Abstract
The flagellin A gene (flaA) sequences, swimming motility, and biofilm forming ability were investigated in order to reveal the genetic and functional differences of flagella between clinical and environmental isolates of Aeromonas species. Twenty-eight clinical and 48 environmental strains of Aeromonas species isolated in Okinawa Prefecture of Japan were used in this study. The full-length flaA genes of these strains were sequenced and aligned, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. In addition, swimming motility and biofilm forming ability were evaluated by conventional methods. Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria and A. hydrophila clearly divided into clinical and environmental strain clusters in the flaA phylogenetic classification, and the six and 13 specific amino acids respectively, of FlaA of both species were different in clinical and environmental strains. Furthermore, the flaA size of the clinical strain of A. veronii bv. sobria was mainly 909, 924, and 939 bp, and the size of A. hydrophila was 909 bp. The swimming motility of clinical isolates of both species was lower than the environmental isolates; however, the biofilm forming ability of the clinical isolates was high. Thus, the clinical isolates of A. veronii bv. sobria and A. hydrophila had different genetic and functional characteristics of flagellin than the environmental isolates. The characteristics of flagellin could serve as indicators to distinguish between clinical and environmental isolates of the both species. It may contribute to diagnosis of these diseases and the monitoring of clinical strain invasion into the natural environment.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank A. Uechi, I. Tamaki, A. Komiyama, and M. Tedokon of Department of Clinical Laboratory, Urasoe General Hospital, for their cooperation in the isolation of clinical strains. We would also like to thank S. Shimoji and R. Tahara of Laboratory of Microbiology, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, for their cooperation in the isolation of well water strains, and Dr. K. Sano of Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University for his technical advice and fruitful discussions.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Kazufumi Miyagi, Noriaki Shimoji, and Haruka Oshiro. Formal analysis was performed by K. Miyagi and Itaru Hirai. The first draft of the manuscript was written by K. Miyagi and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Miyagi, K., Shimoji, N., Oshiro, H. et al. Differences in flaA gene sequences, swimming motility, and biofilm forming ability between clinical and environmental isolates of Aeromonas species. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 11740–11754 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22871-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22871-7