Potential Interactions between Salmonella enterica and Ralstonia solanacearum in tomato plants

Over the past decade, the Eastern Shore of Virginia (ESV) has been implicated in at least four outbreaks of salmonellosis associated with tomato, all originating from the same serovar, Salmonella enterica serovar Newport. In addition to Salmonella Newport contamination, the devastating plant disease bacterial wilt, caused by the phytopathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, threatens the sustainability of ESV tomato production. Bacterial wilt is present in most ESV tomato fields and causes devastating yield losses each year. Although the connection between bacterial wilt and tomato-related salmonellosis outbreaks in ESV is of interest, the relationship between the two pathogens has never been investigated. In this study, tomato plants were root dip inoculated with one of four treatments: (i) 8 log CFU of Salmonella Newport per ml, (ii) 5 log CFU of R. solanacearum per ml, (iii) a coinoculation of 8 log CFU of Salmonella Newport per ml plus 5 log CFU of R. solanacearum per ml, and (iv) sterile water as control. Leaf, stem, and fruit samples were collected at the early-green-fruit stage, and S. enterica contamination in the internal tissues was detected. S. enterica was recovered in 1.4 and 2.9% of leaf samples from plants inoculated with Salmonella Newport only and from plants coinoculated with Salmonella Newport plus R. solanacearum, respectively. S. enterica was recovered from 1.7 and 3.5% of fruit samples from plants inoculated with Salmonella Newport only and from plants coinoculated with Salmonella Newport plus R. solanacearum, respectively. There were significantly more stem samples from plants coinoculated with Salmonella Newport plus R. solanacearum that were positive for S. enterica (18.6%) than stem samples collected from plants inoculated with Salmonella Newport only (5.7%). Results suggested that R. solanacearum could influence S. enterica survival and transportation throughout the internal tissues of tomato plants.