Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Isolation and characterization of Enterobacteriaceae species infesting post-harvest strawberries and their biological control using bacteriophages

  • Environmental biotechnology
  • Published:
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Strawberry is a significantly consumed fruit worldwide, mostly without being subjected to disinfection processes. During the harvest and transfer from farm to consumers as well as where organic farming practises have been employed, the surface of the fruit may become contaminated by pathogenic bacteria. Post-harvest strawberry fruits in punnets available for public consumption were thus screened for the presence of enteric bacteria in the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. Some of the tested samples (13 %) were found to carry such bacteria and even in greater numbers if organic amendments were used (69 %). The bacteria were found to belong in the genera of Escherichia, Enterobacter, Raoultella, Klebsiella, Pantoea, Shigella, Citrobacter and Cronobacter within the family Enterobacteriaceae. Some of the isolates were found to adhere to Caco-2 cells representing human gut epithelium as well as carrying virulence and toxin genes. Resistance mostly against sulphafurazole, cefoxitin, ampicillin and nitrofurantoin was found among 14 different antimicrobial agents tested including 100 % resistance to cefoxitin and ampicillin in the genus Pantoea. In the second phase of the study, bacteriophages were isolated against the isolates and were subsequently applied to post-harvest fruits. A significant (P ≤ 0.001) reduction in the number of enteric bacteria was observed when a high-titre polyvalent bacteriophage suspension (×1012 PFU/mL) was applied to the fruit surface. Bacteriophages also decreased the adhesion of the Escherichia coli isolates to Caco-2 cells. Findings might indicate that biological control using bacteriophages might be of significant value for the industry targeting to reduce pathogenic loads of bacteria on the fruit.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abadias M, Usall J, Anguera M, Solsona C, Viñas I (2008) Microbiological quality of fresh, minimally-processed fruit and vegetables, and sprouts from retail establishments. Int J Food Microbiol 123(1):121–129

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ackermann H, Heldal M (2010) Basic electron microscopy of aquatic viruses. Manual of aquatic viral ecology. Am Soc Limnol Oceanogr

  • Ackermann H-W, Nyugen T (1983) Sewage coliphages studied by electron microscopy. Appl Environ Microbiol 45:1049–1059

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Adams MH (ed) (1959) Bacteriophages. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian/New Zealand Standard (2007a) Water microbiology. method 1: general information and procedures (ISO 8199:2005, MOD) AS/NZS 4276.1:2007

  • Australian/New Zealand Standard (2007b) Water microbiology. method 7: Escherichia coli and thermotolerant coliforms – membrane filtration method AS/NZS 4276.7:2007

  • Bailey NTJ (1959) In statistical methods in biology. The English Universities Press Ltd, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg G, Eberl L, Hartmann A (2005) The rhizosphere as a reservoir for opportunistic human pathogenic bacteria. Environ Microbiol 7(11):1673–1685

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berger CN, Sodha SV, Shaw RK, Griffin PM, Pink D, Hand P, Frankel G (2010) Fresh fruit and vegetables as vehicles for the transmission of human pathogens. Environ Microbiol 12(9):2385–2397

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beuchat LR, Ryu JH (1997) Produce handling and processing practices. Emerg Infect Dis 3(4):459–465

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brandl MT (2006) Fitness of human enteric pathogens on plants and implications for food safety. Annu Rev Phytopathol 44:367–392

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bras AM, Ketley JM (1999) Transcellular translocation of Campylobacter jejuni across human polarised epithelial monolayers. FEMS Microbiol Lett 179:209–215

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brüssow H (2005) Phage therapy: the Escherichia coli experience. Microbiology 151:2133–2140

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buchholz U, Bernard H, Werber D, Böhmer MM, Remschmidt C, Wilking H, Deleré Y, an der Heiden M, Adlhoch C, Dreesman J, Ehlers J, Ethelberg S, Faber M, Frank C, Fricke G, Greiner M, Höhle M, Ivarsson S, Jark U, Kirchner M, Koch J, Krause G, Luber P, Rosner B, Stark K, Kühne M (2011) German outbreak of Escherichia coli O104: H4 associated with sprouts. New Engl J Med 365(19):1763–1770

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chanishvili N (Ed.) (2012) A literature review of the practical application of bacteriophage research. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

  • Chanishvili N, Sharp R (2008) Bacteriophage therapy: experience from the Eliava Institute, Georgia. Microbiol Aust 29(2):96–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman TA, Wu X, Barchia I, Bettelheim KA, Driesen S, Trott D, Wilson M, Chin J (2006) Comparison of virulence gene profiles of Escherichia coli strains isolated from healthy and diarrheic swine. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:4782–4795

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chattaway MA, Dallman T, Okeke IN, Wain J (2011) Enteroaggregative E. coli O104 from an outbreak of HUS in Germany 2011, could it happen again? J Infect Dev Ctries 5(06):425–436

