Heterogeneity of Environmental, Retail, and Clinical Isolates of Vibrio vulnificus as Determined by Lipopolysaccharide-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies

2001 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 1172-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMY B. ZUPPARDO ◽  
ANGELO DePAOLA ◽  
JOHN C. BOWERS ◽  
KEVIN L. SCHULLY ◽  
JANET A. GOOCH ◽  
...  

The opportunistic pathogen Vibrio vulnificus expresses lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigens on its outer membrane surface. A serological typing system was developed for these antigens, utilizing the discriminatory recognition of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) by ELISA. MAb were used to recognize five unique types of LPS-associated antigens for examination of clinical, environmental, and retail isolates of V. vulnificus. The overall serotype profile of the clinical isolates was significantly different (P < 0.05) from that of the environmental and retail isolates. A higher percentage of clinical isolates were typable (61%) compared to the environmental isolates (41%) and retail isolates (44%). In particular, the percentage of serotype 1/5 among clinical isolates (33%), compared to that of environmental (9%) and retail (4%), was highly significant (P < 0.0001). Among the environmental Gulf Coast isolates, there were differences in the prevalence of serotypes 2 and 3 (P < 0.05), depending on whether isolates were obtained from Louisiana or Alabama harvest sites. There were no statistically significant differences between the serotype profiles of Gulf and Atlantic Coast retail isolates despite the absence of serotype 1/5 from the Atlantic Coast. While some serotype diversity was detected in V. vulnificus isolated during different seasons, from different geographic locations, and at retail versus at harvest, there was no apparent concordance between any of the serotype distributions obtained from oysters versus that isolated clinically. The heterogeneity of environmental isolates and relative homogeneity among clinical isolates suggest that human risk may not be predicted on quantitative exposure alone.

2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 3999-4005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo DePaola ◽  
Jodie Ulaszek ◽  
Charles A. Kaysner ◽  
Bradley J. Tenge ◽  
Jessica L. Nordstrom ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Potential virulence attributes, serotypes, and ribotypes were determined for 178 pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates from clinical, environmental, and food sources on the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf Coasts of the United States and from clinical sources in Asia. The food and environmental isolates were generally from oysters, and they were defined as being pathogenic by using DNA probes to detect the presence of the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) gene. The clinical isolates from the United States were generally associated with oyster consumption, and most were obtained from outbreaks in Washington, Texas, and New York. Multiplex PCR was used to confirm the species identification and the presence of tdh and to test for the tdh-related hemolysin trh. Most of the environmental, food, and clinical isolates from the United States were positive for tdh, trh, and urease production. Outbreak-associated isolates from Texas, New York, and Asia were predominantly serotype O3:K6 and possessed only tdh. A total of 27 serotypes and 28 ribogroups were identified among the isolates, but the patterns of strain distribution differed between the serotypes and ribogroups. All but one of the O3:K6 isolates from Texas were in a different ribogroup from the O3:K6 isolates from New York or Asia. The O3:K6 serotype was not detected in any of the environmental and food isolates from the United States, and none of the food or environmental isolates belonged to any of the three ribogroups that contained all of the O3:K6 and related clinical isolates. The combination of serotyping and ribotyping showed that the Pacific Coast V. parahaemolyticus population appeared to be distinct from that of either the Atlantic Coast or Gulf Coast. The fact that certain serotypes and ribotypes contained both clinical and environmental isolates while many others contained only environmental isolates implies that certain serotypes or ribotypes are more relevant for human disease.


1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1459-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Motes ◽  
A. DePaola ◽  
D. W. Cook ◽  
J. E. Veazey ◽  
J. C. Hunsucker ◽  
...  

This study investigated the temperature and salinity parameters associated with waters and oysters linked to food-borne Vibrio vulnificus infections. V. vulnificus was enumerated in oysters collected at three northern Gulf Coast sites and two Atlantic Coast sites from July 1994 through September 1995. Two of these sites, Black Bay, La., and Apalachicola Bay, Fla., are the source of the majority of the oysters implicated in V. vulnificuscases. Oysters in all Gulf Coast sites exhibited a similar seasonal distribution of V. vulnificus: a consistently large number (median concentration, 2,300 organisms [most probable number] per g of oyster meat) from May through October followed by a gradual reduction during November and December to ≤10 per g, where it remained from January through mid-March, and a sharp increase in late March and April to summer levels. V. vulnificus was undetectable (<3 per g) in oysters from the North and South Carolina sites for most of the year. An exception occurred when a late-summer flood caused a drop in salinity in the North Carolina estuary, apparently causing V. vulnificus numbers to increase briefly to Gulf Coast levels. At Gulf Coast sites, V. vulnificus numbers increased with water temperatures up to 26°C and were constant at higher temperatures. High V. vulnificus levels (>103per g) were typically found in oysters from intermediate salinities (5 to 25 ppt). Smaller V. vulnificus numbers (<102 per g) were found at salinities above 28 ppt, typical of Atlantic Coast sites. On 11 occasions oysters were sampled at times and locations near the source of oysters implicated in 13V. vulnificus cases; the V. vulnificuslevels and environmental parameters associated with these samples were consistent with those of other study samples collected from the Gulf Coast from April through November. These findings suggest that the hazard of V. vulnificus infection is not limited to brief periods of unusual abundance of V. vulnificus in Gulf Coast oysters or to environmental conditions that are unusual to Gulf Coast estuaries.


Microbiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadwa Alshareef ◽  
Geoffrey D. Robson

Environmental populations of the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus have been shown to be genotypically diverse and to contain a range of isolates with varying pathogenic potential. In this study, we combined two RAPD primers to investigate the genetic diversity of environmental isolates from Manchester collected monthly over 1 year alongside Dublin environmental isolates and clinical isolates from patients. RAPD analysis revealed a diverse genotype, but with three major clinical isolate clusters. When the pathogenicity of clinical and Dublin isolates was compared with a random selection of Manchester isolates in a Galleria mellonella larvae model, as a group, clinical isolates were significantly more pathogenic than environmental isolates. Moreover, when relative pathogenicity of individual isolates was compared, clinical isolates were the most pathogenic, Dublin isolates were the least pathogenic and Manchester isolates showed a range in pathogenicity. Overall, this suggests that the environmental population is genetically diverse, displaying a range in pathogenicity, and that the most pathogenic strains from the environment are selected during patient infection.


2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 533-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashige Kashimoto ◽  
Shunji Ueno ◽  
Miyuki Hanajima ◽  
Hisae Hayashi ◽  
Yukihiro Akeda ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In this study, we compared the apoptotic activities of clinical and environmental isolates of Vibrio vulnificus toward macrophages in vitro and in vivo. The clinical isolates induced apoptosis in macrophage-like cells in vitro and in macrophages in vivo. This suggests that macrophage apoptosis may be important for the clinical virulence of V. vulnificus.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-112
Author(s):  
Tahereh Elhaki ◽  
Ali Gheysarzadeh ◽  
Nourkhoda Sadeghifard ◽  
Iraj Pakzad ◽  
Ava Behrouzi ◽  
...  

Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate Iron uptake protein-related genes in clinical and environmental Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae as an opportunistic pathogen cause infections in immunocompromised patients. Iron uptake systems play an important role in the pathogenesis of Klebsiella pneumonia. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of iron uptake coding genes among isolates of Klebsiella pneumonia. Materials and Methods: A total of 300 isolates of Klebsiella pneumonia including 150 clinical isolates and 150 environmental isolates were selected. Finally, the frequency of iroN, iucD, kfuA,hmuR, and ybt [yHPI] genes were detected by PCR method. Results: The frequency of kfuA, iucD, iroN, yHPI in clinical isolates were 33.3%, 16.7%, 24.7%, 15.3%, respectively and these genes among environmental isolates were 20.7%, 6%, 49.3% and 0.7%, respectively. Among the clinical isolates, the most frequency genes were kfuA gene [50 isolates] and after that iroN [37 isolates], iucD [25 isolates] and yHPI [23 isolates], the genes with the most frequency among environmental isolates were iroN gene [74 isolates] and following that kfuA [31 isolates], iucD [9 isolates] and yHPI [1 isolate]. No hmuR positive samples among all clinical or environmental isolates were found. Conclusion: The result of this study showed that because of the high frequency of ferric iron system coding gene kfu among clinical isolates, this system might play an important role in the survival of bacteria against its host.


1992 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Pelaz ◽  
L. García ◽  
C. Martín-Bourgon

SUMMARYLegionella isolates recovered in 21 different Spanish provinces over 8 years from both clinical (67 isolates) and environmental (181) samples, mostly from case-associated buildings, are described: 92·5% of clinical isolates wereL. pneumophilaserogroup 1 (SGI), only five isolates belonging to other species or serogroups: twoL. pneumophilaSG6, two SG8 and oneL. bozemaniiSG1 not clearly related with clinical infection.L. pneumophilaSG1 accounted for 53·6% of isolates from the environment, followed by SG8 (27·6%). SG3 (9·4%) and SG6 (7·2%). Three isolates were labelled as SG8/10.Subtyping ofL. pneumophilaSG1 by the standardized panel of monoclonal antibodies revealed 90·3% of clinical and 78·3% of environmental isolates as belonging to Pontiac subgroup. Pontiac isolates were further divided into 55·3% Philadelphia 1 or Allentown 1, 21·9% Benidorm 030E and 20·4% Knoxville 1.Characterization of samples from four outbreaks in which both clinical and environmental isolates had been recovered permitted the recognition of three Philadelphia 1 or Allentown 1 and one Knoxville 1 strains as the aetiological agents.


