| Summary: | In the Splendidus clade, Vibrio tasmaniensis and Vibrio crassostreae are two populations of virulent vibrio for oysters that are associated to "juvenile oyster mortality syndrome". Here we were interested in the diversity of interaction mechanisms between the vibrios and their host, the oyster Crassostrea gigas. First, we investigated the pathogenesis process of the strain V. tasmaniensis LGP32 and showed that it exerts a cytotoxic activity against oyster immune cells, the hemocytes, which depend on its entry into the cells through phagocytosis. Transcriptomic analysis of LGP32 response during intracellular stage revealed a crucial role for antioxydant systems and copper efflux in intraphagosomal survival of the bacteria. From a functional point of view, we showed that this virulence mechanisms of LPG32 play a major role in pathogenesis in vivo. Second, we realized a comparative study of the interaction mechanisms between representative strains of the two populations V. tasmaniensis and V. crassostreae with the oyster. Virulent strains from both populations were cytotoxic for hemocytes but this cytotoxicity was independant of phagocytosis in the case of V. crassostreae, in contrary to V. tasmaniensis. Transcriptomic analysis of the oyster responses during infection showed that virulent strains of both populations repressed the expression of genes involved in antibacterial responses. However, some pecific responses were also identified for each virulent strain, highlighting some diversity of interactions. In vivo, virulent strains were able to colonize oyster tissues, in contrary to non-virulent strains, which were controlled by hemocytes. Our work show, although a certain degree of diversity and specificity exist in the interactions between different vibrios of the Splendidus clade and oysters, both virulent populations are cytotoxic for immune cells, and this process is essential for their infectious success. Thus, the capacity to overcome the hemocyte defenses is a conserved phenotype between distinct virulent ...
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