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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2006, p. 6986-6993, Vol. 72, No. 11
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00544-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Capsular Polysaccharide Phase Variation in Vibrio vulnificus

Tamara Hilton, Tom Rosche, Brett Froelich, Benjamin Smith, and James Oliver^*

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina 28223

Received 7 March 2006/ Accepted 15 August 2006

Commonly found in raw oysters, Vibrio vulnificus poses a serious health threat to immunocompromised individuals and those with serum iron overload, with a fatality rate of approximately 50%. An essential virulence factor is its capsular polysaccharide (CPS), which is responsible for a significant increase in virulence compared to nonencapsulated strains. However, this bacterium is known to vary the amount of CPS expressed on the cell surface, converting from an opaque (Op) colony phenotype to a translucent (Tr) colony phenotype. In this study, the consistency of CPS conversion was determined for four strains of V. vulnificus. Environmental conditions including variations in aeration, temperature, incubation time, oxidative stress, and media (heart infusion or modified maintenance medium agar) were investigated to determine their influence on CPS conversion. All conditions, with the exception of variations in media and oxidative stress, significantly affected the conversion of the population, with high ranges of CPS expression found even within cells from a single colony. The global quorum-sensing regulators RpoS and AI-2 were also examined. While RpoS was found to significantly mediate phenotypic conversion, quorum sensing was not. Finally, 12 strains that comprise the recently found clinical (C) and environmental (E) genotypes of V. vulnificus were examined to determine their rates of population conversion. C-genotype strains, which are most often associated with infection, had a significantly lower rate of population conversion from Op to Tr phenotypes than did E-genotype strains (ca. 38% versus ca. 14%, respectively). Biofilm capabilities of these strains, however, were not correlated with increased population conversion.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223. Phone: (704) 687-8516. Fax: (704) 687-3457. E-mail: jdoliver{at}uncc.edu.

Published ahead of print on 25 August 2006.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2006, p. 6986-6993, Vol. 72, No. 11
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00544-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

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• Nakhamchik, A., Wilde, C., Rowe-Magnus, D. A. (2008). Cyclic-di-GMP Regulates Extracellular Polysaccharide Production, Biofilm Formation, and Rugose Colony Development by Vibrio vulnificus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4199-4209 [Abstract] [Full Text]