title: Survival of Vibrio alginolyticus in seawater and retention of virulence of its starved cells.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival responses of four strains of Vibrio alginolyticus in seawater under starvation conditions. We used microcosms containing sterilised seawater and incubated at ambient temperature (22-25 degrees C). V. alginolyticus maintained its culturability for at least nine months. Long-term-starved cells showed an absence or a decrease in their enzymatic activities. Resuscitation assays of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) cells were conducted and the recovery of these cells was achieved after the addition of nutrients. Amplified 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) restriction analysis (ARDRA) was used to confirm that the same strain of V. alginolyticus persisted in all microcosms during a long period of time. Starved cells maintained their infectivity for gilt head sea bream (Sparus aurata) and sea bass (Dicentrachus labrax) as determined by intraperitoneal challenges.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Analyse et de Contrôle des Polluants Chimiques et Microbiologiques de l'Environnement, Faculté de Pharmacie de Monastir, Rue Avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia. nakbi_amel@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Amel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben Kahla-Nakbi
authors.forename: Amine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Besbes
authors.forename: Kamel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chaieb
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rouabhia
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakhrouf
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001492:Bass / Q000382:microbiology; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000145:classification; D021541:Sea Bream / Q000382:microbiology; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D013696:Temperature; D044149:Vibrio alginolyticus / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal