Abstract
In this study, we investigated the pathogenic potency of twoVibrio alginolyticus strains isolated from cultured giltheadDicentrarchus labrax andSparus aurata, in Tunisia. The enzymatic activities of the extracellular products of the studied strains characterized with the API-ZYM system, revealed the existence of several activities. The 50% lethal doses levels were then determined, virulence levels ranged from 1.03×105 to 1.0×106 CFU/fish. In addition, we also searched for the presence of eightVibrio cholerae virulence genes:ctxA, zot, ace, toxR, toxS, toxRS, toxT, and Virulence Pathogenicity Island (VPI), in the genome of two isolated strains ofV. alginolitycus. Thein vivo expression oftoxR, toxS, VPI andace genes in both fish species, was tested by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Indeed, we have noted that for each strain all the virulence genes selected were expressed in sea bream as well as in sea bass.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Austin B., Stobie M., Robertson A.W., Glass H.G., Stark J.R. (1993).Vibrio alginolyticus: the cause of gill disease leading to progressive low-level mortalities among juvenile turbot,Scophthalmus maximus L., in a Scottish aquarium. J. Fish. Dis., 16: 277–280.
Balebona M.C., Andreu M.J., Bordas M.A., Zorrilla I., Moriñigo M.A., Borrego J.J. (1998). Pathogenicity ofVibrio alginolyticus from cultured gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata L.). App. Environ. Microbiol., 64: 4269–4275.
Ben Kahla N.A., Chaieb K., Besbes A., Zmantar T., Bakhrouf A. (2006). Virulence and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR ofVibrio alginolyticus strains isolated from Tunisian cultured gilthead sea bream and sea bass outbreaks. Vet. Microbiol., 117: 321–327.
Boyd E.F., Moyer K.E., Shi L., Waldor M.K. (2000). Infectious CTXphi and theVibrio pathogenicity island prophage inVibrio mimicus: evidence for recent horizontal transfer betweenV. mimicus andV. cholerae. Infect. Immun., 68: 1507–1513.
Colombo M.M., Mastrandea S., Santona A., De Amdrade A.P., Uzzau S., Rubino S., Cappuccinelli P. (1994). Distribution of theace, zot andctxA toxin genes in clinical and environmentalVibrio cholerae. J. Fish. Dis., 170: 750–751.
Faruque S.M., Albert M.J., Mekalanos J.J. (1998). Epidemiology, genetics and ecology of toxigenicVibrio cholerae. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. R., 62: 1301–1314.
Faruque S.M., Nair G.B. (2002). Molecular ecology of toxigenicVibrio cholerae. Microbiol. Immunol., 46: 59–66.
Fouz B., Barja J.L., Amaro C., Rivas C., Toranzo A.E. (1993). Toxicity of the extracellular products ofVibrio damsela isolated from diseased fish. Curr. Microbiol., 27: 341–347.
Ghosh C., Nandy R.K., Dasgupta S.K., Nair G.B., Hall R.H., Ghose A.C. (1997). A search for cholera toxin (CT), toxin coregulated pilus (TCP), the regulatory element ToxR and other virulence factors in non-O1/non-O139Vibrio cholerae. Microb. Pathogenesis, 22: 199–208.
Hörmansdorfer S., Wentges H., Neugebaur-Büchler K., Bauer, J. (2000). Isolation ofVibrio alginolyticus from seawater aquaria. Int. J. Hyg. Envir. Heal., 203: 169–175.
Lee K.K. (1995). Pathogenesis studies onVibrio alginolyticus in the grouper,Epinephelus malabaricus Bloch et Schneider. Microb. Pathogenesis, 19: 39–48.
Lee K.K., Yu S.R., Chen F.R., Yang T.I., Liu P.C. (1996). Virulence ofVibrio alginolyticus isolated from diseased tiger prawn,Penaeus monodon. Curr. Microbiol., 32: 229–231.
Liu P.V. (1957). Survey of hemolysin production among species ofPseudomonas. J. Bacteriol., 74: 718–727.
Maeda H., Yamamoto T. (1996) Pathogenic mechanisms induced by microbial proteases in microbial infections. Biol. Chem. Hoppe Seyler., 377: 217–226.
Nishibuchi M., Janda J.M., Ezaki T. (1996). The thermostable direct hemolysin gene (tdh) ofVibrio hollisae is dissimilar in prevalence to and phylogenetically distant from the tdh genes of other vibrios: implications in the horizontal transfer of the tdh gene. Microbiol. Immunol., 40: 59–65.
Paperna I. (1984). Review of diseases affecting culturedSparus aurata andDicentrarchus labrax. In: Barnabe G., Billard R., Eds, L’aquaculture du Bar et des Sparides, INRA Publisher, Paris, France, pp. 465–482.
Reed L.J., Muench H.A. (1938). Simple method of estimating 50% endpoints. Am. J. Hyg., 27: 493–497.
Santos Y., Toranzo A.E., Barja J.L., Nieto T.P., Villa T.G. (1988). Virulence properties and enterotoxin production ofAeromonas strains isolated from fish. Infect. Immun., 56: 3285–3293.
Sechi L.A., Dupre I., Deriu A., Fadda G., Zanetti S. (2000). Distribution ofVibrio cholerae virulence genes among differentVibrio species isolated in Sardinia, Italy. J. Appl. Microbiol., 88: 475–481.
Sedano J., Zorrilla I., Morinĩgo M.A., Balebona M.C., Vidaurreta A., Bordas M.A., Borrego J.J. (1996). Microbial origin of the abdominal swelling affecting farmed larvae of gilt head sea bream,Sparus aurata L. Aquac. Res., 27: 323–333.
Xie Z.Y., Hu C.Q., Chen C., Zhang L.P., Ren C.H. (2005). Investigation of sevenVibrio virulence genes amongVibrio alginolyticus andVibrio parahaemolyticus strains from the coastal mariculture systems in Guangdong, China. Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 41: 202–207.
Zorrilla I., Chabrillon M., Arijo S., Diaz-Rosales P., Martinez-Manzanares E., Balebona M.C., Moriñigo M.A. (2003). Bacteria recovered from diseased cultured gilthead sea bream (Sparusaurata L.) in Southwestern Spain. Aquaculture, 218: 11–20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abdallah, F.B., Chaieb, K., Kallel, H. et al. RT-PCR assays for in vivo expression ofVibrio alginolyticus virulence genes in cultured giltheadDicentrarchus labrax andSparus aurata . Ann. Microbiol. 59, 63–67 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03175600
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03175600