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Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources

Vibrio vulnificus is a deadly human pathogen for which infections occur via seafood consumption (foodborne) or direct contact with wounds. Virulence is not fully characterized for this organism; however, there is evidence of biochemical and genotypic correlations with virulence potential. In this st...

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Autores principales: Lydon, Keri A., Kinsey, Thomas, Le, Chinh, Gulig, Paul A., Jones, Jessica L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7952748/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33718284
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.637019
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author Lydon, Keri A.
Kinsey, Thomas
Le, Chinh
Gulig, Paul A.
Jones, Jessica L.
author_facet Lydon, Keri A.
Kinsey, Thomas
Le, Chinh
Gulig, Paul A.
Jones, Jessica L.
author_sort Lydon, Keri A.
collection PubMed
description Vibrio vulnificus is a deadly human pathogen for which infections occur via seafood consumption (foodborne) or direct contact with wounds. Virulence is not fully characterized for this organism; however, there is evidence of biochemical and genotypic correlations with virulence potential. In this study, biochemical profiles and virulence genotype, based on 16S rRNA gene (rrn) and virulence correlated gene (vcg) types, were determined for 30 clinical and 39 oyster isolates. Oyster isolates were more biochemically diverse than the clinical isolates, with four of the 20 tests producing variable (defined as 20–80% of isolates) results. Whereas, for clinical isolates only mannitol fermentation, which has previously been associated with virulence potential, varied among the isolates. Nearly half (43%) of clinical isolates were the more virulent genotype (rrnB/vcgC); this trend was consistent when only looking at clinical isolates from blood. The majority (64%) of oyster isolates were the less virulent genotype (rrnA or AB/vcgE). These data were used to select a sub-set of 27 isolates for virulence testing with a subcutaneously inoculated, iron-dextran treated mouse model. Based on the mouse model data, 11 isolates were non-lethal, whereas 16 isolates were lethal, indicating a potential for human infection. Within the non-lethal group there were eight oyster and three clinical isolates. Six of the non-lethal isolates were the less virulent genotype (rrnA/vcgE or rrnAB/vcgE) and two were rrnB/vcgC with the remaining two of mixed genotype (rrnAB/vcgC and rrnB/vcgE). Of the lethal isolates, five were oysters and 11 were clinical. Eight of the lethal isolates were the less virulent genotype and seven the more virulent genotype, with the remaining isolate a mixed genotype (rrnA/vcgC). A discordance between virulence genotype and individual mouse virulence parameters (liver infection, skin infection, skin lesion score, and body temperature) was observed; the variable most strongly associated with mouse virulence parameters was season (warm or cold conditions at time of strain isolation), with more virulent strains isolated from cold conditions. These results indicate that biochemical profiles and genotype are not significantly associated with virulence potential, as determined by a mouse model. However, a relationship with virulence potential and seasonality was observed.
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spelling pubmed-79527482021-03-13 Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources Lydon, Keri A. Kinsey, Thomas Le, Chinh Gulig, Paul A. Jones, Jessica L. Front Cell Infect Microbiol Cellular and Infection Microbiology Vibrio vulnificus is a deadly human pathogen for which infections occur via seafood consumption (foodborne) or direct contact with wounds. Virulence is not fully characterized for this organism; however, there is evidence of biochemical and genotypic correlations with virulence potential. In this study, biochemical profiles and virulence genotype, based on 16S rRNA gene (rrn) and virulence correlated gene (vcg) types, were determined for 30 clinical and 39 oyster isolates. Oyster isolates were more biochemically diverse than the clinical isolates, with four of the 20 tests producing variable (defined as 20–80% of isolates) results. Whereas, for clinical isolates only mannitol fermentation, which has previously been associated with virulence potential, varied among the isolates. Nearly half (43%) of clinical isolates were the more virulent genotype (rrnB/vcgC); this trend was consistent when only looking at clinical isolates from blood. The majority (64%) of oyster isolates were the less virulent genotype (rrnA or AB/vcgE). These data were used to select a sub-set of 27 isolates for virulence testing with a subcutaneously inoculated, iron-dextran treated mouse model. Based on the mouse model data, 11 isolates were non-lethal, whereas 16 isolates were lethal, indicating a potential for human infection. Within the non-lethal group there were eight oyster and three clinical isolates. Six of the non-lethal isolates were the less virulent genotype (rrnA/vcgE or rrnAB/vcgE) and two were rrnB/vcgC with the remaining two of mixed genotype (rrnAB/vcgC and rrnB/vcgE). Of the lethal isolates, five were oysters and 11 were clinical. Eight of the lethal isolates were the less virulent genotype and seven the more virulent genotype, with the remaining isolate a mixed genotype (rrnA/vcgC). A discordance between virulence genotype and individual mouse virulence parameters (liver infection, skin infection, skin lesion score, and body temperature) was observed; the variable most strongly associated with mouse virulence parameters was season (warm or cold conditions at time of strain isolation), with more virulent strains isolated from cold conditions. These results indicate that biochemical profiles and genotype are not significantly associated with virulence potential, as determined by a mouse model. However, a relationship with virulence potential and seasonality was observed. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-26 /pmc/articles/PMC7952748/ /pubmed/33718284 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.637019 Text en Copyright © 2021 Lydon, Kinsey, Le, Gulig and Jones http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Lydon, Keri A.
Kinsey, Thomas
Le, Chinh
Gulig, Paul A.
Jones, Jessica L.
Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources
title Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources
title_full Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources
title_fullStr Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources
title_full_unstemmed Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources
title_short Biochemical and Virulence Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus Isolates From Clinical and Environmental Sources
title_sort biochemical and virulence characterization of vibrio vulnificus isolates from clinical and environmental sources
topic Cellular and Infection Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7952748/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33718284
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.637019
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