1987 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 1013-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTOLIN L. REYES ◽  
CLIFFORD H. JOHNSON ◽  
PROCTER L. SPAULDING ◽  
GERARD N. STELMA

Lethal doses of 11 clinical and environmental isolates of Vibrio vulnificus were determined in suckling mice after oral challenge. With one exception, isolates that were virulent to iron-overloaded adult mice after intraperitoneal inoculation were highly lethal to the infant mice (&gt;50% lethality at 105 CFU/mouse). The virulent isolate that failed to kill infant mice at 105 CFU had lost its invasiveness. Conditionally virulent isolates that were virulent only to simultaneously iron-overloaded and immunosuppressed adult mice required &gt; 109 CFU to kill the infant mice. Avirulent isolates failed to kill at &gt;109 CFU/mouse. There were no significant differences in the lethalities of clinical and environmental isolates. These findings demonstrated a close correlation between virulence in the iron-overloaded adult mouse and infectivity by the oral route.


Blood ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 488-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Gruel ◽  
B Boizard ◽  
F Daffos ◽  
F Forestier ◽  
J Caen ◽  
...  

Abstract The autosomal recessive transmission of Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) and Bernard-Soulier syndrome (BSS), together with requests of families who already had children with these diseases, prompted us to investigate the feasibility of their antenatal diagnosis. The preliminary step leading to the early detection of GT or BSS was to characterize, in the normal human fetus, the platelet antigens and glycoproteins (GPs) and to define their normal amounts on the membrane surface. Blood samples from 32 fetuses between 18 to 26 weeks of gestation were collected by direct puncture of the umbilical vein using an ultrasound-guided needle. Polyclonal antibodies from human origin directed against PLA1, Leka antigens, and the GPIIb IIIa complex (IgGL), or murine monoclonal antibodies specific for GPIb (AN51, 6D1), GPIIIa (AP-3), or GPIIb IIIa (AP-2) were studied using platelet suspension immunofluorescence tests. The binding of each antibody was quantified using a cytofluorograph (Ortho 50H). PLA1 and Leka antigens were expressed in normal amounts on fetal platelets as early as 16 weeks of intrauterine life. The GPIIb IIIa complex quantified by polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies was in the same range in fetuses (IgGL = 427 +/- 23 AUF, AP-2 = 459.5 +/- 8.5; AP-3 = 536 +/- 14) and in adults (IgGL = 420 +/- 30; AP-2 = 498 +/- 11; AP-3 = 515 +/- 13). The platelet binding of antibodies that recognized GPIb was higher in fetuses (AN51 = 491.5 +/- 14; 6D1 = 479 +/- 15) than in adults (AN51 = 426.5 +/- 9; 6D1 = 449 +/- 8.7). These results suggest that immunological techniques can be applied as early as 18 weeks of gestation for the antenatal diagnosis of GT and BSS.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hira ◽  
Klara Stensvåg

Abstract “Sea urchin lesion syndrome” is known as sea urchins disease with the progressive development of necrotic epidermal tissue and loss of external organs, including appendages on the outer body surface. Recently, a novel strain, Vibrio echinoideorum has been isolated from the lesions of green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis), an economically important mariculture species in Norway. V. echinoideorum has not been reported elsewhere in association of with green sea urchin lesion syndrome. Therefore, in this study, an immersion based bacterial challenge experiment was performed to expose sea urchins (wounded and non-wounded) to V. echinoideorum, thereby mimicking a nearly natural host-pathogen interaction under controlled conditions. This infection experiment demonstrated that only the injured sea urchins developed the lesion to a significant degree when exposed to V. echinoideorum. Pure cultures of the employed bacterial strain was recovered from the infected animals and its identity was confirmed by the MALDI-TOF MS spectra profiling. Additionally, the hemolytic phenotype of V. echinoideorum substantiated its virulence potential towards the host, and this was also supported by the cytolytic effect on red spherule cells of sea urchins. Furthermore, the genome sequence of V. echinoideorum was assumed to encode potential virulence genes and were subjected for in silico comparison with the established virulence factors of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio tasmaniensis. This comparative virulence profile provided novel insights about virulence genes and their putative functions related to chemotaxis, adherence, invasion, evasion of the host immune system, and damage of host tissue and cells. Thus, it supports the pathogenicity of V. echinoideorum. In conclusion, the interaction of V. echinoideorum with injured sea urchins appears to be essential for the development of lesion syndrome and therefore, revealing its potentiality as an opportunistic pathogen.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (35) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas B. Rusch ◽  
Dean A. Rowe-Magnus

ABSTRACT Vibrio vulnificus has the highest death rate and economic burden per case of any foodborne pathogen in the United States. A complete genome sequence of the type strain promotes comparative analyses with other clinical and environmental isolates, improving our understanding of this important human pathogen and successful environmental organism.


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