Neuraminidase production by Vibrio cholerae O1 and other diarrheagenic bacteria

Vibrio cholerae O1 strains belonging to both biotypes (classical and El Tor) and both serotypes (Ogawa and Inaba) produced neuraminidase which was released rather than cell bound. Classical strains made more neuraminidase than did El Tor strains. About one-third of V. cholerae non-O1 strains and one-fourth of Aeromonas hydrophila strains were neuraminidase positive. Strains of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Shigella spp. did not produce detectable neuraminidase.     

Multilocus sequence typing has better discriminatory ability for typing Vibrio cholerae than does pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and provides a measure of phylogenetic relatedness

Twenty-two Vibrio cholerae isolates, including some from "epidemic" (O1 and O139) and "nonepidemic" serogroups, were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) by using three housekeeping genes, gyrB, pgm, and recA; sequence data were also obtained for the virulence-associated genes tcpA, ctxA, and ctxB. Even with the small number of loci used, MLST had better discriminatory ability than did PFGE. On MLST analysis, there was clear clustering of epidemic serogroups; much greater diversity was seen among tcpA- and ctxAB-positive V. cholerae strains from other, nonepidemic serogroups, with a number of tcpA and ctxAB alleles identified.     

Characterization of Aeromonas trota strains that cross-react with Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal.

It has previously been shown that Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal shares antigens with V. cholerae serogroups O22 and O155. We detected six surface water isolates of Aeromonas trota that agglutinated in polyclonal antisera to V. cholerae O139 and V. cholerae O22 but not in antiserum to V. cholerae O155. On the basis of agglutinin-absorption studies, the antigenic relationship between the cross-reacting bacteria were found to be in an a,b-a,c fashion, where a is the common antigenic epitope and b and c are unique epitopes. The antigen sharing between A. trota strains and V. cholerae O139 was confirmed in immunoblot studies. However, A. trota strains did not react with two monoclonal antibodies specific for V. cholerae O139 and, consequently, tested negative in the Bengal SMART rapid diagnostic test for V. cholerae O139 which uses one of the monoclonal antibodies. A polyclonal antiserum to a cross-reacting A. trota strain cross-protected infant mice against cholera on challenge with virulent V. cholerae O139. All A. trota strains were cytotoxic for HeLa cells, positive for adherence to HEp-2 cells, and weakly invasive for HEp-2 cells; one strain was heat-stable toxin positive in the suckling mouse assay; however, all strains were negative for cholera toxin-like enterotoxin. Studies on bacteria that share somatic antigen with V. cholerae O139 may shed further light on the genesis of V. cholerae O139.     

Molecular characterization of environmental and nontoxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae.

Environmental and nontoxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae 0-1 were examined for genes homologous to genes encoding Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT). Restriction fragments encoding LT A and B subunits were isolated from the recombinant plasmid EWD299 and labeled in vitro with 32P. These probes were then hybridized to deoxyribonucleic acid extracted from strains of V. cholerae and visualized by autoradiography. None of the nontoxigenic strains of V. cholerae 0-1 from Louisiana, Alabama, Maryland, Guam, Brazil, Bangladesh, or Great Britain hybridized with the LT probes, whereas all toxigenic strains exhibited homology. In addition, strains of V. cholerae non-0-1, "group F" vibrios, V. vulnificus, and Aeromonas hydrophila were tested, and all were negative except two strains of V. cholerae non-0-1. The presence of plasmids did not correlate with toxigenicity or nontoxigenicity in any of the species examined. Thus, it appears that these strains are not simple nontoxigenic mutants, but rather do not possess any genetic material encoding cholera toxin. Such strains therefore cannot revert and serve as a reservoir of cholera.     

Nontoxigenic Vibrio cholerae 01 serotype Inaba biotype El Tor associated with a cluster of cases of cholera in southern India.

