Distribution of Virulence Factors and Molecular Fingerprinting of Aeromonas Species Isolates from Water and Clinical Samples: Suggestive Evidence of Water-to-Human Transmission

A total of 227 isolates of Aeromonas obtained from different geographical locations in the United States and different parts of the world, including 28 reference strains, were analyzed to determine the presence of various virulence factors. These isolates were also fingerprinted using biochemical id...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2010-04, Vol.76 (7), p.2313-2325
Main Authors: Khajanchi, Bijay K, Fadl, Amin A, Borchardt, Mark A, Berg, Richard L, Horneman, Amy J, Stemper, Mary E, Joseph, Sam W, Moyer, Nelson P, Sha, Jian, Chopra, Ashok K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aeromonas
Aeromonas - classification
Aeromonas - genetics
Aeromonas - isolation & purification
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Toxins - genetics
Bacterial Typing Techniques
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Cluster Analysis
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Disease transmission
DNA
DNA Fingerprinting
DNA Modification Methylases - genetics
Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
Enterotoxins - genetics
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes
Genotype
Gram-negative bacteria
Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections - microbiology
Humans
Microbiology
Nucleic Acid Hybridization
Public Health Microbiology
United States
Virulence Factors - genetics
Water
Water Microbiology
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Summary:A total of 227 isolates of Aeromonas obtained from different geographical locations in the United States and different parts of the world, including 28 reference strains, were analyzed to determine the presence of various virulence factors. These isolates were also fingerprinted using biochemical identification and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Of these 227 isolates, 199 that were collected from water and clinical samples belonged to three major groups or complexes, namely, the A. hydrophila group, the A. caviae-A. media group, and the A. veronii-A. sobria group, based on biochemical profiles, and they had various pulsotypes. When virulence factor activities were examined, Aeromonas isolates obtained from clinical sources had higher cytotoxic activities than isolates obtained from water sources for all three Aeromonas species groups. Likewise, the production of quorum-sensing signaling molecules, such as N-acyl homoserine lactone, was greater in clinical isolates than in isolates from water for the A. caviae-A. media and A. hydrophila groups. Based on colony blot DNA hybridization, the heat-labile cytotonic enterotoxin gene and the DNA adenosine methyltransferase gene were more prevalent in clinical isolates than in water isolates for all three Aeromonas groups. Using colony blot DNA hybridization and PFGE, we obtained three sets of water and clinical isolates that had the same virulence signature and had indistinguishable PFGE patterns. In addition, all of these isolates belonged to the A. caviae-A. media group. The findings of the present study provide the first suggestive evidence of successful colonization and infection by particular strains of certain Aeromonas species after transmission from water to humans.
ISSN:0099-2240
1098-5336
1098-6596
DOI:10.1128/AEM.02535-09