title: Putative virulence factors of the Aeromonas spp. isolated from food and environment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
abstract: Thirty randomly selected Aeromonas isolates from food and the environment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, were characterized for putative virulence determinants, such as production of cytotoxin, cytotonic toxin, and hemolysin and their capacity to adhere to and invade Henle 407 cells in vitro. Seventy percent of the tested isolates were cytotoxin producers, and 80% were hemolytic. Cytotoxin was produced by 6 of 7 A. hydrophila strains, 6 of 13 A. caviae strains, and 6 of 7 A. veronii bv. sobria strains, mostly from food sources. A. schubertii, A. jandaei, and A. trota also produced both cytotoxin and hemolysin. All of the 30 isolates tested adhered to Henle 407 cells, but none were able to invade the cells, as determined with the in vitro assay. However, no significant correlation of the presence of these putative virulence factors was found among these aeromonad food isolates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mohammad Bashir
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Awan
authors.forename: M Maqbool
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bari
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krovacek
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006801:Humans; D014479:United Arab Emirates; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D003603:Cytotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins