title: Genetic characteristics of Matlab variants of Vibrio cholerae O1 that are hybrids between classical and El Tor biotypes.
abstract: The Matlab variants of Vibrio cholerae O1, defined as hybrids between the classical and El Tor biotypes, were first isolated from hospitalized patients with acute secretory diarrhoea in Matlab, a rural area of Bangladesh. These variants could not be categorized as classical or El Tor biotypes by phenotypic and genotypic tests, and had representative traits of both the biotypes. A number of virulence-associated genes and/or gene clusters were screened by PCR and DNA sequencing. El Tor-specific gene clusters, Vibrio seventh-pandemic islands (VSP)-I and -II and repeat toxin (RTX) were present in the genome of these variants, indicating their El Tor lineage, whereas the nucleotide-sequence-derived CtxB amino acid sequence of these strains grouped them under the classical biotype. Matlab variants possessed all the necessary genes to initiate pandemics. The genetic relatedness of Matlab variants to the V. cholerae strains recently isolated in Mozambique is another important observation of this study, which underscores the epidemiological significance of Matlab variants.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ashrafus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Safa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Bhuyian
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Suraia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nusrin
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ansaruzzaman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Munirul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: International Medical Research Center of Japan, Toyama, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamabata
authors.affiliation: Cine-Science Laboratory, Tokiwadai, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sack
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Sciences Division, Enteric Microbiology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Centre for Health and Population Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: G Balakrish
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Nair
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001483:Base Sequence; D002771:Cholera / Q000382:microbiology*; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011112:Polymyxin B / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1 / Q000235:genetics*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D037521:Virulence Factors; D002772:Cholera Toxin; D011112:Polymyxin B