Thirteen strains of Vibrio cholerae 01 belonging to the Inaba serotype El Tor biotype isolated from patients during an outbreak of cholera in the town of Warangal in southern India were found to be nontoxigenic (NT), since they did not produce cholera toxin or hybridize with DNA probes specific for cholera toxin, Zot, or Ace. The unheated and heated culture supernatants of the NT V. cholerae 01 evoked a rapid cell-rounding effect when introduced on confluent layers of CHO and HeLa cells which could not be inhibited by antiserum against known toxins. Culture supernatants of two representative NT V. cholerae 01 strains caused an increase in short-circuit current in rabbit ileal tissue mounted on an Ussing chamber, and the pattern of increase in short-circuit current was consistent with the presence of a quickly acting toxin like stable toxin. None of the strains of NT V. cholerae 01 hybridized with a DNA probe specific for the heat-stable enterotoxin of V. cholerae non-01, nor did the factor produced by NT V. cholerae 01 resemble the recently described heat-stable enterotoxin produced by enteroaggregative Escherichia coli as determine by a PCR assay. To our knowledge, this is the first report of NT V. cholerae 01 being associated with a cluster of cases of cholera, and it appears that a clone of NT V. cholerae 01 has the potential to cause localized outbreaks of cholera.     

Development and testing of a nonradioactive DNA oligonucleotide probe that is specific for Vibrio cholerae cholera toxin.

An alkaline phosphatase-labeled oligonucleotide DNA probe (CTAP) that was specific for the cholera toxin gene (ctxA) was identified. All cholera toxin-producing strains of Vibrio cholerae, regardless of serotype, hybridized with the CTAP probe, while nontoxigenic strains from either environmental sources or from deletion or substitution mutations did not hybridize. Unlike the whole-gene probes for either ctxA or for the heat-labile toxin or Escherichia coli (eltA), this 23-base sequence did not hybridize with E. coli or with vibrios other than V. cholerae that produce related toxins. By using CTAP to identify colonies grown on nonselective medium, V. cholerae was enumerated at concentrations of 10(3) to 10(7)/g from stool samples of volunteers who had ingested V. cholerae O1 strain 569B. CTAP provides a specific and sensitive tool for diagnosis and environmental monitoring of cholera toxin-producing V. cholerae.     

Evaluation of DNA probes for specific detection of Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal.

Two DNA probes, 2R1 and 2R3, prepared from a region in the chromosome specific for the lipopolysaccharide O side chains of Vibrio cholerae O139 (M.K. Waldor and J.J. Mekalanos, Lancet 343:1366, 1994) were examined for their specificity and sensitivity. Both probes did not hybridize with any strain of V. cholerae belonging to serogroups other than O139 and to any of the other species examined belonging to the family Vibrionaceae. Among the 126 strains of V. cholerae O139 examined, probe 2R1 hybridized with 125 strains while probe 2R3 hybridized with all 126 strains. Both probes were found to be highly specific and sensitive and can be used for the specific identification of V. cholerae O139.     

霍乱弧菌O139某些生物学特性及毒力基因检测

Ｏ１３９霍乱弧菌是１９９２年发现的新型霍乱弧菌，其毒力强，危害严重。对中国、印度、孟加拉国分离的２３株Ｏ１３９菌株的部分生物学特征检查表明：对弧菌抑制剂Ｏ／１２９均具有抗性、溶原菌、山梨醇慢发酵、非溶血性。核酸分子杂交显示，所有被检Ｏ１３９菌株都具有主要的霍乱弧菌毒素基因：ｃｔｘ，ｚｏｔ，ａｃｅ和ＲＳ１序列。ＰＣＲ检测ｃｔｘ基因与Ｏ１群流行珠具有相同的扩增产物，ｔｃｐＡ基因扩增表现为与埃尔托型霍乱弧菌相似的扩增产物。兔肠段结扎测毒表明，Ｏ１３９霍乱弧菌为强毒株。因此Ｏ１３９菌与Ｏ１群霍乱弧菌流行株具有共同的毒力特征。     

Pili of Vibrio cholerae non-O1.

Pili of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 strain S7 were purified and characterized. The pili of S7 were morphologically, electrophoretically, and immunologically (as far as polyclonal antibody was used) indistinguishable from the 16-kilodalton pili of V. cholerae O1 strain 82P7. The purified pili and organisms had D-mannose- and L-fucose-resistant hemagglutinin. The hemagglutinating activity of the purified pili was inhibited by the Fab fraction of antipilus antibody, but the hemagglutinating activity of live organisms was not inhibited completely. The purified pili or Fab fraction of antipilus antibody did not inhibit the adhesion of V. cholerae non-O1 to rabbit intestines. Therefore, the pili were not regarded as a colonization factor of V. cholerae non-O1. A total of 148 V. cholerae non-O1 and O1 clinical isolates were screened for the presence of S7 pili by using an agglutination test with anti-S7 pilus serum; 12 of 49 V. cholerae non-O1 strains and 25 of 99 V. cholerae O1 strains were positive for agglutination. These agglutination reactions were not correlated with adhesion of the organisms to intestines.     

