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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2004, p. 2497-2502, Vol. 70, No. 4
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.4.2497-2502.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Fate of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium on Carrots and Radishes Grown in Fields Treated with Contaminated Manure Composts or Irrigation Water
Mahbub Islam,1 Jennie Morgan,1 Michael P. Doyle,1* Sharad C. Phatak,2 Patricia Millner,3 and Xiuping Jiang4
Center for Food Safety, The University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia 30223,1
Department of Horticulture, The University of Georgia, Coastal Plain Experiment Station, Tifton, Georgia 31793,2
Animal Waste Pathogens Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Service, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland 20705,3
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 296344
Received 12 August 2003/
Accepted 7 January 2004

ABSTRACT
Three different types of compost, PM-5 (poultry manure compost),
338 (dairy cattle manure compost), and NVIRO-4 (alkaline-pH-stabilized
dairy cattle manure compost), and irrigation water were inoculated
with an avirulent strain of
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
at 10
7 CFU g
1 and 10
5 CFU ml
1, respectively, to
determine the persistence of salmonellae in soils containing
these composts, in irrigation water, and also on carrots and
radishes grown in these contaminated soils. A split-plot block
design plan was used for each crop, with five treatments (one
without compost, three with each of the three composts, and
one without compost but with contaminated water applied) and
five replicates for a total of 25 plots for each crop, with
each plot measuring 1.8
x 4.6 m. Salmonellae persisted for an
extended period of time, with the bacteria surviving in soil
samples for 203 to 231 days, and were detected after seeds were
sown for 84 and 203 days on radishes and carrots, respectively.
Salmonella survival was greatest in soil amended with poultry
compost and least in soil containing alkaline-pH-stabilized
dairy cattle manure compost. Survival profiles of
Salmonella on vegetables and soil samples contaminated by irrigation water
were similar to those observed when contamination occurred through
compost. Hence, both contaminated manure compost and irrigation
water can play an important role in contaminating soil and root
vegetables with salmonellae for several months.

INTRODUCTION
Animal wastes in the form of manure are largely recycled to
agricultural land as the most economical and environmentally
sustainable means of treatment and reuse. These materials have
a beneficial fertilizer value (nitrogen-phosphate-potassium)
and can help maintain soil quality and fertility. However, animal
manures frequently contain enteric pathogenic microorganisms
(
15) and land spreading can lead to pathogen entry into the
food chain. Therefore, controlling the levels of pathogens in
animal wastes used on agricultural fields should help to reduce
pathogen contamination of soil, surrounding water, and produce
grown in these areas. Although manure is an obvious source of
pathogens, two additional sources of pathogens that contaminate
soil, water, crops, animals, and humans are runoff water from
manure fields and irrigation water containing manure (
9). Many
outbreaks of infection have been associated with water or food,
including processed fruits and vegetables, directly or indirectly
contaminated with animal manure (
1-
6,
20). Cross-contamination
of produce from manure or improperly composted manure used on
the farm can be a source of pathogen contamination preharvest.
Although competition with soil microorganisms and adverse environmental
conditions can reduce the number of pathogens, there is little
information regarding the degree to which these pathogens can
survive in manure-amended soils or in soils irrigated with contaminated
water. In this study, our objective was to determine the fate
of an avirulent strain of
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
on carrots and radishes and in surrounding soil when manure
composts of different types or irrigation water contaminated
with salmonellae were applied to soil in fields typical of those
used for vegetable production.

Bacterial culture and inoculum preparation.
An avirulent strain of
S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (

3985

crp-11

cya-12) obtained from Roy Curtiss III, Washington University,
St. Louis, Mo., was used for the field study. This strain is
a serovar Typhimurium deletion mutant lacking adenylate cyclase
and cyclic AMP receptor protein, rendering it avirulent yet
still immunogenic (
7). This strain grows more slowly than wild-type
strains but possesses the wild-type ability to attach to, invade,
and persist in gut-associated lymphoid tissue. This strain is
unable to utilize maltose, a characteristic differentiating
it from other salmonellae and
Enterobacteriaceae. Cells were
thawed from a frozen stock culture, streaked onto tryptic soy
agar (TSA; Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.), and incubated
for 24 h at 37°C. A single colony from the TSA plate was
inoculated into 10 ml of tryptic soy broth (Difco Laboratories)
and incubated at 37°C for 16 to 18 h with agitation (150
rpm). A 0.5-ml suspension of the isolate was transferred to
100 ml of tryptic soy broth and incubated for 16 to 18 h with
agitation (150 rpm). The bacteria were sedimented three times
by centrifugation (4,000
x g for 20 min each time) and washed
in 0.1% peptone water. The cell pellets were suspended in 0.1%
peptone water to achieve an optical density at 630 nm of 0.5
(ca. 10
8 CFU ml
1). Cell numbers were determined by plating
of the inoculum on TSA plates.

Inoculation of composts and irrigation water and planting of vegetables.
Composts used included PM-5 (poultry manure compost), 338 (dairy
cattle manure compost), and NVIRO-4 (alkaline-pH-stabilized
dairy cattle manure compost), and were provided by Patricia
Millner at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville,
Md. Each of the three poultry or dairy cattle manure composts
was inoculated with serovar Typhimurium at 10
7 CFU g
1.
Irrigation water was inoculated with 10
5 serovar Typhimurium
ml
1. Compost was applied at a rate of 4.5 metric tons/hectare
as a strip 1 day before the planting of seeds. Within a few
hours after the carrots and radishes were seeded, a one-time
treatment of 2 liters of contaminated irrigation water was hand-sprayed
onto the soil of each of the five plots. No chemical treatments
for weed control were applied to any of the plots. A split-plot
block design plan was followed for each crop, with five treatments
(one without compost, three with each of three composts, and
one without compost but with contaminated water applied) and
five replicates, resulting in a total of 25 plots for each crop.
Each plot measured 1.8
x 4.6 m. Carrot (Choctaw variety; Solar
Seed Co., Eustis, Fla.) and radish (Red Prince variety; Asgrow
Seed Company, Kalamazoo, Mich.) seeds were directly sown on
the Horticulture Farm of the Coastal Plain Experiment Station
of the University of Georgia, Tifton, in mid-October, according
to production guidelines of the University of Georgia Cooperative
Extension Service (
13).

