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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1961 November; 9(6): 541-544

Occurrence of Enterococci: Bud, Blossom, and Soil Studies¹

Departments of Bacteriology and Food Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

ABSTRACT

The occurrence of enterococci (group D streptococci) on buds and flowers of plants and in soils has been studied. They were recovered from 27.5% of the flowers of seven species of plants, and from 6.8% of the buds of the same plants. They were recovered from 34% of the flowers of nonagricultural plants, from 32.2% of the flowers of ten species of agricultural dicotyledonous plants, and from 10.4% of the flowers of five species of grasses and cereals. The enterococci were invariably present or invariably absent from all samples taken from very few species. They occurred in small numbers on enclosed tassels and silks of corn of 22 of 60 samples, and in greater numbers on 90% or more of these after their floral parts had emerged. Interposition of a mechanical barrier reduced the incidence of recovery from flowers. The occurrence in soil, generally at a low level of population, may be correlated with occurrence on the plant growing on the soil or with nearby enterococcal-bearing plants.

It is concluded that enterococci may be regarded as temporary residents on plants, capable of limited reproduction, and that they are disseminated among plants by the action of insects and wind, and spread to the ground by these agencies, gravity, and rain.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director, Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station.