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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 1999, p. 1-5, Vol. 65, No. 1
0099-2240/99/$00.00+0

Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Fresh-Cut Apple Tissue and Its Potential for Transmission by Fruit Flies

W. J. Janisiewicz,1,* W. S. Conway,2 M. W. Brown,1 G. M. Sapers,3 P. Fratamico,3 and R. L. Buchanan3,dagger

Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kearneysville, West Virginia 254301; Horticultural Crops Quality Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 207052; and Eastern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania 190383

Received 14 May 1998/Accepted 19 October 1998

Pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7, as well as nonpathogenic strains ATCC 11775 and ATCC 23716, grew exponentially in wounds on Golden Delicious apple fruit. The exponential growth occurred over a longer time period on fruit inoculated with a lower concentration of the bacterium than on fruit inoculated with a higher concentration. The bacterium reached the maximum population supported in the wounds regardless of the initial inoculum concentrations. Populations of E. coli O157:H7 in various concentrations of sterilized apple juice and unsterilized cider declined over time and declined more quickly in diluted juice and cider. The decline was greater in the unsterilized cider than in juice, which may have resulted from the interaction of E. coli O157:H7 with natural populations of yeasts that increased with time. Experiments on the transmission of E. coli by fruit flies, collected from a compost pile of decaying apples and peaches, were conducted with strain F-11775, a fluorescent transformant of nonpathogenic E. coli ATCC 11775. Fruit flies were easily contaminated externally and internally with E. coli F-11775 after contact with the bacterium source. The flies transmitted this bacterium to uncontaminated apple wounds, resulting in a high incidence of contaminated wounds. Populations of the bacterium in apple wounds increased significantly during the first 48 h after transmission. Further studies under commercial conditions are necessary to confirm these findings.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 45 Wiltshire Rd., Kearneysville, WV 25430. Phone: (304) 725-3451. Fax: (304) 728-2340. E-mail: wjanisie{at}afrs.ars.usda.gov.

dagger Present address: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC 20204.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 1999, p. 1-5, Vol. 65, No. 1
0099-2240/99/$00.00+0


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