy

Norwegian Veterinary Institute Food Safety and Animal Health Research Ullevålsvegen 68 0454 Oslo Norway

State veterinary and food institute DVM Department of Food Hygiene Veterinary and food institute Janoskova 1611 58 Dolny Kubin Slovakia

State Veterinary Institute Rantířovská 93 20 586 05 Jihlava Czech Republic

Veterinary and Food Laboratory F R Kreutzwaldi 30 51006 Tartu Estonia

Veterinary Research Institute Hudcova 70 621 00 Brno Czech Republic

Wageningen Food Safety Research Wageningen University and Research Wageningen the Netherlands

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