Sample collection and analysis.
At selected time intervals, for each plot for each crop, ca.
100 g of soil was aseptically collected with a sterile spoon
in a sterile plastic bag from around a randomly selected plant
at 2.5 cm below the surface. From each plot, a randomly selected
plant was pulled from the soil and collected aseptically in
a sterile plastic bag. Only the edible tuber portions of carrots
or radishes were collected as plant samples. The samples were
transported to the laboratory in a cooler with ice, placed into
a walk-in cooler at 4°C within 4 h of collection, and analyzed
within 48 h. Each soil sample (10 g) was mixed with 90 ml of
0.1% peptone water in a sterile Whirl-Pak bag and pummeled in
a stomacher for 30 s at low speed. Approximately 5 g of each
plant (radish or carrot) was mixed with 45 ml of 0.1% peptone
water in a sterile Whirl-Pak bag and rinsed by rubbing and vigorously
agitating the plant by hand for 30 s. Serovar Typhimurium counts
in peptone water of soil samples and in peptone wash water of
plant samples were determined. Serial dilutions (1:10) were
prepared from each sample using 0.1% peptone water, and 0.1-ml
portions of each dilution in duplicate were spread onto MacConkey
agar with 1% maltose plates. Plates were incubated at 37°C
for 24 h, and colonies of serovar Typhimurium, which were white
with a pink center, were counted. Randomly selected colonies
that were white with a pink center were confirmed to be
Salmonella by a latex agglutination test (Oxoid Inc., Ogdensburg, N.Y.).
When the pathogen was not detected by direct plating, 1 g of
soil or vegetable sample was added to 99 ml of universal preenrichment
broth and incubated at 37°C for 24 h with agitation (150
rpm). Serial dilutions (1:10) of cultures were surface plated
in duplicate on MacConkey agar with 1% maltose plates, and colonies
were confirmed for
Salmonella according to the procedure described
above. The experimental design was a split plot, where the crop
was the main plot and the treatment was the subplot. Each treatment
was replicated five times, and each sample from a treatment
was plated in duplicate at each sampling time. Hence,
Salmonella results reported for each data point are the means of 10 values.
Data were analyzed by the general linear model procedure of
the Statistical Analysis System (SAS Inc., Cary, N.C.).
Salmonella serovar Typhimurium survived for at least 203 days in all the amended soil samples on which carrots or radishes were grown (Fig. 1 and 2). However, in soil samples amended with poultry manure compost PM-5 and dairy cattle manure compost 338, survival was up to 231 days. There was considerable variation in Salmonella counts at each sampling time; hence, standard deviations for data points were not included. Analysis of carrots grown in amended soils began on day 42 and that of radishes began on day 21, when the vegetables were large enough for sampling. Serovar Typhimurium was detected for 203 days on carrots and for 84 days on radishes after seeds were sown (Fig. 3 and 4). Initial serovar Typhimurium cell numbers ranged from 1.8 to 3.83 log10 CFU g of carrots1 (Fig. 3) and from 1.53 to 2.36 log10 CFU g of radishes1 (Fig. 4) at the initial day of sampling (42 and 21 days, respectively). Serovar Typhimurium cell numbers on carrots declined progressively with time but remained in approximately the same range through 84 days on radishes. At approximate dates when radishes (day 57) and carrots (day 149) were harvestable, serovar Typhimurium counts were 1.0 to 2.5 and 1.0 to 1.2 log10 CFU g1 on the vegetables, respectively. The radishes (91 days) and carrots (231 days) were grown well beyond normal growing cycles to enable determination of the length of time salmonellae could survive in soil under field conditions.
Mineral and nitrate composition and pH values of the three different
compost preparations are presented in Table
1. Nitrogen-phosphate-potassium
values were highest for dairy cattle manure compost and lowest
for alkaline-pH-stabilized dairy cattle manure compost (Table
1). The pH values of composts PM-5, 338, and NVIRO-4 were 8.1,
8.7, and 7.5, respectively (Table
1). Throughout the study period
of nearly 250 days, the pH values of the manure compost-amended
soil for both carrots and radishes for all of the treatments
did not vary greatly, ranging from 6.7 and 8.0. There were no
correlations between differences in the nutrient compositions
and pH values of the compost and rates of
Salmonella inactivation
in soil or persistence on vegetables. Moisture contents of the
soil varied widely, from 1 to 10%, depending on rainfall (data
for pH and moisture content are not shown). Harvest data for
the two crops revealed that the greatest yields were from the
dairy cattle manure-amended soil. On day 149, when the carrots
were ready for harvest, the average weight of a carrot grown
on dairy cattle manure compost-amended soil was 122 g, whereas
the average weight of a carrot grown on poultry manure compost-amended
soil or alkaline-pH-stabilized manure compost-amended soil was
108 or 93 g, respectively. Similarly, on day 57, when the radishes
were ready for harvest, the average weight of a radish grown
on dairy cattle, poultry, or alkaline-pH-stabilized manure compost-amended
soil was 52, 47, or 45 g, respectively. These results conform
to the nutritional composition of the composts, with dairy cattle
manure compost having the greatest nitrate and mineral contents
and alkaline-pH-stabilized dairy cattle manure compost having
the least (Table
1).
The avirulent strain of serovar Typhimurium was selected for
these studies because of concerns about safe use in the field,
where its propagation cannot be controlled. This strain possesses
the wild-type ability to attach to, invade, and persist in gut-associated
lymphoid tissue. In a similar study that we performed (using
a commercial compost and one vegetable crop) in an environmentally
controlled chamber, persistence of this avirulent strain was
compared to that of a virulent
S. enterica serovar Typhimurium
strain (ME18). The avirulent mutant strain was detected for
70 days (duration of the study), whereas the virulent strain
was not detected after 35 days, suggesting that the avirulent
strain is more persistent in soil and on vegetables than the
virulent one (unpublished data).
Salmonella spp. have been reported
to survive in soils for long periods of time (up to 968 days)
(
12). Survival times for up to 300 days in soils spread with
cattle slurry have been reported, with survival for up to 259
days having been observed in soils amended with animal feces
(
12). Factors affecting the survival of
Salmonella spp. in soil
include the initial number of salmonellae, temperature, frost,
moisture content, humidity, sunlight, salt concentration, soil
texture, organic matter content, and the presence of other microorganisms
(
11). Several studies have revealed that pathogens applied directly
to plants survive for shorter periods of time than those applied
to soils (
12). In our study, no definitive interpretation of
the data could be made relative to the influence of any specific
factor on the survival of
Salmonella.
When manures are applied to land, there is likely to be some movement of the pathogens that they contain through the soil matrix, both vertically and horizontally. The degree of movement will affect the likelihood of pathogens reaching aquifers or surface waters. If these waters are subsequently used for irrigation of produce or for consumption by livestock, there are implications for food safety. Factors known to influence the horizontal movement of pathogens across soils include soil type, soil water content, amount and intensity of rainfall, temperature, nematodal activity, surface charge and size of microorganism, transport through plant roots, and soil pH (14). Factors influencing the vertical movement of pathogens through the soil include the amount and intensity of rainfall, the proximity of the pollutant source, agricultural practice, weather, and the season of application (14, 16). Generally, pathogen survival is favored in aqueous environments, and thus water availability and movement are the single most important factors in determining how far pathogens are likely to move through or across soils. Temperature is also an important consideration, with higher temperatures, e.g., 35°C, reducing pathogen survival (19). Although soil temperatures below the top 5 cm fluctuate seasonally, they are largely unaffected by daily temperature differences. Temperature was determined to be the most important factor influencing pathogen survival in sludge-amended soils, with increasing survival times being a function of decreasing temperature (18, 19). Experiments where sludge was inoculated with Salmonella spp. revealed that 45 days was required for a 99% reduction, and persistence times were greater than 5 months (19).
Thermophilic composting is one method for biological stabilization and decomposition of organic substrates in animal manure under conditions which allow for the development of high temperatures (55 to 65°C) resulting from biologically produced heat (17). The final product of composting is sufficiently stable for storage and application to the land without adverse environmental effects. In addition to the stabilization of nutrients, well-managed composting can produce a product that has substantially fewer pathogens than the original manure (10). Bacterial pathogens originally present at levels of 104 to 106 CFU per g of dry solids can be reduced to undetectable numbers by the end of an efficiently operated composting process (8). However, some composting practices are less effective than others, in part because compost piles are infrequently turned, because moisture content or the pH of compost materials is inadequate for optimal microbial activity, or because there is insufficient ventilation or oxygen content within the compost heaps. Such practices may lead to the survival of substantial numbers of pathogenic bacteria. When reduced turning and temperature monitoring coincide with a situation in which parts of the compostable mass are not exposed to lethal temperatures for a sufficient length of time at the most vulnerable parts of the pile, then pathogens can survive. One of the alternatives to composting as a manure treatment involves the mixing of alkaline by-products, such as fly ash, with manure at high rates to produce an organic lime product in which fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella spp. are destroyed within minutes of the mixing of appropriate proportions of the manure and such by-products (P. D. Millner, personal communication, 2002).
Native Salmonella spp. were not detected in any of the composts used in our study. With the three composts that were used, the survival of the organism was greatest in soil amended with poultry compost and least in soil amended with alkaline-pH-stabilized dairy cattle manure compost. Studies of alkaline-stabilization treatment of manure have revealed that the normal population of fecal coliforms in manure is reduced by more than 3 log10 CFU g1 within minutes and that there is no increase in fecal coliforms during 4 weeks of subsequent curing (P. D. Millner, personal communication, 2002). The survival rates for Salmonella in soil contaminated by irrigation water were similar to those observed for the compost-amended soil. It is remarkable that a one-time application of contaminated irrigation water or compost can result in pathogen contamination of radishes and carrots well beyond their growing cycle. Our results indicate that contaminated irrigation water or manure compost may play an important role in contaminating vegetables and the soil in which they grow.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was funded by a grant from the Initiative for
Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS), U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
We thank Roy Curtiss III, Washington University, for providing S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (
3985
crp-11
cya-12). We gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Adriane Ogletree and Clint Patton in the microbiological sampling and analyses, statistical analyses by Jerry Davis, and the technical assistance of Ronald Dozier, Anthony Bateman, and Brandi Hurley in the production of carrots and radishes. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an early version of the manuscript.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Center for Food Safety, The University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment St., Griffin, GA 30223-1797. Phone: (770) 228-7284. Fax: (770) 229-3216. E-mail:
mdoyle{at}uga.edu.


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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2004, p. 2497-2502, Vol. 70, No. 4
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.4.2497-2502.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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