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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 7024-7032, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.7024-7032.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Protocol for Specific Isolation of Virulent Strains of Vibrio vulnificus Serovar E (Biotype 2) from Environmental Samples

Eva Sanjuán and Carmen Amaro*

Departamento Microbiología y Ecología, Universidad de Valencia, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain

Received 21 May 2004/ Accepted 12 August 2004

The eel pathogen Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 comprises at least three serovars, with serovar E being the only one involved in both epizootics of eel vibriosis and sporadic cases of human infections. The virulent strains of this serovar (VSE) have only been recovered from clinical (mainly eel tissue) sources. The main objective of this work was to design and validate a new protocol for VSE-specific isolation from environmental samples. The key element of the new protocol is the broth used for the first step (saline eel serum broth [SEB]), which contains eel serum as a nutritive and selective component. This approach takes advantage of the ability of VSE cells to grow in eel serum and thus to separate themselves from the pool of competitors. The growth yield in SEB after 8 h of incubation was 1,000 times higher for VSE strains than for their putative competitors (including biotype 1 strains of the species). The selective and differential agar Vibrio vulnificus medium (VVM) was selected from five selective media for the second step because it gave the highest plating efficiency not only for the VSE group but also for other V. vulnificus groups, including biotype 3. The entire protocol was validated by field studies, with alkaline peptone water plus VVM as a control. V. vulnificus was isolated by both protocols, but serovar E was only recovered by the new method described here. All selected serovar E isolates were identified as VSE since they were virulent for both eels and iron-overloaded mice and resisted the bactericidal action of eel and iron-overloaded human sera. In conclusion, this new protocol is a suitable method for the isolation of VSE strains from environmental samples and is recommended for epidemiological studies of the pathogenic serovar E.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento Microbiología y Ecología, Universidad de Valencia, Avda. Dr. Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain. Phone: 34 963 543104. Fax: 34 963 543202. E-mail: carmen.amaro{at}uv.es.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 7024-7032, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.7024-7032.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Fouz, B., Roig, F. J., Amaro, C. (2007). Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of a new fish-virulent Vibrio vulnificus serovar that lacks potential to infect humans. Microbiology 153: 1926-1934 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sanjuan, E., Amaro, C. (2007). Multiplex PCR Assay for Detection of Vibrio vulnificus Biotype 2 and Simultaneous Discrimination of Serovar E Strains. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2029-2032 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lee, C.-T., Amaro, C., Sanjuan, E., Hor, L.-I (2005). Identification of DNA Sequences Specific for Vibrio vulnificus Biotype 2 Strains by Suppression Subtractive Hybridization. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 5593-5597 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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