Plant-Associated Bacteria as Human Pathogens: Disciplinal Insularity, Ambilateral Harmfulness, Epistemological Primacy
Authors: MORTIMER P. STARR
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1979)

Editorials1 April 1979Plant-Associated Bacteria as Human Pathogens: Disciplinal Insularity, Ambilateral Harmfulness, Epistemological PrimacyMORTIMER P. STARR, PH.D.MORTIMER P. STARR, PH.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-90-4-708 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptMany factors are involved in the "emergence" of "new" infectious diseases in man, other animals, or plants. It occurred to me, while listening to the recitations at the International Symposium on Legionnaires' Disease (Atlanta, 13-15 November 1978), that not all categories of such factors had been explicitly considered. Space limitations preclude much more than a terse listing here, in no particular order or state of completeness, of some factors frequently noted as contributing to the "emergence" of "new" diseases: poverty, malnutrition, inadequate sanitation and medical care, "too much" medical care, ignorance, demography (ranging from the population explosion to "keeping people...References1. VON GRAEVENITZ A: The role of opportunistic bacteria in human disease. Annu Rev Microbiol 31:447-471, 1977 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. STARRCHATTERJEE MA: The genus Erwinia: enterobacteria pathogenic to plants and animals. Annu Rev Microbiol 26:389-426, 1972 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. MORRISPATTONFEELEYJOHNSONGORMANMARTINSKALIYMALLISONPOLITIMACKEL GCJSGWPGBD: Isolation of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium from environmental samples. Ann Intern Med 90:664-666, 1979 LinkGoogle Scholar4. HOPKINS D: Diseases caused by leafhopper-borne, rickettsia-like bacteria. Annu Rev Phytopathol 17:277-294, 1977 CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. HIRSCHMÜLLERSCHLESNER PMH: New aquatic budding and prosthecate bacteria and their taxonomic position, in Aquatic Microbiology, edited by SKINNER FA, SHEWAN JM. London, Academic Press, 1977, pp. 107-133 Google Scholar6. SCHMIDTSTARR JM: Morphological diversity of freshwater bacteria belonging to the Blastocaulis-Planctomyces group as observed in natural populations and enrichments. Curr Microbiol 1:325-330, 1978 CrossrefGoogle Scholar7. STOLPSTARR HM: Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus gen. et sp. n., a predatory, ectoparasitic, and bacteriolytic microorganism. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 29:217-248, 1963 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. LAKSOSTARR JM: Comparative injuriousness to plants of Erwinia spp. and other enterobacteria from plants and animals. J Appl Bacteriol 33:692-707, 1970 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. COTHERDARBYSHIREBREWER EBJ: Pseudomonas aeruginosa: cause of internal brown rot of onion. Phytopathology 66:828-834, 1976 CrossrefGoogle Scholar10. GRIMONTGRIMONTSTARR PFM: Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stansfield) comb. nov., a senior subjective synonym of Serratia liquefaciens (Grimes and Hennerty) Bascomb et al. Int J Syst Bacteriol 28:503-510, 1978 CrossrefGoogle Scholar11. COOPER-SMITHVON GRAEVENITZ MA: Nonepidemic Erwinia herbicola (Enterobacter agglomerans) in blood cultures: bacteriological analysis of fifteen cases. Curr Microbiol 1:29-32, 1978 CrossrefGoogle Scholar12. TULLYWHITCOMBCLARKWILLIAMSON JRHD: Pathogenic mycoplasmas: cultivation and vertebrate pathogenicity of a new spiroplasma. Science 195:892-894, 1977 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar13. STARR M: Bdellovibrio as symbiont: the associations of bdellovibrios with other bacteria interpreted in terms of a generalized scheme for classifying organismic associations. Symp Soc Exp Biol 29:93-124, 1975 Google Scholar14. BRENNERSTEIGERWALTMCDADE DAJ: Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova, of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova. Ann Intern Med 90:656-658, 1979 LinkGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: MORTIMER P. STARR, PH.D.Affiliations: Department of Bacteriology, University of California; Davis, California PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byManagement of Microorganisms in Celss Plant Growth SystemsPathogenicity and virulence: another viewInhaled Endotoxin and Decreased Spirometric ValuesGenetic structure of populations of Legionella pneumophilaPhenotypic and protein electrophoretic similarities between strains ofEnterobacter agglomerans, Erwinia herbicola, andErwinia milletiae from clinical or plant originProkaryote DiversityProkaryotes as Plant PathogensLegionella, WIGA, et cetera: Pathogens?HENRY D. ISENBERG, PH.D.Atlanta to Patient 1 April 1979Volume 90, Issue 4Page: 708-710KeywordsBacteriaBacterial pathogensInfectious diseasesLegionellosisMalnutritionSanitation ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 April 1979 PDF downloadLoading ...