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz N, Alvarez X, Berg RD, Deitch EA (1994) Bacterial translocation across enterocytes: results of a study of bacterial-enterocyte interactions utilising Caco-2 cells. Shock 1:67–72

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeSantis TZ, Hugenholtz P, Larsen N, Rojas M, Brodie EL, Keller K, Huber T, Dalevi D, Hu P, Andersen GL (2006) Greengenes, a chimera-checked 16S rRNA gene database and workbench compatible with ARB. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:5069–5072

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • El-Tarabily KA (2008) Promotion of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) plant growth by rhizosphere competent 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase-producing streptomycete actinomycetes. Plant Soil 308(1–2):161–174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Endersen L, O’Mahony J, Hill C, Ross RP, McAuliffe O, Coffey A (2014) Phage therapy in the food industry. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol 5(1):327–349

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank C, Werber D, Cramer JP, Askar M, Faber M, an der Heiden M, Bernard H, Fruth A, Prager R, Spode A, Wadl M, Zoufaly A, Jordan S, Stark K, Krause G, for the HUS Investigation Team (2011) Epidemic profile of Shiga-toxin–producing Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreak in Germany. New Engl J Med 365(19):1771–1780

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • French CH, Nicklin S, Bruce NC (2009) Aerobic degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by Enterobacter cloacae PB2 and by pentaerythritol tetranitrate reductase. Appl Environ Microbiol 64(8):2864–2868

    Google Scholar 

  • Gault G, Weill FX, Mariani-Kurkdjian P, Jourdan-da Silva N, King L, Aldabe B, Charron M, Ong N, Castor C, Macé M, Bingen E, Noël A, Vaillant V, Bone A, Vendrely B, Delmas Y, Combe C, Bercion R, d’Andigné E, Desjardin M, de Valk H, Rolland P (2011) Outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and bloody diarrhoea due to Escherichia coli O104: H4, south-West France, June 2011. Euro Surveill 16(26):Article 2

    Google Scholar 

  • Généreux M, Grenier M, Côté C (2015) Persistence of Escherichia coli following irrigation of strawberry grown under four production systems: field experiment. Food Control 47:103–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodridge LD (2004) Bacteriophage biocontrol of plant pathogens: fact or fiction? Trends Biotechnol 22(8):384–385

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grad YH, Lipsitch M, Feldgarden M, Arachchi HM, Cerqueira GC, Fitz Gerald M, Godfrey P, Haas BJ, Murphy CI, Russ C, Sykes S, Walker BJ, Wortman JR, Young S, Zeng Q, Abouelleil A, Bochicchio J, Chauvin S, DeSmet T, Gujia S, McCowan C, Montmayeur A, Steelman S, Frimodt-Møller J, Petersen AM, Struve S, Krogfelt KA, Bingen E, Weill F-X, Lander ES, Nusbaum C, Birren BW, Hung DT, Hanage WP (2012) Genomic epidemiology of the Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreaks in Europe, 2011. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(8):3065–3070

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Grey PA, Kirov SM (1993) Adherence to HEp-2 cells and enteropathogenic potential of Aeromonas spp. Epidemiol Infect 110:279–287

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hagens S, Loessner MJ (2007) Application of bacteriophages for detection and control of foodborne pathogens. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 76(3):513–519

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hatje E, Neuman C, Katouli M (2014) Interaction of Aeromonas strains with lactic acid bacteria via Caco-2 cells. Appl Environ Microbiol 80(2):681–686

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Heaton JC, Jones K (2008) Microbial contamination of fruit and vegetables and the behaviour of enteropathogens in the phyllosphere: a review. J Appl Microbiol 104(3):613–626

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heuer H, Schmitt H, Smalla K (2011) Antibiotic resistance gene spread due to manure application on agricultural fields. Curr Opin Microbiol 14(3):236–243

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Inal JM (2003) Phage therapy: a reappraisal of bacteriophages as antibiotics. Arch Immunol Ther Exp-Eng Ed 51(4):237–244

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Islam M, Doyle MP, Phatak SC, Millner P, Jiang X (2004) Persistence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157: H7 in soil and on leaf lettuce and parsley grown in fields treated with contaminated manure composts or irrigation water. J Food Prot 67(7):1365–1370

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karch H, Denamur E, Dobrindt U, Finlay BB, Hengge R, Johannes L, Ron EZ, Tønjum T, Sansonetti PJ, Vicente M (2012) The enemy within us: lessons from the 2011 European Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreak. EMBO Mol Med 4(9):841–848

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Keeratipibul S, Phewpan A, Lursinsap C (2011) Prediction of coliforms and Escherichia coli on tomato fruits and lettuce leaves after sanitizing by using artificial neural networks. LWT Food Sci Technol 44(1):130–138

