Stored rice was collected from rice processing complexes of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of 11 regions in Korea to evaluate the occurrence of fungi and bacteria and to identify the predominant fungi and bacteria to the genus levels. Most rice samples generally produced the higher levels of fungi and bacteria than white rice. The occurrence of fungi and bacteria varied in various locations of Korea. Among fungi observed, Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. were dominant in the samples and Aspergillus spp. were observed more frequently than Penicillium spp. Predominant bacteria from rice and white rice samples tentatively belonged to the Genus Bacillus, Pectobacterium, Pantoea, and Microbacterium according to BIOLOG and FAME analyses. The results of this study showed that rice in Korea was contaminated in a relatively high level by two dominant storage fungi such as Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. In addition, occurrence of mycotoxins in rice by the fungi could be possible and thus it is necessary to control the storage fungi.
Aspergillus ; Bacillus ; Bacteria* ; Fungi* ; Korea* ; Mycotoxins ; Pantoea ; Pectobacterium ; Penicillium

The aquatic grass Zizania latifolia grows symbiotically with the fungus Ustilago esculenta producing swollen structures called Jiaobai, widely cultivated in China. A new disease of Z. latifolia was found in Zhejiang Province, China. Initial lesions appeared on the leaf sheaths or sometimes on the leaves near the leaf sheaths. The lesions extended along the axis of the leaf shoots and formed long brown to dark brown streaks from the leaf sheath to the leaf, causing sheath rot and death of entire leaves on young plants. The pathogen was isolated and identified as the bacterium Pantoea ananatis, based on 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing, multilocus sequence analysis (atpD (β-subunit of ATP synthase F1), gyrB (DNA gyrase subunit B), infB (translation initiation factor 2), and rpoB (β‍-subunit of RNA polymerase) genes), and pathogenicity tests. Ultrastructural observations using scanning electron microscopy revealed that the bacterial cells colonized the vascular tissues in leaf sheaths, forming biofilms on the inner surface of vessel walls, and extended between vessel elements via the perforated plates. To achieve efficient detection and diagnosis of P. ananatis, species-specific primer pairs were designed and validated by testing closely related and unrelated species and diseased tissues of Z. latifolia. This is the first report of bacterial sheath rot disease of Z. latifolia caused by P. ananatis in China.
Pantoea/genetics* ; Plant Diseases/microbiology* ; Poaceae/microbiology* ; Virulence

A 52-year-old man undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis presented with two consecutive episodes of peritonitis caused by unusual organisms, namely, Brevibacterium and Pantoea agglomerans. The patient was successfully treated with a 2-week course of cefazolin and ceftazidime for the Brevibacterium-associated peritonitis, and a 3-week course of gentamicin for the P. agglomerans-associated peritonitis. Although these environmental organisms are rarely responsible for human infection, the number of reported cases of human infection by these unusual organisms has increased. This report emphasizes the potential for infection by environmental organisms in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.
Brevibacterium ; Cefazolin ; Ceftazidime ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pantoea ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Peritonitis

Microorganisms belonging to the genus Pantoea rarely cause infection in normal hosts, but are common in hospitalized or immunocompromised patients. Pantoea agglomerans has frequently been associated with exogenous sources such as plants, soil, water, and foodstuffs. Until now, only one case of P. agglomerans associated peritonitis has been reported in an adult patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). We report a case of peritonitis due to P. agglomerans in a 55 year old man with maintenance CAPD. Antibiotic therapy with intraperitoneal cefazolin and gentamicin led to clinical improvement.
Adult ; Cefazolin ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Pantoea ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Peritonitis ; Soil

Pantoea infections are rare in humans and an unusual cause for sepsis in immunocompetent patient. It is a gram-nagative bacillus of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Infections are usually associated with plant thorn injury or outbreak traced to comtaminated parenteral nutrition. We experienced a case of pantoea species cholecystitis and cholangitis with bacteremia. The patient was administrated intravenous antibiotics, and then patient was improved.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bacillus ; Bacteremia ; Cholangitis ; Cholecystitis ; Enterobacteriaceae ; Humans ; Pantoea ; Parenteral Nutrition ; Plants ; Sepsis

For microbial production of lycopene, the lycopene synthetic genes from Pantoea agglomerans were integrated into Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain BY4742, to obtain strain ZD-L-000 for production of 0.17 mg · L(-1) lycopene. Improving supplies of isoprenoid precursors was then investigated for increasing lycopene production. Four key genes were chosen to be overexpressed, inclu- ding truncated 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase gene (tHMG1), which is the major rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway, a mutated global regulatory factor gene (upc2.1), a fusion gene of FPP synthase (ERG20) and endogenous GGPP synthase (BTS1), which is a key enzyme in the diterpenoid synthetic pathway, and GGPP synthase gene (SaGGPS) from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Over-expression of upc2.1 could not improve lycopene production, while over-expression of tHMGI , BTS1-ERG20 and SaGGPS genes led to 2-, 16. 9- and20. 5-fold increase of lycopene production, respectively. In addition, three effective genes, tHMG1, BTS1-ERG20 and SaGGPS, were integrated into rDNA sites of ZD-L-000, resulting in strain ZD-L-201 for production of 13.23 mg · L(-1) lycopene, which was 77-fold higher than that of the parent strain. Finally, two-phase extractive fermentation was performed. The titer of lycopene increased 10-fold to 135.21 mg · L(-1). The engineered yeast strains obtained in this work provided the basis for fermentative production of lycopene.
Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Carotenoids ; biosynthesis ; Genes, Synthetic ; Genetic Engineering ; Pantoea ; enzymology ; genetics ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; metabolism

