Identification of Aeromonas trota (hybridization group 13) by amplification of the aerolysin gene using polymerase chain reaction

Aeromonas trota is recognized as an important enteropathogen, and its haemolysin (aerolysin) is purported to be one of the virulence factors. Rapid detection and identification of A. trota is important for early and specific diagnosis of the infectious diseases that it causes. Synthetic oligonucleotide primers were used in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to amplify a species-specific sequence of the aerA gene, which encodes the aerolysin of A. trota. A DNA fragment of 622 bp was amplified from both lysed cells and isolated DNA from A. trota. The identity of the amplified 622 bp fragment was confirmed by digestion with BamH I restriction endonuclease, which produced the predicted 557 and 65 bp fragments. The lower limit for detection of the aerA gene by PCR amplification was 10 pg of total DNA or 10-15 cells ml-1. Primer specificity for A. trota was determined by the PCR assay with cells of 55 strains of Aeromonas sppincluding all of the 14 currently recognized DNA hybridization groups. A strain of Aeromonas enteropelogenes that had been reclassified as A. trota was also PCR positive. The method described here can be used to detect aerolysin-producing A. trota (hybridization group 13) strains from environmental and clinical samples without the use of selective media or additional biochemical tests.