COLIFORMS ASSOCIATED WITH SUGARCANE PLANTS AND JUICES.

A study of the coliforms found on sugarcane plants throughout the growing season indicated that members of the genus Aerobacter comprise a part of the epiphytic microflora. When quantitative determinations were made of the coliforms by means of the most probable number technique, no completed tests were obtained on young sugarcane plants during the test period of February through May; however, Paracolobactrum aerogenoides was isolated frequently. Nine different IMViC types of coliforms were identified among the 198 isolates chosen for study. The predominating coliform found at the top, middle, and bottom portions of the sugarcane plants was A. cloacae, but the type predominating in leaf-sheath water was A. aerogenes. Only once was Escherichia coli found associated with the plants at the high dilutions necessary for determining most probable numbers. The numbers of different coliforms occurring in sugarcane juice were generally divided equally among A. aerogenes, A. cloacae, and E. coli. More variety among the IMViC types seemed to occur on the cane plants than in the leaf-sheath water or the cane juice in the mill.