Rapid method for species-specific identification of Vibrio cholerae using primers targeted to the gene of outer membrane protein OmpW

The distribution of genes for an outer membrane protein (OmpW) and a regulatory protein (ToxR) in Vibrio cholerae and other organisms was studied using respective primers and probes. PCR amplification results showed that all (100%) of the 254 V. cholerae strains tested were positive for ompW and 229 ( approximately 98%) of 233 were positive for toxR. None of the 40 strains belonging to other Vibrio species produced amplicons with either ompW- or toxR-specific primers, while 80 bacterial strains from other genera tested were also found to be negative by the assay. These studies were extended with representative number of strains using ompW- and toxR-specific probes in DNA dot blot assay. While the V. cholerae strains reacted with ompW probe, only one (V. mimicus) out of 60 other bacterial strains tested showed weak recognition. In contrast, several strains belonging to other Vibrio species (e.g., V. mimicus, V. splendidus, V. alginolyticus, V. fluvialis, V. proteolyticus, V. aestuarianus, V. salmonicida, V. furnissii, and V. parahaemolyticus) showed weak to strong reactivity to the toxR probe. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and nucleotide sequence data revealed that the ompW sequence is highly conserved among V. cholerae strains belonging to different biotypes and/or serogroups. All of these results suggest that the ompW gene can be targeted for the species-specific identification of V. cholerae strains. The scope of this study was further extended through the development of a one-step multiplex PCR assay for the simultaneous amplification of ompW and ctxA genes which should be of considerable value in the screening of both toxigenic and nontoxigenic V. cholerae strains of clinical as well as environmental origin.     

Toxin production by atypical strains of Vibrio cholerae E1 Tor under different cultural conditions

It was observed that at 37 degrees C under in vitro conditions, aerobic culture filtrates of a few strains of Vibrio cholerae biotype El Tor isolated from diarrhoeal cases produced a minute amount of toxin which failed to elicit a positive ileal loop reaction like toxigenic strains. Thus, these strains showed an atypical behaviour in their toxin producing ability. At 25 degrees C and 30 degrees C under aerobic cultural conditions enhanced toxin production was noticed in toxigenic strains, but these temperatures did not affect the toxigenicity of the atypical strains. The atypical Vibrio cholerae El Tor strains exhibited enhanced toxin production only at 37 degrees C under anaerobic conditions and the amount of toxin produced was akin to those of the toxigenic strains. In comparison to aerobic conditions, growth was observed to be comparatively lower under anaerobiosis both in the toxigenic and atpyical V. cholerae strains. Moreover, in contrast to the toxigenic strains, the toxin did not remain membrane-bound in these atypical strains at 37 degrees C and aerobic cultural conditions.     

Cloned polynucleotide and synthetic oligonucleotide probes used in colony hybridization are equally efficient in the identification of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Restriction endonuclease-generated polynucleotide and synthetically produced oligonucleotide gene probes used in colony hybridization assays proved to be efficient for the detection and differentiation of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. To compare their relative efficiencies, these two sets of probes were radiolabeled with 32P and were applied to 74 strains of E. coli with known enterotoxin profiles and to 156 previously unexamined E. coli isolates. The enterotoxigenic bacteria Vibrio cholerae O1, Vibrio cholerae non-O1 (NAG), Yersinia enterocolitica, and E. coli harboring the plasmid vectors of the polynucleotide gene probes were examined for further evaluation of probe specificity. The two classes of probes showed a perfect concordance in their specific detection and differentiation of enterotoxigenic E. coli. In the analysis of six strains, the signal strength on autoradiography after hybridization with oligonucleotides was weaker than that obtained after hybridization with polynucleotide probes. The probes did not hybridize with DNA from V. cholerae O1, V. cholerae non-O1 (NAG), or Y. enterocolitica. The strains of E. coli harboring the plasmid vectors of the polynucleotide gene probes were, likewise, negative in the hybridization assays.     

Genetic basis of toxin production and pathogenesis in Vibrio cholerae: evidence against phage conversion.

The pathogenicity of Vibrio cholerae strains "cured" of "Kappa-type" phage was not significantly altered relative to that of their "Kappa" lysogenic parental strains. Unlike Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the capacity of V. cholerae to produce exotoxin was not stimulated as a consequence of active phage multiplication. Toxin production in cultures in which Kappa-type phage multiplication was initiated either by inducing Kappa lysogens or by infecting naturally occurring or "cured" Kappa-sensitive strains was greatly reduced compared to normally growing control cultures. Kappa-sensitive El Tor strain Mak 757 and a Kappa lysogen derived from it did not differ in their capacity to colonize ligated rabbit ileal loops nor in their sensitivites to ultraviolet radiation, acidic pH, or osmotic shock. We conclude that Kappa-type phages do not directly affect the pathogenicity of these V. cholerae strains.     

Lysogenic conversion of environmental Vibrio mimicus strains by CTXPhi.

The filamentous bacteriophage CTXPhi, which encodes cholera toxin (CT) in toxigenic Vibrio cholerae, is known to propagate by infecting susceptible strains of V. cholerae by using the toxin coregulated pilus (TCP) as its receptor and thereby causing the origination of new strains of toxigenic V. cholerae from nontoxigenic progenitors. Besides V. cholerae, Vibrio mimicus strains which are normally TCP negative have also been shown to occasionally produce CT and cause diarrhea in humans. We analyzed nontoxigenic V. mimicus strains isolated from surface waters in Bangladesh for susceptibility and lysogenic conversion by CTXPhi and studied the expression of CT in the lysogens by using genetically marked derivatives of the phage. Of 27 V. mimicus strains analyzed, which were all negative for genes encoding TCP but positive for the regulatory gene toxR, 2 strains (7.4%) were infected by CTX-KmPhi, derived from strain SM44(P27459 ctx::km), and the phage genome integrated into the host chromosome, forming stable lysogens. The lysogens spontaneously produced infectious phage particles in the supernatant fluids of the culture, and high titers of the phage could be achieved when the lysogens were induced with mitomycin C. This is the first demonstration of lysogenic conversion of V. mimicus strains by CTXPhi. When a genetically marked derivative of the replicative form of the CTXPhi genome carrying a functional ctxAB operon, pMSF9.2, was introduced into nontoxigenic V. mimicus strains, the plasmid integrated into the host genome and the strains produced CT both in vitro and inside the intestines of adult rabbits and caused mild-to-severe diarrhea in rabbits. This suggested that in the natural habitat infection of nontoxigenic V. mimicus strains by wild-type CTXPhi may lead to the origination of toxigenic V. mimicus strains which are capable of producing biologically active CT. The results of this study also supported the existence of a TCP-independent mechanism for infection by CTXPhi and showed that at least one species of Vibrio other than V. cholerae may contribute to the propagation of the phage.     

Numerical taxonomy of Vibrio cholerae and related species isolated from areas that are endemic and nonendemic for cholera.

A total of 165 strains of vibrios isolated from clinical and environmental sources in the United States, India, and Bangladesh, 11 reference cultures, and 4 duplicated cultures were compared in a numerical taxonomic study using 83 unit characters. Similarity between strains was computed by using the simple matching coefficient and the Jaccard coefficient. Strains were clustered by unweighted average linkage and single linkage algorithms. All methods gave similar cluster compositions. The estimated probability of error in the study was obtained from a comparison of the results of duplicated strains and was within acceptable limits. A total of 174 of the 180 organisms studied were divided into eight major clusters. Two clusters were identified as Vibrio cholerae, one as Vibrio mimicus, one as Vibrio parahaemolyticus, three as Vibrio species, and one as Aeromonas hydrophila. The V. mimicus cluster could be further divided into two subclusters, and the major V. cholerae group could be split into seven minor subclusters. Phenotypic traits routinely used to identify clinical isolates of V. cholerae can be used to identify environmental V. cholerae isolates. No distinction was found between strains of V. cholerae isolated from regions endemic for cholera and strains from nonendemic regions.     

