## 3 Results and Discussion  
There was no natural contamination of the meat product with _Listeria_ spp. (i.e., <10 CFU/g and not detected in 25 g of product), whereas all single _L. monocytogenes_ strains combined together and inoculated on the product had similar growth kinetics and reached almost identical final populations (_ca._ 7.8-8.1 log CFU/mL) in BHI broth (Supplementary Figure S1). Similarities in growth capacity and the bacterial growth of the individually grown strains prior to their mixing and inoculation, as monitored by recording the population of each monoculture on BHI agar, were verified previously also in a relevant research study by [PERSON] et al. [31] and suggested that strain competition among _L. monocytogenes_ serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c, and 4b was merely the result of bacterial interactions on the meat product, among strains of the same species with almost the same growth potential. Average initial populations for TVCs, LAB, and _L. monocytogenes_ on cooked, cured pork shoulder were 5.7 \(\pm\) 0.7, 5.2 \(\pm\) 0.1 and 5.6 \(\pm\) 0.6 log CFU/g, respectively. All microbial counts were normally distributed around the mean according to the calculated A-D test statistic. Bacterial counts for these microbiological parameters were not statistically different between replicates (_p_ > 0.05), but the respective microbial populations during the meat product's storage at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C differed statistically (_p_ < 0.05). LAB counts during storage of the artificially contaminated meat product at the two different storage conditions (Figure 1) were far from reaching their maximum values, and so, there was no possibility for the Jameson effect to occur in any case [32; 33]. Therefore, the observed serotype prevalence of _L. monocytogenes_ during storage of the meat product was not the result of the interaction and competition between LAB and the pathogen as a common limiting source [34]. Recoveries (i.e., isolation rates) and dominance rates for the main _L. monocytogenes_ serotypes during storage of the inoculated RTE product are presented in Table 1 and Figure 2, respectively. The data in Figure 2 clearly depict that serotype 4b decreased at both storage temperatures, with the most abrupt decrease highlighted during storage at 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Despite the storage temperature applied, serotypes of serogroup 1/2 (ser. 1/2a, 1/2b, and 1/2c) dominated the _L. monocytogenes_ consortium at the end of the meat product's storage period (Table 1; Day 29 at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C and Day 15 at 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C). Previous studies have addressed the problem of outcompeting _Listeria_ spp. against _L. monocytogenes_[31; 35; 36; 37; 38]. However, interactions among _L. monocytogenes_ strains have not yet been fully investigated, and studies have mainly focused on competition during selective enrichment [39; 40]. In our inoculation study, it became obvious that strains of serogroup 1/2 dominated the meat product at the end of its storage period and outcompeted serotype 4b, irrespective of the initial concentration of serotypes and the storage temperature applied on the product as well, even though serotypes 1/2b and 1/2c were more prevalent than serotype 1/2a and clearly prevailed against serotype 4b during the product's storage at 10 \({}^{\circ}\)C (Figure 2b). This is a clear indication of a possible growth advantage that serotypes 1/2a, 1/2b, and 1/2c might have over serotype 4b under refrigeration conditions of storage, implying an association of the growth of _L. monocytogenes_with serotype designation. Our findings go hand-in-hand with the observations made by [PERSON] et al. [41] that a competitive growth advantage exists in lineage II strains over lineage I strains of _L. monocytogenes_. Moreover, strain evolution or persistence has proven to be temperature dependent during storage at different temperatures of Katiki soft cheese inoculated with a mixture of strains, since different strains of _L. monocytogenes_ predominated at different temperatures [22].