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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2009, p. 1697-1702, Vol. 75, No. 6
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01995-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enhancement of UV Light Sensitivity of a Vibrio parahaemolyticus O3:K6 Pandemic Strain Due to Natural Lysogenization by a Telomeric Phage{triangledown}

Beatriz Zabala, Katherine García, and Romilio T. Espejo*

Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile, El Líbano 5524, Macul, Santiago, Chile 6903625

Received 27 August 2008/ Accepted 8 January 2009

The Vibrio parahaemolyticus O3:K6 pandemic clonal strain was first observed in southern Chile in 2004 and has since caused approximately 8,000 seafood-related diarrhea cases in this region. The massive proliferation of the original clonal population offers a unique opportunity to study the evolution of a bacterial pathogen in its natural environment by detection and characterization of emerging bacterial variants. Here, we describe a group of pandemic variants characterized by the presence of a 42-kb extrachromosomal DNA that can be recovered by alkaline extraction. Upon treatment with mitomycin C, these variants lyse with production of a myovirus containing DNA of equal size to the plasmid but which cannot be recovered by alkaline extraction. Plasmid and phage DNAs show similar restriction patterns corresponding to enzyme sites in a circular permutation. Sequenced regions showed 81 to 99% nucleotide similarity to bacteriophage VHML of Vibrio harveyi. Altogether these observations indicate that the 42-kb plasmid corresponds to a prophage, consisting of a linear DNA with terminal hairpins of a telomeric temperate phage with a linear genome. Bacteria containing the prophage were 7 to 15 times more sensitive to UV radiation, likely due to phage induction by UV irradiation as plasmid curing restored the original sensitivity. The enhanced UV sensitivity could have a significant role in reducing the survival and propagation capability of the V. parahaemolyticus pandemic strain in the ocean.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Universidad de Chile, El Líbano 5524, Macul, Santiago, Chile 6903625. Phone: 56 2 978 1426. Fax: 56 2 221 4030. E-mail: respejo{at}inta.cl

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 16 January 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2009, p. 1697-1702, Vol. 75, No. 6
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01995-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Garcia, K., Torres, R., Uribe, P., Hernandez, C., Rioseco, M. L., Romero, J., Espejo, R. T. (2009). Dynamics of Clinical and Environmental Vibrio parahaemolyticus Strains during Seafood-Related Summer Diarrhea Outbreaks in Southern Chile. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 7482-7487 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zabala, B., Hammerl, J. A., Espejo, R. T., Hertwig, S. (2009). The Linear Plasmid Prophage Vp58.5 of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Is Closely Related to the Integrating Phage VHML and Constitutes a New Incompatibility Group of Telomere Phages. J. Virol. 83: 9313-9320 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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