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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2002, p. 3639-3643, Vol. 68, No. 7
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.7.3639-3643.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Evidence of Association of Salmonellae with Tomato Plants Grown Hydroponically in Inoculated Nutrient Solution
Xuan Guo,1 Marc W. van Iersel,2 Jinru Chen,1 Robert E. Brackett,1,3 and Larry R. Beuchat1*
Center for Food Safety and Department of Food Science and Technology,1
Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia 30223-1797,2
Office of Plant, Dairy Foods and Beverages, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland 20740-38353
Received 10 September 2001/
Accepted 11 April 2002
The possibility of uptake of salmonellae by roots of hydroponically grown tomato plants was investigated. Within 1 day of exposure of plant roots to Hoagland nutrient solution containing 4.46 to 4.65 log10 CFU of salmonellae/ml, the sizes of the pathogen populations were 3.01 CFU/g of hypocotyls and cotyledons and 3.40 log10 CFU/g of stems for plants with intact root systems (control) and 2.55 log10 CFU/g of hypocotyls and cotyledons for plants from which portions of the roots had been removed. A population of
3.38 log10 CFU/g of hypocotyls-cotyledons, stems, and leaves of plants grown for 9 days was detected regardless of the root condition. Additional studies need to be done to unequivocally demonstrate that salmonellae can exist as endophytes in tomato plants grown under conditions that simulate commonly used agronomic practices.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Center for Food Safety, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223-1197. Phone: (770) 412-4740. Fax: (770) 229-3216. E-mail:
lbeuchat{at}cfs.griffin.peachnet.edu.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2002, p. 3639-3643, Vol. 68, No. 7
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.7.3639-3643.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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