Effects of postharvest onion curing parameters on bulb rot caused byPantoea agglomerans,Pantoea ananatisandPantoea alliiin storage

We present 53 pediatric cases of Pantoea agglomerans infections cultured from normally sterile sites in patients seen at a children's hospital over 6 years. Isolates included 23 from the bloodstream, 14 from abscesses, 10 from joints/bones, 4 from the urinary tract, and 1 each from the peritoneum and the thorax. P. agglomerans was most associated with penetrating trauma by vegetative material and catheter-related bacteremia.

Frankliniella fusca, the tobacco thrips, has been shown to acquire and transmit Pantoea ananatis, one of the causal agents of the center rot of onion. Although Thrips tabaci, the onion thrips, is a common pest of onions, its role as a vector of P. ananatis has been unknown. The bacterium, P. agglomerans, is also associated with the center rot of onion, but its transmission by thrips has not been previously investigated. In this study, we investigated the relationship of T. tabaci with P. ananatis and P. agglomerans. Surface-sterilized T. tabaci were provided with various acquisition access periods (AAP) on onion leaves inoculated with either P. ananatis or P. agglomerans. A positive exponential relationship was observed between thrips AAP duration and P. ananatis (R 2 = 0.967; P = 0.023) or P. agglomerans acquisition (R 2 = 0.958; P = 0.017). Transmission experiments conducted with T. tabaci adults indicated that 70% of the seedlings developed center rot symptoms 15 days after inoculation. Immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies specific to P. ananatis revealed that the bacterium was localized only in the gut of T. tabaci adults. Mechanical inoculation of onion seedlings with fecal rinsates alone produced center rot but not with salivary secretions. Together these results suggested that T. tabaci could efficiently transmit P. ananatis and P. agglomerans.

Center rot of onion, caused by Pantoea ananatis, was first reported on onion in Georgia in 1997 and has continued to reduce yields and cause postharvest losses. In a previous study, we developed a nondestructive assay that demonstrated an association between P. ananatis and approximately 10% of the tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca, surveyed. In this study, we report that all strains of P. ananatis, isolated from surface-sterilized, crushed thrips, were pathogenic when inoculated onto greenhouse-grown onion plants. Furthermore, when 6 to 12 thrips harboring populations of P. ananatis of 1 × 10 3 CFU ml -1 or greater were placed on healthy onion seedlings to feed, disease transmission occurred in 52% of the plants challenged. Incubation periods ranged from 4 to 9 days. Bacteria isolated from symptoms typical of those associated with center rot were characterized and identified as P. ananatis. In contrast, an equal number of plants remained healthy for up to 28 days after being exposed to the same number of tobacco thrips that were identified as being free of P. ananatis.