Identification Of Lettuce Cultivars That Are Inhibitory To E. Coli O157:H7 Survival Upon Fresh-Cut Processing And Cold Storage

The long-term goals and supporting objectives for this project are as follows:Goal 1: Identify lettuce cultivars that effectively reduce population sizes of EcO157 upon shredding and cold storageObjective 1A: Select cultivars (cvs) based on their resistance to necrotrophic pathogens and herbivorous insects, and screen selected cvs grown in the laboratory to identify those capable of most and least effectively reducing EcO157 populations upon wounding.Objective 1B: Grow a small subset of cvs identified in the screen under field conditions and assess their colonization by EcO157 as shredded leaves under cold storageGoal 2: Characterize defense responses in lettuce cultivars showing reduced EcO157 survival on cut tissueObjective 2A: Measure differential elicitation of JA, ROS, and phenolics among cvs.Objective 2B: Quantify relative changes in lettuce gene expression related to the JA-mediated wound response in cvs of interestObjective 2C: Characterize the leaf transcriptome and microbiome of cvs of most interest pre- and post-cutting and storage