Commercial wash of leafy vegetables do not significantly decrease bacterial load but leads to shifts in bacterial species composition.

Production of leafy vegetables for the "Ready-to-eat"-market has vastly increased the last 20 years, and consumption of these minimally processed vegetables has led to outbreaks of food-borne diseases. Contamination of leafy vegetables can occur throughout the production chain, and therefore washing of the produce has become a standard in commercial processing. This study explores the bacterial communities of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) in a commercial setting in order to identify potential contamination events, and to investigate effects on bacterial load by commercial processing.

Effect of lacZY-marking of the 2,4-diacetyl-phloroglucinol producing Pseudomonas fluorescens-strain 5-2/4 on its physiological performance and root colonization ability.

Transgenic Pseudomonas fluorescens 5-2/4 with reinforced 2,4-diacetyl phloroglucinol (phl) production had shown increased biocontrol ability towards Pythium ultimum (Pu), but inferior root colonization ability compared to its wild type 5.014. Therefore, enhanced root colonization ability of the transgenic strain by repeated inoculation and reisolation on tomato plants was suggested.