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Title: CHARACTERIZATION OF A CLINICAL VIBRIO CHOLERAE 0139 ISOLATE FROM MEXICO

Author
item PARVEEN, SALINA - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item FARRAH, SAMUEL - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item GONZALEZ-BONILLA, CELIA - INDRE, MEXICO CITY
item ZAMUDIO, ALTAGRACIA - INDRE, MEXICO CITY
item Tamplin, Mark

Submitted to: Federation of European Microbiological Societies Microbiology Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2002
Publication Date: 4/10/2003
Citation: PARVEEN, S., FARRAH, S.R., GONZALEZ-BONILLA, C., ZAMUDIO, A.V., TAMPLIN, M.L. CHARACTERIZATION OF A CLINICAL VIBRIO CHOLERAE 0139 ISOLATE FROM MEXICO. FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN MICROBIOLOGICAL SOCIETIES MICROBIOL LETTERS. 2003. v. 49 (1). p. 65-70.

Interpretive Summary: Vibrio cholerae strains of the O-serogroup 1 (O1) and V. cholerae O139 cause epidemic cholera, an important cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the developing world. Since the discovery of V. cholerae O139 in 1992, researchers suggest that this pathogen likely acquired virulence genes for cholera toxin (ctx) and toxin-coregulated pili (tcp) from a V. cholerae O1 El Tor strain. In general, the majority of clinical V. cholerae O139 strains have very similar genetic and phenotypic traits, however there are recent reports of clinical V. cholerae O139 isolates in Argentina and Sri Lanka that are genetically and phenotypically distinct from most clinical V. cholerae O139 strains. The present study describes the isolation of a V. cholerae O139 strain from a case of human gastrointestinal disease in Mexico which lacks the ctx and tcp virulence genes, and which has phenotypic and genotypic properties that are markedly different from various V. cholerae O139 reference strains. This finding supports the hypothesis that virulence genes, other than ctx and tcp may be involved in V. cholerae O139 illness, and that V. cholerae O139 strains have diverse clonal origins.

Technical Abstract: Pathogenic strains of Vibrio cholerae O139 possess the cholera toxin A subunit (ctxA) gene as well as the A subunit gene for toxin coregulated pili (tcpA). We report the isolation of a ctx A-negative, tcpA-negative V. cholerae O139 strain from a patient in Mexico diagnosed with gastrointestinal illness. Certain phenotypic characteristics of this strain were identical to those of V. cholerae O1 biotype El Tor. Unlike ctx A-positive V. cholerae O139 strains, this strain was sensitive to a wide panel of antibiotics, including ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, furazolidone, nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin, tetracycline, trimethoprim- sulfamethoxazole, and streptomycin. Ribotype and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles of the strain differed from those of ctxA-positive V. cholerae O139 and other V. cholerae strains. Characteristics of the Mexico strain were similar to those reported for certain V. cholerae O139 isolates from Argentina and Sri Lanka.