Abstract
BACKGROUND: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) consumption has been one of the most common causes of produce-associated salmonellosis in the United States. Contamination may originate from animal waste, insects, soil or water. Current guidelines for fresh tomato production recommend the use of potable water for applications coming in direct contact with the fruit, but due to high demand, water from other sources is frequently used. We sought to describe the overall bacterial diversity on the surface of tomato fruit and the effect of two different water sources (ground and surface water) when used for direct crop applications by generating a 454-pyrosequencing 16S rRNA dataset of these different environments. This study represents the first in depth characterization of bacterial communities in the tomato fruit surface and the water sources commonly used in commercial vegetable production. RESULTS: The two water sources tested had a significantly different bacterial composition. Proteobacteria was predominant in groundwater samples, whereas in the significantly more diverse surface water, abundant phyla also included Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. The fruit surface bacterial communities on tomatoes sprayed with both water sources could not be differentiated using various statistical methods. Both fruit surface environments had a high representation of Gammaproteobacteria, and within this class the genera Pantoea and Enterobacter were the most abundant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the major differences observed in the bacterial composition of ground and surface water, the season long use of these very different water sources did not have a significant impact on the bacterial composition of the tomato fruit surface. This study has provided the first next-generation sequencing database describing the bacterial communities living in the fruit surface of a tomato crop under two different spray water regimes, and therefore represents an important step forward towards the development of science-based metrics for Good Agricultural Practices.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Groundwater and surface water had significantly different bacterial compositions.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“The two water sources tested had a significantly different bacterial composition.”
Claim · model-written summary
Proteobacteria predominated in groundwater.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“Proteobacteria was predominant in groundwater samples”
Claim · model-written summary
Surface water was more diverse and contained abundant Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“in the significantly more diverse surface water, abundant phyla also included Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia.”
Claim · model-written summary
Tomato fruit-surface bacterial communities after the two sprays could not be distinguished statistically.
- Taxon
- tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Organ / stage
- fruit surfacee0
- Treatment
- sprayed with both water sourcese0
- Outcome
- fruit surface bacterial communitiese0
- Direction
- could not be differentiatede0
- Comparator
- both water sourcese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“The fruit surface bacterial communities on tomatoes sprayed with both water sources could not be differentiated using various statistical methods.”
Claim · model-written summary
Both tomato fruit-surface environments had high Gammaproteobacteria representation.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Organ / stage
- fruit surfacee0
- Outcome
- high representation of Gammaproteobacteriae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“Both fruit surface environments had a high representation of Gammaproteobacteria”
Claim · model-written summary
Pantoea and Enterobacter were the most abundant Gammaproteobacteria genera on fruit surfaces.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Outcome
- genera Pantoea and Enterobacter were the most abundante0
- Direction
- most abundante0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“within this class the genera Pantoea and Enterobacter were the most abundant.”
Claim · model-written summary
The study produced a sequencing database of tomato fruit-surface bacterial communities under two spray regimes.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Organ / stage
- fruit surfacee0
- Outcome
- next-generation sequencing databasee0
- Value
- firste0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“tomato”
e0“This study has provided the first next-generation sequencing database describing the bacterial communities living in the fruit surface of a tomato crop under two different spray water regimes”
The same questions in other papers
application · soil: biology · Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)Positive and negative results
1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
- positive
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5 papers more in this group
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