Dataset Information

Geographic and Host-Associated Variations in Bacterial Communities on the Floret Surfaces of Field-Grown Broccoli.

ABSTRACT: Fresh vegetables harbor diverse bacterial populations on their surfaces. However, information on this microbiota is limited to a few types of fresh vegetables, and little is known about how it varies with geography and host condition. Here, we analyzed bacterial communities on the floret surfaces of 66 field-grown broccoli collected from 22 farms in four farming regions of Jeju Island, South Korea, using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons, and we determined their relationships to farming region and host-associated factors. Geographic variations in bacterial community composition and diversity were observed among farming regions, which partly reflected their relative humidity and insolation. The most abundant phyla were Proteobacteria, followed by Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes; core operational taxonomic units (OTUs) assigned to Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Oxalobacteraceae, Comamonadaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae contributed to the community differences. Bacterial community composition differed between immature and mature samples, with mature samples harboring higher bacterial diversity. In comparison with communities on other types of fresh vegetables and fruits, bacterial communities on broccoli florets were unique but more similar to those of ground vegetables than to those of tree fruits/vegetables. This study presents novel data on the variability of floret-associated bacterial populations of field-grown broccoli relative to environmental and host-associated factors.IMPORTANCE Fresh vegetables harbor diverse and complex bacterial populations on their surfaces. These indigenous bacteria may play a role in human and crop health; however, the diversity and variability of bacterial communities on fresh vegetables require further study. A popular crop of leafy vegetables, broccoli, is of great agricultural and industrial importance. This study provides a detailed description of the bacterial community composition and diversity on the surfaces of broccoli florets. The variability of bacterial communities is associated with the geographic location of farming sites and is affected by host growth and health. The bacterial communities specific to broccoli were identified and showed greater similarity to those found on ground vegetables than to those found on tree fruits/vegetables. This study presents novel data on the impact of environmental and host-associated conditions on the variability of floret-associated bacterial populations present on field-grown broccoli.

SUBMITTER: Kim MS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5881067 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Geographic and Host-Associated Variations in Bacterial Communities on the Floret Surfaces of Field-Grown Broccoli.

Kim Min-Soo MS Bae Jin-Woo JW Park Eun-Jin EJ

Applied and environmental microbiology 20180402 8

Fresh vegetables harbor diverse bacterial populations on their surfaces. However, information on this microbiota is limited to a few types of fresh vegetables, and little is known about how it varies with geography and host condition. Here, we analyzed bacterial communities on the floret surfaces of 66 field-grown broccoli collected from 22 farms in four farming regions of Jeju Island, South Korea, using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons, and we determined their relationships to farming r ...[more]

PMID: 29427426

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Project description:Fresh fruits and vegetables can harbor large and diverse populations of bacteria. However, most of the work on produce-associated bacteria has focused on a relatively small number of pathogenic bacteria and, as a result, we know far less about the overall diversity and composition of those bacterial communities found on produce and how the structure of these communities varies across produce types. Moreover, we lack a comprehensive view of the potential effects of differing farming practices on the bacterial communities to which consumers are exposed. We addressed these knowledge gaps by assessing bacterial community structure on conventional and organic analogs of eleven store-bought produce types using a culture-independent approach, 16 S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Our results demonstrated that the fruits and vegetables harbored diverse bacterial communities, and the communities on each produce type were significantly distinct from one another. However, certain produce types (i.e., sprouts, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries) tended to share more similar communities as they all had high relative abundances of taxa belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae when compared to the other produce types (i.e., apples, peaches, grapes, and mushrooms) which were dominated by taxa belonging to the Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria phyla. Although potentially driven by factors other than farming practice, we also observed significant differences in community composition between conventional and organic analogs within produce types. These differences were often attributable to distinctions in the relative abundances of Enterobacteriaceae taxa, which were generally less abundant in organically-grown produce. Taken together, our results suggest that humans are exposed to substantially different bacteria depending on the types of fresh produce they consume with differences between conventionally and organically farmed varieties contributing to this variation.

Dataset Information

Geographic and Host-Associated Variations in Bacterial Communities on the Floret Surfaces of Field-Grown Broccoli.

Publications

Geographic and Host-Associated Variations in Bacterial Communities on the Floret Surfaces of Field-Grown Broccoli.

Similar Datasets

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