Molecular epidemiology of Vibrio cholerae in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Enterotoxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae O-1, biotype El Tor, isolated from a case of cholera in Texas in 1973, an outbreak of cholera in Louisiana in 1978, and Louisiana sewage samples in 1980 and 1981 were analyzed for their genetic similarities. Chromosomal DNA was isolated from each strain, digested with restriction endonuclease, and analyzed by the Southern blot technique. A radioactive probe consisting of Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin DNA detected cholera toxin gene sequences in these strains and demonstrated that the toxin gene sequence, if not the entire chromosomal DNA, is identical in these strains and distinctly different from other strains of V. cholerae isolated throughout the world. In addition, two strains of enterotoxigenic V. cholerae non-O-1 isolated from clinical cases, were analyzed and found to possess cholera toxin genes which differed in the DNA sequence from the V. cholerae O-1 strains. We concluded that a single strain of enterotoxigenic V. cholerae O-1 is resident in the U.S. Gulf Coast and that a second reservoir of cholera toxin genes exists in V. cholerae non-O-1 strains in Louisiana.     

霍乱弧菌毒力表达调控基因toxR缺失株的构建及其功能的研究

目的　通过构建霍乱弧菌toxR基因缺失株来研究toxR基因对霍乱弧菌减毒菌株IEM101和高产毒株569B毒力表达的调控作用。方法　采用自杀性质粒和接合转移技术，将2个中间含有四环素基因的toxR基因分别与霍乱弧菌减毒株IEM101和高产毒株569B染色体toxR基因重组，从而获得toxR基因缺失株IEM101-4和569B-43，并对2个toxR基因缺失株和其原出发菌株的霍乱肠毒素的产率和主要外膜蛋白图谱进行比较。结果　采用GM1-ELISA检测受测菌CT基因表达，toxR基因缺失株569B-43的P/N值为1.82，而其原出发菌株569B的P/N为4.52，而IEM101和其toxR基因缺失株的P/N值均低于2。采用SDS-PAGE对受试菌外膜蛋白进行分析，toxR基因缺失株569B和IEM101的外膜蛋白图谱相比，均多出2条相对分子质量（Mr）为40×103和43×103外膜蛋白区带。结论　toxR蛋白是霍乱肠毒素基因ctx表达的正调控因子，是霍乱弧菌主要外膜蛋白（Mr为40×103和43×103)编码基因的负调控因子。     

Studies on toxinogenesis in Vibrio cholerae. II. An vitro test for enterotoxin production

An Elek test for enterotoxin-producing strains of Vibrio cholerae is described. Thirty-five out of 37 strains of classical V. cholerae produced positive reactions, but only 1 of 69 E1 Tor vibrio strains was reactive. Tox(-) mutants of V. cholerae were also unreactive in the Elek test.     

Characterization of surface properties of Vibrio cholerae.

A number of isolates of Vibrio cholerae were examined with respect to their (i) surface hydrophobicity as measured by hydrophobic interaction chromatography, (ii) capacity to agglutinate erythrocytes, and (iii) ability to bind to an ion-exchange matrix. V. cholerae isolates, cultured under a variety of growth conditions, were conspicuously hydrophobic. The hydrophobicity was accentuated when these strains were (i) cultivated in a chemically defined synthetic medium, (ii) harvested at the exponential phase of growth, and (iii) cultured at a lower temperature. Rough strains were more hydrophobic than smooth strains. Of the various surface components examined, the outer membrane proteins were conspicuously hydrophobic. The cell-bound hemagglutinating activity of V. cholerae strains was increased when these strains were cultured in synthetic medium and harvested at the stationary phase of growth. This property was unaffected by the growth temperature. Only D-mannose, at a high concentration, inhibited hemagglutination of 80% of the isolates examined. L-Fucose did not inhibit the hemagglutinating activity. V. cholerae strains adhered strongly to the anion-exchange matrix DEAE-cellulose. The surface charge density was accentuated when these strains were grown in synthetic medium. These results suggest that the V. cholerae surface contains both specific (hemagglutinating) and nonspecific (hydrophobic and ionic) factors which may influence its eventual adherence to the host cell surface.     

Association of Vibrio cholerae with fresh water amoebae.

An investigation was undertaken to determine whether Acanthamoeba polyphaga SHI and Naegleria gruberi 1518/1e could affect the survival of various strains of Vibrio cholerae in laboratory microcosms. In microcosms pre-inoculated with trophozoites of amoebae, all six strains of V. cholerae tested survived and multiplied during 24 h. In control microcosms without trophozoites of amoebae, survival of the V. cholerae strains was much decreased. Two strains of V. cholerae were used to determine whether V. cholerae might survive ingestion within amoebae and subsequent encystment. Strain 152 was re-isolated from encysting N. gruberi 1518/1e but not from A. polyphaga SHI. Strain 9112 could not be isolated from cysts of either species of amoebae.