Endophytes are microorganisms that inhabit plant tissues without causing disease. Some endophytes help their hosts to combat pathogens. Here we explored the hypothesis that the plant-derived foods consumed by humans and other animals host endophytes that also antagonize foodborne pathogens or food-rotting agents. Our laboratory previously cultured a library of bacterial endophytes from different members of the maize/corn family (Zea) including wild relatives. Here, 190 of these endophytes were screened for their ability to antagonize four foodborne pathogens (Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens, and Salmonella enterica Newport) and a food spoiling agent (Pseudomonas fluorescens) using dual culture assays. Two Paenibacillus polymyxa endophytes (strains 3C6 and 3G11) were found to inhibit the growth of all five deleterious strains on agar. Using conserved polymerase chain reaction primers and sequencing, both beneficial endophytes were found to encode polymyxin genes, suggesting a potential antibacterial mechanism of action. Polymyxin production by both strains was confirmed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Strains 3C6 and 3G11 originated, respectively, from the seeds of the wild Central American maize species Zea diploperennis, and the wild ancestor of modern maize, Zea mays ssp parviglumis (Parviglumis). As the latter is the direct ancestor of modern maize, we discuss the role its endophyte(s) may have played in promoting crop domestication by suppressing foodborne pathogens and/or food-spoilage agents.
Keywords: Paenibacillus polymyxa; Parviglumis; antibiosis; endophyte; foodborne; pathogen.