Molecular characterization of Aeromonas spp. and Vibrio cholerae O1 isolated during a diarrhea outbreak

This work aimed to assess pathogenic potential and clonal relatedness of Aeromonas sp. and Vibrio cholerae isolates recovered during a diarrhea outbreak in Brazil. Clinical and environmental isolates were investigated for the presence of known pathogenic genes and clonal relatedness was assessed by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
Main Authors: Carina Lucena Mendes-Marques, Larissa Mélo do Nascimento, Grace Nazareth Diogo Theophilo, Ernesto Hofer, Osvaldo Pompílio de Melo Neto, Nilma Cintra Leal
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2012
Subjects:
Aeromonas
Vibrio cholerae
Diarrhea
Virulence
PCR
Pathogenicity
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46652012000600001
https://doaj.org/article/93a800bd81764af0a90ad4a3135c455b
Description
Summary:This work aimed to assess pathogenic potential and clonal relatedness of Aeromonas sp. and Vibrio cholerae isolates recovered during a diarrhea outbreak in Brazil. Clinical and environmental isolates were investigated for the presence of known pathogenic genes and clonal relatedness was assessed by intergenic spacer region (ISR) 16S-23S amplification. Four Aeromonas genes (lip, exu, gcat, flaA/B) were found at high overall frequency in both clinical and environmental isolates although the lip gene was specifically absent from selected species. A fifth gene, aerA, was rarely found in A. caviae, the most abundant species. The ISR profile revealed high heterogeneity among the Aeromonas isolates and no correlation with species identification. In contrast, in all the V. cholerae isolates the four genes investigated (ctxA, tcpA, zot and ace) were amplified and revealed homogeneous ISR and RAPD profiles. Although Aeromonas isolates were the major enteric pathogen recovered, their ISR profiles are not compatible with a unique cause for the diarrhea events, while the clonal relationship clearly implicates V. cholerae in those cases from which it was isolated. These results reinforce the need for a better definition of the role of aeromonads in diarrhea and whether they benefit from co-infection with V. cholerae.

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