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Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2022Global ocean warming results in an increase of infectious diseases including an elevated emergence of spp. in Northern Europe. The European Centre for Disease...
Global ocean warming results in an increase of infectious diseases including an elevated emergence of spp. in Northern Europe. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported annual periods of high to very high risks of infection with spp. during summer months along the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. Based on those facts, the risk of infections associated with recreational bathing in European coastal waters increases. To obtain an overview of the seasonal and spatial distribution of potentially human pathogenic spp. at German coasts, this study monitored , , and at seven recreational bathing areas from 2017 to 2018, including the heat wave event in summer 2018. The study shows that all three species occurred in water and sediment samples at all sampling sites. Temperature was shown to be the main driving factor of abundance, whereas community composition was mainly modulated by salinity. A species-specific rapid increase was observed at water temperatures above 10°C, reaching the highest detection numbers during the heat wave event with abundances of 4.5 log10 CFU+1/100 ml of seawater and 6.5 log10 CFU+1/100 g of sediment. Due to salinity, the dominant species found in North Sea samples was , whereas was predominantly detected in Baltic Sea samples. Most detections of were associated with estuarine samples from both seas. spp. concentrations in sediments were up to three log higher compared to water samples, indicating that sediments are an important habitat for spp. to persist in the environment. Antibiotic resistances were found against beta-lactam antibiotics (ampicillin 31%, cefazolin 36%, and oxacillin and penicillin 100%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (45%). Moreover, isolates harboring pathogenicity-associated genes such as for as well as , /, and the 16S rRNA-type B variant for were detected. All sampled isolates were identified as non-toxigenic non-O1/non-O139 serotypes. To sum up, increasing water temperatures at German North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts provoke elevated numbers and encourage human recreational water activities, resulting in increased exposure rates. Owing to a moderate Baltic Sea salinity, the risk of infections is of particular concern.
Topics: Humans; Prevalence; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Vibrio; Vibrio Infections; Vibrio cholerae; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; Water
PubMed: 35937704
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.846819 -
MSphere Dec 2020Pathogenic strains of require careful regulation of horizontally acquired virulence factors that are largely located on horizontally acquired genomic islands (HAIs)....
Pathogenic strains of require careful regulation of horizontally acquired virulence factors that are largely located on horizontally acquired genomic islands (HAIs). While TsrA, a -specific protein, is known to regulate the critical HAI virulence genes and , its broader function throughout the genome is unknown. Here, we find that deletion of results in genomewide expression patterns that heavily correlate with those seen upon deletion of , a widely conserved bacterial protein that regulates virulence. This correlation is particularly strong for loci on HAIs, where all differentially expressed loci in the mutant are also differentially expressed in the mutant. Correlation between TsrA and H-NS function extends to virulence phenotypes where deletion of compensates for the loss of ToxR activity in and promotes wild-type levels of mouse intestinal colonization. All in all, we find that TsrA broadly controls infectivity via repression of key HAI virulence genes and many other targets in the H-NS regulon. Cholera is a potentially lethal disease that is endemic in much of the developing world. , the bacterium underlying the disease, infects humans utilizing proteins encoded on horizontally acquired genetic material. Here, we provide evidence that TsrA, a -specific protein, plays a critical role in regulating these genetic elements and is essential for virulence in a mouse intestinal model.
Topics: Bacterial Proteins; Cholera; Computational Biology; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Intestines; Regulon; Vibrio cholerae; Virulence; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 33298574
DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.01014-20 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... May 2024Several microbial genomes lack textbook-defined essential genes. If an essential gene is absent from a genome, then an evolutionarily independent gene of unknown...
Several microbial genomes lack textbook-defined essential genes. If an essential gene is absent from a genome, then an evolutionarily independent gene of unknown function complements its function. Here, we identified frequent nonhomologous replacement of an essential component of DNA replication initiation, a replicative helicase loader gene, in . Our analysis of genomes revealed two genes with unknown function, named and , that were substantially enriched in genomes without the known helicase-loader genes. These genes showed no sequence similarities to genes with known function but encoded proteins structurally similar with a viral helicase loader. Analyses of genomic syntenies and coevolution with helicase genes suggested that encodes a helicase loader. The in vitro assay showed that VdhL1 and VdhL2 promote the helicase activity of DnaB. Furthermore, molecular phylogenetics suggested that / were derived from phages and replaced an intrinsic helicase loader gene of over 20 times. This high replacement frequency implies the host's advantage in acquiring a viral helicase loader gene.
Topics: Vibrionaceae; DNA Helicases; DNA Replication; Phylogeny; Bacterial Proteins; Viral Proteins; Bacteriophages; Evolution, Molecular; Genome, Bacterial; DnaB Helicases; Vibrio
PubMed: 38683976
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317954121 -
Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE Jul 2019This manuscript describes a culture-based, coincubation assay for detecting and characterizing competitive interactions between two bacterial populations. This method...
This manuscript describes a culture-based, coincubation assay for detecting and characterizing competitive interactions between two bacterial populations. This method employs stable plasmids that allow each population to be differentially tagged with distinct antibiotic resistance capabilities and fluorescent proteins for selection and visual discrimination of each population, respectively. Here, we describe the preparation and coincubation of competing Vibrio fischeri strains, fluorescence microscopy imaging, and quantitative data analysis. This approach is simple, yields quick results, and can be used to determine whether one population kills or inhibits the growth of another population, and whether competition is mediated through a diffusible molecule or requires direct cell-cell contact. Because each bacterial population expresses a different fluorescent protein, the assay permits the spatial discrimination of competing populations within a mixed colony. Although the described methods are performed with the symbiotic bacterium V. fischeri using conditions optimized for this species, the protocol can be adapted for most culturable bacterial isolates.
Topics: Aliivibrio fischeri; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Plasmids; Symbiosis
PubMed: 31380831
DOI: 10.3791/59759 -
The ISME Journal Jan 2015Microbes attach to surfaces and form dense communities known as biofilms, which are central to how microbes live and influence humans. The key defining feature of...
Microbes attach to surfaces and form dense communities known as biofilms, which are central to how microbes live and influence humans. The key defining feature of biofilms is adhesion, whereby cells attach to one another and to surfaces, via attachment factors and extracellular polymers. While adhesion is known to be important for the initial stages of biofilm formation, its function within biofilm communities has not been studied. Here we utilise an individual-based model of microbial groups to study the evolution of adhesion. While adhering to a surface can enable cells to remain in a biofilm, consideration of within-biofilm competition reveals a potential cost to adhesion: immobility. Highly adhesive cells that are resistant to movement face being buried and starved at the base of the biofilm. However, we find that when growth occurs at the base of a biofilm, adhesion allows cells to capture substratum territory and force less adhesive, competing cells out of the system. This process may be particularly important when cells grow on a host epithelial surface. We test the predictions of our model using the enteric pathogen Vibrio cholerae, which produces an extracellular matrix important for biofilm formation. Flow cell experiments indicate that matrix-secreting cells are highly adhesive and form expanding clusters that remove non-secreting cells from the population, as predicted by our simulations. Our study shows how simple physical properties, such as adhesion, can be critical to understanding evolution and competition within microbial communities.
Topics: Bacterial Adhesion; Biofilms; Humans; Models, Biological; Vibrio cholerae
PubMed: 25290505
DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2014.174 -
The Pan African Medical Journal 2024as cholera, due to toxigenic bacteria Vibrio cholera (serogroups O1 and O139), is a major public health threat in Africa, the aim of this work was to investigate...
INTRODUCTION
as cholera, due to toxigenic bacteria Vibrio cholera (serogroups O1 and O139), is a major public health threat in Africa, the aim of this work was to investigate potentially pathogenic Vibrionaceae bacteria firstly from human stool samples, and secondly from various environmental water points of Saint-Louis city in Senegal.