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Köpke U, Krämer J, Leifert C, Cooper J, Niggli U (2007) Pre-harvest strategies to ensure the microbiological safety of fruit and vegetables from manure-based production systems. Handbook of Organic Food Safety and Quality, pp 413–429

  • Kullen MJ, Sanozky-Dawes RB, Crowel DC, Klaenhammer TR (2000) Use of the DNA sequence of variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene for rapid and accurate identification of bacteria in the Lactobacillus acidophilus complex. J Appl Microbiol 89(3):511–516

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtböke DI (ed) (2012) Bacteriophages. InTech, Croatia ISBN: 978-953-51-0272-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurtböke DI, Chen C-F, Williams ST (1992) Use of polyvalent phage for reduction of streptomycetes on soil dilution plates. J Appl Bacteriol 72:103–111

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kühn I, Allestam G, Engdahl M, Stenström TA (1997) Biochemical fingerprinting of coliform bacterial populations-comparisons between polluted river water and factory effluents. Water Sci Technol 35(11):343–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig W, Strunk O, Westram R, Richter L, Meier H, Yadhukumar BA, Lai T, Steppi S, Jobb G, Föster W, Brettske I, Gerber S, Ginhart AW, Gross O, Grumann S, Hermann S, Jost R, König A, Liss T, Lüssmann R, May M, Nonhoff B, Reichel B, Strehlow R, Stamatakis A, Stuckmann N, Vilbig A, Lenke M, Ludwig T, Bode A, Schleifer KH (2004) ARB: a software environment for sequence data. Nucleic Acids Res 32(4):1363–1371

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lukasik J, Bradley ML, Scott TM, Dea M, Koo A, Hsu W-Y, Bartz JA, Farrah SR (2003) Reduction of Poliovirus1, bacteriophages, Salmonella montevideo and Escherichia coli 0157:H7 on strawberries by physical and disinfectant washes. J Food Prot 66(2):188–193

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch MF, Tauxe RV, Hedberg CW (2009) The growing burden of foodborne outbreaks due to contaminated fresh produce: risks and opportunities. Epidemiol Infect 137(03):307–315

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahony J, McAuliffe O, Ross RP, van Sinderen D (2011) Bacteriophages as biocontrol agents of food pathogens. Curr Opin Biotechnol 22(2):157–163

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mellmann A, Harmsen D, Cummings CA, Zentz EB, Leopold SR, Rico A, Prior K, Szczepanowski R, Ji Y, Zhang W, McLaughlin SF, Henkhaus JK, Leopold B, Bielaszewska M, Prager R, Brzoska PM, Moore RL, Guenther S, Rothberg JM, Karch H (2011) Prospective genomic characterization of the German enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O104: H4 outbreak by rapid next generation sequencing technology. PLoS One 6(7):e22751

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ninth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2011) (http://www.ictvonline.org/)

  • NSW Food Authority (2009) Microbiological quality guide for ready-to-eat foods. A guide to interpreting microbiological results, http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/_Documents/science/microbiological_quality_guide_for_RTE_food.pdf. Accessed 29 Dec 2012

  • Nüesch-Inderbinen M, Zurfluh K, Peterhans S, Hächler H, Stephan R (2015) Assessment of the prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae in ready-to-eat salads, fresh-cut fruit, and sprouts from the Swiss market. J Food Prot 78(6):1178–1181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Flynn G, Ross RP, Fitzgerald GF, Coffey A (2004) Evaluation of a cocktail of three bacteriophages for biocontrol of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Appl Environ Microbiol 70(6):3417–3424

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing; Twenty-First Informational Supplement (2011) CLSI document M100-S21 (ISBN 1–56238–742-1). Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 940 West Valley Road, Suite 1400, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087 USA

  • Queensland Strawberry Growers Association (2015) http://www.qldstrawberries.com.au/. Accessed 4 Feb 2015

  • Ramos NL, Saayman ML, Chapman TA, Tucker JR, Smith HV, Faoagali J, Chin JC, Brauner A, Katouli M (2010) Genetic relatedness and virulence gene profiles of Escherichia coli strains isolated from septicaemic patients with and without urinary tract infection. Eur J Clin Microbiol 29:15–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reuland EA, Al Naiemi N, Raadsen SA, Savelkoul PHM, Kluytmans JAJW, Vandenbroucke-Grauls CMJE (2014) Prevalence of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in raw vegetables. Eur J Clin Microbiol 33(10):1843–1846

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ruimy R, Brisabois A, Bernede C, Skurnik D, Barnat S, Arlet G, Momcilovic S, Elbaz S, Moury F, Vibet M-A, Courvalin P, Guillemot D, Andremont A (2010) Organic and conventional fruits and vegetables contain equivalent counts of gram-negative bacteria expressing resistance to antibacterial agents. Environ Microbiol 12(3):608–615

