Erwinia persicinus, a New Species Isolated from Plants

Abstract

Five strains of a gram-negative, oxidase-negative, facultatively anaerobic, fermentative, motile, rod-shaped bacterium with the general characteristics of the family Enterubucteriaceae were isolated from tomatoes (three strains), a banana, and a cucumber. All of the strains produced a water-soluble pink pigment. As determined by DNA hybridization (hydroxyapatite method) these five strains were 85 to 100% related in 60 and 75°C reactions, and related sequences exhibited 1 % or less base sequence divergence, indicating that the organisms are members of a single species. These bacteria were most closely related to Erwiniu rhapontici (68 to 72% at 60"C, 42 to 44% at 75"C, 10.5% divergence) and to hybridization group VIII in the Enterobacter agglomerans (Pantoea agglomerans, Erwiniu herbicoh) complex (64% at 60°C, 32% at 75"C, 14.5% divergence). Phenotypic differentiation from Erwiniu rhapontici, which also produces a water-soluble pink pigment, is , 1963, p. 67) reported the isolation of five water-soluble pink-pigmentproducing, gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, fermentative, rod-shaped bacteria from tomatoes, a banana, and a cucumber. These strains were isolated on nutrient agar containing 1.0% meat extract, 1.0% peptone, 0.5% NaCl, and 1.0% lactose. Komagata and Okada identified these strains tentatively as strains of ''Serratia rubefaciens" (Zimmermann) Bergey et al. on the basis of phenotypic characteristics and the production of the pink pigment. In this study the five pink-pigmented strains were studied biochemically and by using DNA hybridization. Our results indicated that these organisms are members of a new species in the genus Erwiniu, for which the name Erwinia persicinus is proposed. MATERIALS AND METHODSBacterial strains. Unclassified, pink-pigmented strains HK 200, HK 201, HK 203, HK 204T (T = type strain), and HK 205 were obtained from the Central Research Laboratory, Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Kawasaki, Japan. Erwinia rhapontici ATCC 23376, ATCC 29283T, ATCC 29284, and ATCC 29288, Erwinia rubrifaciens ATCC 29291 and ATCC 29292T, and Enterobacter agglomerans ATCC 271ST were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md. Enterobacter agglomerans hybridization group VIII strain CDC 5422-69 (= ATCC 29919) was obtained from the Culture Collection of the Meningitis and Special Pathogens Laboratory Section, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Ga. Strains were maintained on media containing 1% Casitone (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.), 0.3% yeast extract, 0.5% NaC1, and 0.7% agar or on nutrient agar. Cultures were grown at 30°C.Phenotypic characteristics. Biochemical tests that are routinely used for members of the family Enterobacteriaceae were performed by using the methods of Edwards and Ewing (3), with modifications described by Farmer et al. (4) Hickman and Farmer (10). Commercial media were used whenever possible. API 20E strips (API System S.A., Montalieu-Vercieu, France) were used for preliminary characterization; API 50CH and API 5OCHE strips (API System S.A.) were use...

Identification of a Chromosome-Borne Expanded-Spectrum Class A β-Lactamase from Erwinia persicina

“…Most members of this genus characteristically cause diseases of plants, vegetables, and fruits (31). The phylogenetic position of the genus Erwinia, along with other members of the Enterobacteriaceae associated with plants, have been explored by using 16S ribosomal DNA sequence comparisons (10,11). Four phylogenetic groups, each representing a branch of a lineage, have been proposed (31).…”

Molecular Characterization of Spoilage Bacteria as a Means To Observe the Microbiological Quality of Carrot

“…However, E. rhapontici has been reported to be a causative agent of rhubarb crown rot, pink grain of wheat strains, and pink seed of pea (27,41). Based on 16S rDNA sequence studies, E. rhapontici has been found to be very similar to the type strain of Erwinia persicinus (99.0%), found in vegetables and fruits (21,27).…”

Crossing the kingdom border: Human diseases caused by plant pathogens

“…More recently, a case of contact lens-related infectious keratitis was attributed to R. radiobacter (Fenner et al, 2019). The plant pathogen Erwinia persinicus was originally isolated from tomatoes, cucumber and banana (Hao et al, 1990) and was found to infect bean pods and seeds. E. persinicus also exhibited pathogenicity in invertebrate model infection stems such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster (Starr and Chatterjee, 1972;Chatterjee and Starr, 1980;O'Hara et al, 1998).…”