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 transfer rates reaching 2.79 log 10 CFU/mL in vitro.

• Why it matters: Understanding how Salmonella persists and spreads on produce is crucial for preventing foodborne outbreaks and combating antimicrobial resistance, a growing global health threat.
• What they did: Researchers inoculated cantaloupe surfaces with bovine-derived Salmonella and co-inoculated them with E. coli carrying resistance plasmids, then monitored survival, growth, and gene transfer over five days.
• The result: All Salmonella isolates survived and proliferated, and they successfully integrated resistance genes from E. coli, highlighting the risk of resistance transfer on produce and implications for public health safety.