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saitou N, Nei M (1987) The neighbour joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. Mol Biol Evol 4(4):406–425

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwaiger K, Helmke K, Hölzel CS, Bauer J (2011) Antibiotic resistance in bacteria isolated from vegetables with regards to the marketing stage (farm vs. supermarket). Int J Food Microbiol 148(3):191–196

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sehnem NT, Souza-Cruz P, Peralba MDOCR, Ayub MAZ (2009) Biodegradation of tebuconazole by bacteria isolated from contaminated soils. J Environ Sci Heal B 45(1):62–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma M, Patel JR, Conway WS, Ferguson S, Sulakvelidze A (2009) Effectiveness of bacteriophages in reducing Escherichia coli O157: H7 on fresh-cut cantaloupes and lettuce. J Food Prot 72(7):1481–1485

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snowden L, Wernbacher L, Stenzel D, Tucker J, McKay D, O’Brien M, Katouli M (2006) Prevalence of environmental Aeromonas in south East Queensland, Australia: a study of their interactions with human monolayer Caco-2 cells. J Appl Microbiol 101:964–975

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon EB, Yaron S, Matthews KR (2002) Transmission of Escherichia coli O157: H7 from contaminated manure and irrigation water to lettuce plant tissue and its subsequent internalization. Appl Environ Microbiol 68(1):397–400

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Söderström A, Österberg P, Lindqvist A, Jönsson B, Lindberg A, Blide Ulander S, Welinder-Olsson C, Löfdahl S, Kaijser B, De Jong B, Kühlmann-Berenzon S, Boqvist S, Eriksson E, Szanto E, Andersson S, Allestam G, Hedenström I, Ledet Muller L, Andersson Y (2008) A large Escherichia coli O157 outbreak in Sweden associated with locally produced lettuce. Foodborne Pathog Dis 5(3):339–349

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Viazis S, Akhtar M, Feirtag J, Diez-Gonzalez F (2011) Reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 viability on leafy green vegetables by treatment with a bacteriophage mixture and trans-cinnamaldehyde. Food Microbiol 28(1):149–157

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Viscardi M, Perugini AG, Auriemma C, Capuano F, Morabito S, Kim K-P, Loessner MJ, Iovane G (2008) Isolation and characterisation of two novel coliphages with high potential to control antibiotic-resistant pathogenic Escherichia coli (EHEC and EPEC). Int J Antimicrob Agents 31(2):152–157

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wells CL, Jechorek RP, Kinneberg KM, Debol SM, Erlandsen SL (1999) The isoflavone genistein inhibits internalization of enteric bacteria by cultured Caco-2 and HT-29 enterocytes. J Nutr 129:634–640

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ye J, Kostrzynska M, Dunfield K, Warriner K (2010) Control of Salmonella on sprouting mung bean and alfalfa seeds by using a biocontrol preparation based on antagonistic bacteria and lytic bacteriophages. J Food Prot 73(1):9–17

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yu K, Newman MC, Archbold DD, Hamilton-Kemp TR (2001) Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on strawberry fruit and reduction of the pathogen population by chemical agents. J Food Prot 64(9):1334–1340

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the joint funding received from Horticulture Australia Ltd. (HAL Ltd.) and the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) (Project Number BS10003). The authors thank Queensland Strawberry Growers Assoc. Inc. (Mr. Lourens Grobler, Secretary) and the Strawberry Fields (Mr. Jon Carmichael and Mr. Brendon Hoyle) for in-kind support throughout the study. Thanks are also due to Mr. Michael Nielsen and Mr. Daryle Sullivan of the USC for their technical support during preliminary analysis of the strawberry samples; to Dr. Ken Wasmund, Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME), Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Austria for the construction of the phylogenetic tree and to Mr. Daniel Powell for GenBank deposition of the sequences as well as for his support throughout the research study. The authors also thank Ms. Rachel Hancock at the Central Analytical Research Facility operated by the Institute for Future Environments of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia for support with the TEM analysis and Dr. Aycan Gündoğdu, Dr. Nicole Masters, Dr. Eva Hatje and Ms. Jasmine Thompson for the assistance provided.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. Ipek Kurtböke.

Ethics declarations

Funding

This study was funded by a joint funding received from Horticulture Australia Ltd. and the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) (Project Number BS10003).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 112 kb)

ESM 2

(PDF 164 kb)

ESM 2

(PDF 312 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kurtböke, D.I., Palk, A., Marker, A. et al. Isolation and characterization of Enterobacteriaceae species infesting post-harvest strawberries and their biological control using bacteriophages. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 8593–8606 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7651-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7651-0

Keywords

Navigation