METHODS
a hospital-based study was conducted between 2013 and 2015. Stool samples were taken and cultured from daily incoming patients or hospitalized for acute diarrhea at Saint-Louis´ regional hospital. For environment, a monthly longitudinal sampling from January to October 2016 was carried out at 10 sites in the city. We used total DNA extracted from APW (alkaline peptone water) broth solutions and on suspect bacterial colonies to run PCR Multiplex targeting specific DNA fragments to detect Vibrio genus and specific species. In case of positivity, a simplex PCR was performed to test for cholera toxins Ctx, and V. parahaemolyticus TRH and TDH.
RESULTS
for 43 patients screened, bacterial culture was positive in 6% of cases but no strain of V. cholerae or other Vibrio sp. was isolated. PCR on 90 APW solutions were positive for Vibrio sp.(n = 43), V. cholera(n = 27), V. mimicus(n = 16), V. parahaemolyticus(8), V. alginolyticus(n = 4), and V. vulnificus(n = 2). Unlike for those on suspected colonies which were positive for a majority of V. parahaemolyticus (n = 40) and V. cholerae non-O1 / O139 (n = 35). Six strains of V. parahaemolyticus carried TRH gene, 3 of which expressed simultaneously virulence TRH and TDH genes. For physicochemical parameters, all temperatures varied similarly according to a unimodal seasonality, as well as salinity.
CONCLUSION
despite the presence of natural populations of Vibrionaceae, even toxigenic ones, was noted in water environment, along with favorable habitat conditions that could play a role in transmission of Vibriosis in the Saint Louis population, we did not isolate any of them from patients screened at the hospital.
Topics: Humans; Senegal; Cholera; Feces; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Diarrhea; Water Microbiology; Vibrionaceae; Vibrio; DNA, Bacterial; Vibrio cholerae; Adult; Female; Male
PubMed: 38946740
DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2024.48.5.34685 -
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek Jun 2020The first genomic study of Mediterranei clade using five type strains (V. mediterranei, V. maritimus, V. variabilis, V. thalassae, and V. barjaei) and fourteen reference...
The first genomic study of Mediterranei clade using five type strains (V. mediterranei, V. maritimus, V. variabilis, V. thalassae, and V. barjaei) and fourteen reference strains isolated from marine organisms, seawater, water and sediments of the sea was performed. These bacterial strains were characterised by means of a polyphasic approach comprising 16S rRNA gene, multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of 139 single-copy genes, the DNA G + C content, ANI, and in silico phenotypic characterisation. We found that the species of the Mediterranei clade formed two separate clusters based in 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, MLSA, OrthoANI, and Codon and Amino Acid usage. The Mediterranei clade species showed values between 76 and 95% for ANIb, 84 and 95% for ANIm. The core genome consisted of 2057 gene families and the pan-genome of 13,094 gene families. Based on the genomic analyses performed, the Mediterranei clade can be divided in two clusters, one with the strains of V. maritimus, V. variabilis and two potential new species, and the other cluster with the strains of V. mediterranei, V. thalassae, and V. barjaei.
Topics: Aquatic Organisms; DNA, Bacterial; Genome, Bacterial; Geologic Sediments; Multilocus Sequence Typing; Phylogeny; Seawater; Vibrio
PubMed: 32103378
DOI: 10.1007/s10482-020-01396-4 -
FEMS Microbiology Letters Aug 2020Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a marine and estuarine bacterium that poses a major threat to human health worldwide. In this study, from 2017 to 2019, we evaluated 900 food...
