First Experimental Evidence for the Presence of Potentially Toxic <i>Vibrio cholerae</i> in Snails, and Virulence, Cross-Resistance and Genetic Diversity of the Bacterium in 36 Species of Aquatic Food Animals
Dailing Chen,
Xiangyi Li,
Ling Ni,
Dingxiang Xu,
Yingwei Xu,
Yong Ding,
Lu Xie,
Lanming Chen
Affiliations
Dailing Chen
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Xiangyi Li
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Ling Ni
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Dingxiang Xu
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Yingwei Xu
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Yong Ding
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Lu Xie
Shanghai Center for Bioinformation Technology, Shanghai 201203, China
Lanming Chen
Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
Vibrio cholerae is the most common waterborne pathogen that can cause pandemic cholera in humans. Continuous monitoring of V. cholerae contamination in aquatic products is crucial for assuring food safety. In this study, we determined the virulence, cross-resistance between antibiotics and heavy metals, and genetic diversity of V. cholerae isolates from 36 species of aquatic food animals, nearly two-thirds of which have not been previously detected. None of the V. cholerae isolates (n = 203) harbored the cholera toxin genes ctxAB (0.0%). However, isolates carrying virulence genes tcpA (0.98%), ace (0.5%), and zot (0.5%) were discovered, which originated from the snail Cipangopaludina chinensis. High occurrences were observed for virulence-associated genes, including hapA (73.4%), rtxCABD (68.0–41.9%), tlh (54.2%), and hlyA (37.9%). Resistance to moxfloxacin (74.9%) was most predominant resistance among the isolates, followed by ampicillin (59.1%) and rifampicin (32.5%). Approximately 58.6% of the isolates displayed multidrug resistant phenotypes. Meanwhile, high percentages of the isolates tolerated the heavy metals Hg2+ (67.0%), Pb2+ (57.6%), and Zn2+ (57.6%). Distinct virulence and cross-resistance profiles were discovered among the V. cholerae isolates in 13 species of aquatic food animals. The ERIC-PCR-based genome fingerprinting of the 203 V. cholerae isolates revealed 170 ERIC-genotypes, which demonstrated considerable genomic variation among the isolates. Overall, the results of this study provide useful data to fill gaps for policy and research related to the risk assessment of V. cholerae contamination in aquatic products.