Uterine sterilization is important for improving fertility in cattle. This study compared bacterial flora in the uterus between healthy and repeat breeder cows (RBCs). The uterine flushing of six heifers, 13 healthy HanWoo cows and eight RBCs (HanWoo) were sampled, and 15 frozen semen samples were selected. Overall, 35 bacteria were identified from in HanWoo uterine flushing and semen. The bacterial genera identified from HanWoo uterine flushing were Alloiococcus, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Erysipelothrix, Gardnerella, Granulicatella, Kocuria, Pantoea, Pasteurella, Rothia, Serratia, Sphingomonas, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas and Streptococcus. The bacterial genera identified from HanWoo semen were Bacillus, Escherichia, Kocuria, Oligella, Pseudomonas, Serratia, Sphingomonas, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas and Streptococcus. The prevalence and presence of the identified bacteria between healthy cows and RBCs differed significantly. Further studies are needed to determine the role of these bacteria in the uterus of HanWoo cattle with reproductive disorder.
Animals ; Bacillus ; Bacteria ; Cattle* ; Enterobacter ; Enterococcus ; Erysipelothrix ; Escherichia ; Fertility ; Flushing ; Gardnerella ; Pantoea ; Pasteurella ; Prevalence ; Pseudomonas ; Semen ; Semen Preservation ; Serratia ; Sphingomonas ; Staphylococcus ; Stenotrophomonas ; Sterilization ; Streptococcus ; Uterus*

A previously healthy 50-year-old man was transferred to our hospital for evaluation of acute inflammation in his right eye after ocular trauma while using a grass mower. Slit lamp examination showed 1 mm-length full thickness corneal laceration without leakage, 4+ cells and inflammatory membrane in the anterior chamber, 10% hypopyon, posterior synechiae formation, and cataract change. Upon orbital computerized tomography, a metallic intraocular foreign body in the lens was indentified. Vitrectomy, phacoemulsification, foreign body removal, anterior chamber irrigation, and intravitreal antibiotics injections of vancomycin and ceftazidime were performed. In a culture of humor from the anterior chamber grew Pantoea species. More procedures were performed, including intravitreal antibiotics injection of ceftazidime. Upon administering a course of intravenous ceftazidime, fortified ceftazidime and moxifloxacin eye drops, and oral prednisolone, the patient improved.
Anti-Infective Agents/administration & dosage ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Endophthalmitis/diagnosis/*microbiology/therapy ; Enterobacteriaceae Infections/diagnosis/*microbiology/therapy ; Humans ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pantoea/*isolation & purification ; Republic of Korea

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the Vitek system and the disk diffusion method for susceptibility testing of Enterobacteriaceaeagainst piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) against trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT)using the broth microdilution method as the reference. METHODS: Using the Vitek system and the disk diffusion method, we tested 96 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae (48 Escherichia coli, 26 Klebsiella pneumoniae, 8 Serratia marcescens, 6 Enterobacter cloacae, 2 E. aerogenes, 2 K. oxytoca, 2 Citrobacter freundii, 2 Pantoea agglomerans) and 61 isolates of MRSA for susceptibity against TZP and SXT, respectively; the broth microdilution of National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards was used as the reference method. RESULTS: In the susceptibility testing of Enterobacteriaceae against TZP, Vitek system yielded 10 (10%) minor errors, and the disk diffusion method one (1%) very major and 13 (14%) minor errors. For the MRSA against SXT, the rate of categorical agreement between the reference method and the Vitek or the disk diffusion method was both 100%. The rates of agreement between the reference method and the Vitek system in term of MICs (within +/-1 dilution) were 93% and 98% in the susceptibility testing of Enterobacteriaceae against TZP and MRSA against SXT, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both Vitek system and disk diffusion method showed an acceptable level of accuracy for the susceptibility test of Enterobacteriaceaeagainst TZP and MRSA against SXT.
Citrobacter freundii ; Diffusion* ; Enterobacter cloacae ; Enterobacteriaceae* ; Escherichia coli ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Methicillin Resistance* ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus* ; Pantoea ; Serratia marcescens ; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination*

To improve the yield of sucrose isomerase from Pantoea dispersa UQ68J, we studied the effect of different signal peptides and fermentation conditions on sucrose isomerase expression in Escherichia coli. The gene of sucrose isomerase was optimized and expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) with native signal peptide which was named as ORI strain. The total and extracellular enzyme activity was 85 and 65 U/mL in the flask, respectively. The mature protein, which started from the 22th amino acid, was connected with the PelB and OmpA signal peptide to construct P22 and O22 strain, respectively. The total activity of P22 reached 138 U/mL, which was 1.6 times of ORI strain. The total activity of O22 strain was similar to that of ORI strain. Induced by 3.0 g/L lactose, the total activity of P22 strain increased to 168 U/mL. In 3 L fermentor, the effects of glycine concentration and induction time were studied. Induction when the DCW reached 18 g/L (OD₆₀₀=30), with 0.5% glycine, the extracellular enzyme activity reached 1 981 U/mL, and the total enzyme activity reached 2 640 U/mL, which is the highest activity of sucrose isomerase that was expressed in recombinant E. coli.
Bacterial Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Bioreactors ; Escherichia coli ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Gene Expression ; Glucosyltransferases ; biosynthesis ; Lactose ; Pantoea ; enzymology ; Protein Sorting Signals ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis