''Pantoea agglomerans'' is a
Gram-negative
Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...
bacterium
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...
that belongs to the family
Erwiniaceae
The ''Erwiniaceae'' are a family of Gram-negative bacteria which includes a number of plant pathogens and insect endosymbionts. This family is a member of the order Enterobacterales in the class Gammaproteobacteria of the phylum Pseudomonadota. ...
.
It was formerly called ''Enterobacter agglomerans'', or ''Erwinia herbicola'' and is a ubiquitous bacterium commonly isolated from plant surfaces, seeds, fruit, and animal or human feces and can be found throughout a honeybee's environment. Levan produced by ''Pantoea agglomerans'' ZMR7 was reported to decrease the viability of rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) and breast cancer (MDA) cells compared with untreated cancer cells. In addition, it has high antiparasitic activity against the promastigote of ''
Leishmania tropica
''Leishmania tropica'' is a flagellate parasite and the cause of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans. This parasite is restricted to Afro-Eurasia and is a common cause of infection in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco ...
''.
Plant Disease Biocontrol
''Pantoea agglomerans'' can serve as a
biocontrol
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of pest control, controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or phytopathology, plants by bioeffector, using other organisms. It relies o ...
organism for the management of plant diseases. It has been used to control
fire blight
Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...
, a plant disease caused by bacterium ''
Erwinia amylovora
Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...
,'' that is a common problem in pear and apple crops.
After coming in contact with ''Erwinia amylovora'', ''Pantoea agglomerans'' produces antibiotic compounds that are toxic to the fire blight-inducing bacterium. It is possible that habitat modification or exclusion (competition) also be mechanisms that make ''Pantoea agglomerans'' effective for fire blight biological control.
Environmental factors influencing the growth and spread of ''Pantoea agglomerans'' include winter chilling, good sunlight exposure and quality air circulation. Fruit-bearing trees, such as apple and pear trees are common ''Pantoea agglomerans'' hosts and during blooming season the fruit-bearing trees receive a period of chilling to revive them from their dormant state in the following spring. In terms of sunlight exposure, fruit trees generally grow best in warm, moist and well-lit environments, thus ''Pantoea agglomerans'' must also be able to survive under these conditions to effectively protect healthy plant hosts. ''Pantoea agglomerans'' is an aerobic bacterium, so it requires a certain level of air circulation in order to survive.
''Pantoea agglomerans'' has also been used as a biocontrol organism to manage other plant diseases, such as grapevine trunk disease caused by the fungal pathogen ''Neofusicoccum parvum''.
Insect symbiont
''Pantoea agglomerans'' is also found in the
gut of
locusts
Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a Swarm behaviour, swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circu ...
. The locusts have adapted to use the
guaiacol
Guaiacol () is an organic compound with the formula C6H4(OH)(OCH3). It is a phenolic compound containing a methoxy functional group. Guaiacol appears as a viscous colorless oil, although aged or impure samples are often yellowish. It occurs wid ...
produced by ''Pantoea agglomerans'' to initiate the synchronized
swarming
Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective animal behaviour, collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or a ...
of locusts.
It is also commonly found as a symbiont in the
gut of
mosquito
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...
es. Scientists have created a
genetically modified
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including th ...
strain of ''Pantoea agglomerans'' produce
antimalarial
Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young ...
effector molecules. Inoculating mosquitoes with this strain reduced the prevalence of the malaria-causing organism (''
Plasmodium
''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a Hematophagy, blood-feeding insect host (biology), host which then inj ...
'') by up to 98%.
Plant Pathogen
''Pantoea agglomerans'' pv. ''glysophilae'' completely inhibits root development in ''
Gypsophila paniculata
''Gypsophila paniculata'', the baby's breath, common gypsophila or panicled baby's-breath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to central and eastern Europe. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to tall and wid ...
''. Both ''Pag'' and ''P. a.'' pv. ''betae'' (''Pab'') cause
gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...
formation in ''G. paniculata''. That makes ''Pag'' a problem for the
floral industry
The floral industry is focused on the production, distribution and sale of flowers for human enjoyment. The industry continues to diversify from the production of cut flowers to the production and sale of plants and flowers in many different forms ...
, for example in the
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i industry.
Some strains of ''Pantoea agglomerans'' have been identified as the cause of leaf blight of rice in Korea and leaf blight of oats in China.
Antibiotics derived from ''Pantoea agglomerans''
More recent studies have shown that ''Pantoea agglomerans'' has a wide variety of antibiotics that can be derived from it. These antibiotics include:
herbicolin,
pantocins,
phenazine
Phenazine is an organic compound with the formula (C6H4)2N2. It is a dibenzo annulation, annulated pyrazine, and the parent substance of many dyestuffs, such as the toluylene red, indulines, and safranines (and the closely related eurhodines). Phe ...
and others.
In addition, ''Pantoea agglomerans'' products may act as a preservative, have bioremediation properties, and be able to fight against harmful pathogens in plants. A Japanese researcher was able to isolate IP-PA1 in ''Pantoea agglomerans'' and found that the
lipopolysaccharide
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), now more commonly known as endotoxin, is a collective term for components of the outermost membrane of the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria, such as '' E. coli'' and ''Salmonella'' with a common structural archit ...
has a low molecular mass giving it unique properties. The bacterium and its lipopolysaccharide were also found to induce macrophage activity to regulate homeostasis, giving ''Pantoea agglomerans'' healing properties when consumed orally. These properties include: "tumours, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, ulcer, various infectious diseases, atopic allergy and stress-induced immunosuppression".
Clinical isolates
''Pantoea agglomerans'' is occasionally reported to be an opportunistic pathogen in
immunocompromised
Immunodeficiency, also known as immunocompromise, is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases are acquired ("secondary") due to extrinsic factors that affe ...
patients, causing wound, blood, and urinary-tract infections. Infections are typically acquired from infected vegetation parts penetrating the skin. Contaminated intravenous fluids or blood products are only rarely the causal agent.
Bloodstream infection
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are infections of blood caused by blood-borne pathogens. The detection of microbes in the blood (most commonly accomplished by blood cultures) is always abnormal. A bloodstream infection is different from sepsis, w ...
can lead to disseminated disease and
end-organ infection, mainly
septic arthritis
Acute septic arthritis, infectious arthritis, suppurative arthritis, pyogenic arthritis, osteomyelitis, or joint infection is the invasion of a joint by an infectious agent resulting in joint inflammation. Generally speaking, symptoms typica ...
, but also
endophthalmitis
Endophthalmitis, or endophthalmia, is inflammation of the interior cavity of the eye, usually caused by an infection. It is a possible complication of all intraocular surgeries, particularly cataract surgery, and can result in loss of vision or l ...
,
periostitis
Periostitis, also known as periostalgia, is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the periosteum, a layer of connective tissue that surrounds bone. The condition is generally chronic and is marked by tenderness and swelling of the bone an ...
,
endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, o ...
and
osteomyelitis
Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults.
The cause is ...
in humans.
Using the biochemical panels commonly employed in medical diagnostics it is difficult to differentiate ''Pantoea agglomerans'' from other species of the same genus or from members of related genera such as ''
Phytobacter
''Phytobacter'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria emerging from the grouping of isolates previously assigned to various genera of the family Enterobacteriaceae. This genus was first established on the basis of nitrogen fixing isolates from w ...
,
Enterobacter
''Enterobacter'' is a genus of common Gram-negative, Facultative anaerobic organism, facultatively anaerobic, bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Cultures are found in soil, water, sewage, ...
'', ''
Klebsiella
''Klebsiella'' is a genus of Gram-negative, oxidase-negative, rod-shaped bacteria with a prominent polysaccharide-based capsule.
''Klebsiella'' is named after German-Swiss microbiologist Edwin Klebs (1834–1913). Carl Friedlander described ' ...
'', and ''
Serratia
''Serratia'' is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. They are typically 1–5 μm in length, do not produce spores, and can be found in water, soil, plants, and animals. Some mem ...
'' spp. This has led to confusion surrounding its
pathogen
In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...
icity as molecular studies based on
DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ...
have disproved the identity of several clinical isolates initially reported as ''Pantoea agglomerans''.
For the precise identification of ''Pantoea agglomerans'' non-culture based methods such as
Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) or
Whole-Cell MALDI-TOF MS are recommended.
Pathovars
Includes ''P. a.'' pv. ''glysophilae'' (''Pag'')
and ''P. a.'' pv. ''betae'' (''Pab'').
Identification
In the course of culture for identification, ''P. a.'' pv. ''gypsophilae'' can be cultured on
trehalose
Trehalose (from Turkish '' tıgala'' – a sugar derived from insect cocoons + -ose) is a sugar consisting of two molecules of glucose. It is also known as mycose or tremalose. Some bacteria, fungi, plants and invertebrate animals synthesize it ...
.
References
External links
Type strain of ''Pantoea agglomerans'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6336019
Bacteria described in 1972
Enterobacterales
Pathogenic bacteria