Interactions of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium and Pectobacterium carotovorum within a Tomato Soft Rot.

spp. are remarkably adaptable pathogens, and this adaptability allows these bacteria to thrive in a variety of environments and hosts. The mechanisms with which these pathogens establish within a niche amid the native microbiota remain poorly understood. Here, we aimed to uncover the mechanisms that enable serovar Typhimurium strain ATCC 14028 to benefit from the degradation of plant tissue by a soft rot plant pathogen, The hypothesis that in the soft rot, the liberation of starch (not utilized by ) makes this polymer available to spp., thus allowing it to colonize soft rots, was tested first and proven null. To identify the functions involved in soft rot colonization, we carried out transposon insertion sequencing coupled with the phenotypic characterization of the mutants. The data indicate that spp. experience a metabolic shift in response to the changes in the environment brought on by spp. and likely coordinated by the small regulatory RNA. While and appear to be of importance in the soft rot, the global two-component system encoded by (which controls and under laboratory conditions) does not appear to be necessary for the observed phenotype. Motility and the synthesis of nucleotides and amino acids play critical roles in the growth of spp. in the soft rot. Outbreaks of produce-associated illness continue to be a food safety concern. Earlier studies demonstrated that the presence of phytopathogens on produce was a significant risk factor associated with increased carriage on fruits and vegetables. Here, we genetically characterize some of the requirements for interactions between and phytobacteria that allow spp. to establish a niche within an alternate host (tomato). Pathways necessary for nucleotide synthesis, amino acid synthesis, and motility are identified as contributors to the persistence of spp. in soft rots.