Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1997 Jul;63(7):2934–2939. doi: 10.1128/aem.63.7.2934-2939.1997

High Prevalence of Vibrio cholerae Non-O1 Carrying Heat-Stable-Enterotoxin-Encoding Genes among Vibrio Isolates from a Temperate-Climate River Basin of Central Italy

G Caldini, A Neri, S Cresti, V Boddi, G M Rossolini, E Lanciotti
PMCID: PMC1389216  PMID: 16535661

Abstract

Vibrio spp. of clinical interest from the Arno River basin (Tuscany, Italy) were investigated in this study. Vibrios were isolated from 70% of water samples. Vibrio cholerae non-O1 was the most prevalent species (82% of isolates), followed by Vibrio mimicus (10%) and Vibrio metschnikovii (8%). Recovery of vibrios was correlated with temperature, pH, and various indicators of municipal pollution. None of the 150 Vibrio isolates carried ctx-related genomic sequences, whereas 18 (14.6%) of the 123 V. cholerae non-O1 isolates and 1 (6.7%) of the 15 V. mimicus isolates carried sto alleles. These findings indicate that considerable circulation of sto-positive vibrios may occur in temperate-climate freshwater environments.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (245.2 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amaro C., Toranzo A. E., González E. A., Blanco J., Pujalte M. J., Aznar R., Garay E. Surface and virulence properties of environmental Vibrio cholerae non-O1 from Albufera Lake (Valencia, Spain). Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Apr;56(4):1140–1147. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.4.1140-1147.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blake P. A., Weaver R. E., Hollis D. G. Diseases of humans (other than cholera) caused by vibrios. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1980;34:341–367. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.34.100180.002013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bockemühl J., Roch K., Wohlers B., Aleksic V., Aleksic S., Wokatsch R. Seasonal distribution of facultatively enteropathogenic vibrios (Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio mimicus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus) in the freshwater of the Elbe River at Hamburg. J Appl Bacteriol. 1986 May;60(5):435–442. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1986.tb05089.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chowdhury M. A., Aziz K. M., Kay B. A., Rahim Z. Toxin production by Vibrio mimicus strains isolated from human and environmental sources in Bangladesh. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Nov;25(11):2200–2203. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.11.2200-2203.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chowdhury M. A., Yamanaka H., Miyoshi S., Aziz K. M., Shinoda S. Ecology of Vibrio mimicus in aquatic environments. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 Aug;55(8):2073–2078. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.8.2073-2078.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Colwell R. R., Kaper J., Joseph S. W. Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and other vibrios: occurrence and distribution in Chesapeake Bay. Science. 1977 Oct 28;198(4315):394–396. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Colwell R. R., Seidler R. J., Kaper J., Joseph S. W., Garges S., Lockman H., Maneval D., Bradford H., Roberts N., Remmers E. Occurrence of Vibrio cholerae serotype O1 in Maryland and Louisiana estuaries. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 Feb;41(2):555–558. doi: 10.1128/aem.41.2.555-558.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Craig J. P., Yamamoto K., Takeda Y., Miwatani T. Production of cholera-like enterotoxin by a Vibrio cholerae non-O1 strain isolated from the environment. Infect Immun. 1981 Oct;34(1):90–97. doi: 10.1128/iai.34.1.90-97.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dalsgaard A., Serichantalergs O., Shimada T., Sethabutr O., Echeverria P. Prevalence of Vibrio cholerae with heat-stable enterotoxin (NAG-ST) and cholera toxin genes; restriction fragment length polymorphisms of NAG-ST genes among V. cholerae O serogroups from a major shrimp production area in Thailand. J Med Microbiol. 1995 Sep;43(3):216–220. doi: 10.1099/00222615-43-3-216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hoge C. W., Sethabutr O., Bodhidatta L., Echeverria P., Robertson D. C., Morris J. G., Jr Use of a synthetic oligonucleotide probe to detect strains of non-serovar O1 Vibrio cholerae carrying the gene for heat-stable enterotoxin (NAG-ST). J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Jun;28(6):1473–1476. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.6.1473-1476.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Janda J. M., Powers C., Bryant R. G., Abbott S. L. Current perspectives on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of clinically significant Vibrio spp. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1988 Jul;1(3):245–267. doi: 10.1128/cmr.1.3.245. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kaper J. B., Morris J. G., Jr, Levine M. M. Cholera. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1995 Jan;8(1):48–86. doi: 10.1128/cmr.8.1.48. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kaper J., Lockman H., Colwell R. R., Joseph S. W. Ecology, serology, and enterotoxin production of Vibrio cholerae in Chesapeake Bay. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Jan;37(1):91–103. doi: 10.1128/aem.37.1.91-103.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kodama H., Gyobu Y., Tokuman N., Okada I., Uetake H., Shimada T., Sakazaki R. Ecology of non-O 1 Vibrio cholerae in Toyama Prefecture. Microbiol Immunol. 1984;28(3):311–325. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1984.tb00683.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lee J. V., Bashford D. J., Donovan T. J., Furniss A. L., West P. A. The incidence of Vibrio cholerae in water, animals and birds in Kent, England. J Appl Bacteriol. 1982 Apr;52(2):281–291. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1982.tb04852.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mekalanos J. J. Duplication and amplification of toxin genes in Vibrio cholerae. Cell. 1983 Nov;35(1):253–263. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90228-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Minami A., Hashimoto S., Abe H., Arita M., Taniguchi T., Honda T., Miwatani T., Nishibuchi M. Cholera enterotoxin production in Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated from the environment and from humans in Japan. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1991 Aug;57(8):2152–2157. doi: 10.1128/aem.57.8.2152-2157.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Morris J. G., Jr, Takeda T., Tall B. D., Losonsky G. A., Bhattacharya S. K., Forrest B. D., Kay B. A., Nishibuchi M. Experimental non-O group 1 Vibrio cholerae gastroenteritis in humans. J Clin Invest. 1990 Mar;85(3):697–705. doi: 10.1172/JCI114494. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Nair G. B., Oku Y., Takeda Y., Ghosh A., Ghosh R. K., Chattopadhyay S., Pal S. C., Kaper J. B., Takeda T. Toxin profiles of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 from environmental sources in Calcutta, India. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1988 Dec;54(12):3180–3182. doi: 10.1128/aem.54.12.3180-3182.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Ogawa A., Kato J., Watanabe H., Nair B. G., Takeda T. Cloning and nucleotide sequence of a heat-stable enterotoxin gene from Vibrio cholerae non-O1 isolated from a patient with traveler's diarrhea. Infect Immun. 1990 Oct;58(10):3325–3329. doi: 10.1128/iai.58.10.3325-3329.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Pal A., Ramamurthy T., Bhadra R. K., Takeda T., Shimada T., Takeda Y., Nair G. B., Pal S. C., Chakrabarti S. Reassessment of the prevalence of heat-stable enterotoxin (NAG-ST) among environmental Vibrio cholerae non-O1 strains isolated from Calcutta, India, by using a NAG-ST DNA probe. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1992 Aug;58(8):2485–2489. doi: 10.1128/aem.58.8.2485-2489.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Ramamurthy T., Albert M. J., Huq A., Colwell R. R., Takeda Y., Takeda T., Shimada T., Mandal B. K., Nair G. B. Vibrio mimicus with multiple toxin types isolated from human and environmental sources. J Med Microbiol. 1994 Mar;40(3):194–196. doi: 10.1099/00222615-40-3-194. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Sears C. L., Kaper J. B. Enteric bacterial toxins: mechanisms of action and linkage to intestinal secretion. Microbiol Rev. 1996 Mar;60(1):167–215. doi: 10.1128/mr.60.1.167-215.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Singleton F. L., Attwell R. W., Jangi M. S., Colwell R. R. Influence of salinity and organic nutrient concentration on survival and growth of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic microcosms. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1982 May;43(5):1080–1085. doi: 10.1128/aem.43.5.1080-1085.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Trucksis M., Galen J. E., Michalski J., Fasano A., Kaper J. B. Accessory cholera enterotoxin (Ace), the third toxin of a Vibrio cholerae virulence cassette. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Jun 1;90(11):5267–5271. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.11.5267. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Venkateswaran K., Kiiyukia C., Takaki M., Nakano H., Matsuda H., Kawakami H., Hashimoto H. Characterization of toxigenic vibrios isolated from the freshwater environment of Hiroshima, Japan. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 Oct;55(10):2613–2618. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.10.2613-2618.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Venkateswaran K., Takai T., Navarro I. M., Nakano H., Hashimoto H., Siebeling R. J. Ecology of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 and Salmonella spp. and role of zooplankton in their seasonal distribution in Fukuyama coastal waters, Japan. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 Jun;55(6):1591–1598. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.6.1591-1598.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. West P. A., Lee J. V. Ecology of Vibrio species, including Vibrio cholerae, in natural waters in Kent, England. J Appl Bacteriol. 1982 Jun;52(3):435–448. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1982.tb05074.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES