Survival, growth, and potential of horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes of bovine Salmonella on the cantaloupe surface.

Salmonella can survive, grow, and acquire antibiotic resistance genes on cantaloupe surfaces, with increases up to 3.43 log 10 CFU/mL over five days.

• Why it matters: Understanding the persistence and gene transfer of Salmonella on produce is crucial because contaminated cantaloupes are linked to outbreaks and multidrug resistance poses a public health threat.
• What they did: The study inoculated bovine-derived Salmonella onto cantaloupe surfaces, co-inoculated with E. coli carrying resistance plasmids, and monitored survival, growth, and horizontal gene transfer over five days using culture methods.
• The result: All Salmonella isolates survived and grew, and could accept and integrate resistance genes from E. coli, with transconjugant counts reaching 2.79 log 10 CFU/mL in vitro, highlighting potential risks of resistance spread on produce.