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a marine and estuarine bacterium that poses a major threat to human health worldwide. In this study, from 2017 to 2019, we evaluated 900 food samples collected from China in 2017, with the aim of determining the incidence and features of V. parahaemolyticus in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, shrimp and fish in China. The contamination rates in these were 3.67, 19.33 and 10.67%, respectively, and the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus was higher in summer than in winter. In addition, 101 V. parahaemolyticus strains were isolated. Our results suggested that most of the isolates were resistant to aminoglycosides based on the antimicrobial resistance patterns of these aquatic product isolates against 14 antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, most of the isolates were multidrug-resistant. Serotyping showed that the isolates of the O2 serotype comprised the maximum proportion. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence (ERIC)-PCR results indicated that the isolates (n = 101) could be classified into 12 clusters. There were 82 STs suggesting genetic variation and relatedness among these isolates. Our findings demonstrated the presence of V. parahaemolyticus in foods from Chinese retail markets and show that this methodology can be used for microbiological risk assessment in China.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; China; Prevalence; Vibrio Infections; Vibrio parahaemolyticus
PubMed: 32770178
DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnaa136 -
Current Microbiology Jan 2021Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta, Ascanius 1767) are cleaner fish cultured in northern Europe to remove sea lice from farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Linnaeus 1758)....
Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta, Ascanius 1767) are cleaner fish cultured in northern Europe to remove sea lice from farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Linnaeus 1758). Despite increasing appreciation for the importance of the microbiota on the phenotypes of vertebrates including teleosts, the microbiota of wrasse eggs has yet to be described. Therefore, the aim of this present study was to describe the bacterial component of the microbiota of ballan wrasse eggs shortly after spawning and at 5 days, once the eggs had undergone a routine incubation protocol that included surface disinfection steps in a common holding tank. Triplicate egg samples were collected from each of three spawning tanks and analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that 88.6% of reads could be identified to 186 taxonomic families. At Day 0, reads corresponding to members of the Vibrionaceae, Colwelliaceae and Rubritaleaceae families were detected at greatest relative abundances. Bacterial communities of eggs varied more greatly between tanks than between samples deriving from the same tank. At Day 5, there was a consistent reduction in 16S rRNA gene sequence richness across the tanks. Even though the eggs from the different tanks were incubated in a common holding tank, the bacterial communities of the eggs from the different tanks had diverged to become increasingly dissimilar. This suggests that the disinfection and incubation exerted differential effects of the microbiota of the eggs from each tank and that the influence of the tank water on the composition of the egg microbiota was lower than expected. This first comprehensive description of the ballan wrasse egg bacterial community is an initial step to understand the role and function of the microbiota on the phenotype of this fish. In future, mass DNA sequencing methods may be applied in hatcheries to screen for pathogens and as a tool to assess the health status of eggs.
Topics: Animals; Fish Diseases; Fishes; Perciformes; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Vibrionaceae
PubMed: 33230621
DOI: 10.1007/s00284-020-02286-8 -
Journal of Microbiology (Seoul, Korea) Dec 2020Members of the genus Vibrio are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and can be found either in a culturable or a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state. Despite widespread...
Members of the genus Vibrio are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and can be found either in a culturable or a viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state. Despite widespread concerns as to how to define the occurrence and dynamics of Vibrio populations by culture-independent approaches, further physiological research and relevant biotechnological developments will require the isolation and cultivation of the microbes from various environments. The present work provides data and perspectives on our understanding of culturable Vibrio community structure and diversity in the Beibu Gulf. Finally, we isolated 1,037 strains of Vibrio from 45 samples and identified 18 different species. Vibrio alginolyticus, V. cyclitrophicus, V. tasmaniensis, V. brasiliensis, and V. splendidus were the dominant species that had regional distribution characteristics. The correlation between the quantitative distribution and community structure of culturable Vibrio and environmental factors varied with the Vibrio species and geographical locations. Among them, salinity, nitrogen, and phosphorus were the main factors affecting the diversity of culturable Vibrio. These results help to fill a knowledge gap on Vibrio diversity and provide data for predicting and controlling pathogenic Vibrio outbreaks in the Beibu Gulf.
Topics: Biodiversity; China; Phosphorus; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Salinity; Vibrio; Water Microbiology
PubMed: 33095386
DOI: 10.1007/s12275-020-0293-z