The risk of enteric pathogen contamination and growth on fresh produce is one of the main safety concerns associated with the increasing number of foodborne outbreaks in recent years. Plants in general are not considered as host for enteric pathogens. However, the increased persistence of pathogenic and commensal E. coli in plants has led to the consideration of these fresh produce as a secondary reservoir although factors associated in the increased persistence are not very clear. Biofilms formation by pathogenic E. coli and other Enterobacter pose a serious threat to the safety of fresh produce as they can persist and colonize for long periods of time in the food processing environment and thus represent a source of recurrent contamination. Concurrently, increased antibiotic resistance is equally a major concern with respect to biofilm formation as these factors aids in the enhanced levels of virulence, persistence and colonization of the pathogenic E. coli in fresh produce. In the present study the biofilm formation, antibiotic resistance and the multicellular behavior by pathogenic/non-pathogenic E. coli strains derived from fresh produce has been investigated. The formation of biofilm and its associated role with antibiotic resistance has been addressed unveiling the importance of factors leading to an increased host – microbe interaction. A total number of 33 E. coli strains were isolated from ready- to- eat fresh produce. The obtained results confirmed the ability to form biofilm by the E. coli strains obtained from fresh produce. Most of the E. coli with increased number of cellulose/curlifimbriae production was able to form stronger biofilm and showed a significant number of antibiotic resistances. Overall, the present study suggests a correlation between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance, implicating its important role in the food borne intoxications and increased virulence and its potential relevance for the management of food-borne illnesses linked with consumption of fresh produce.

Keywords : E. Coli, Fresh Produce, Biofilm, CurliFimbriae, Cellulose, Antimicrobial Resistance.