title: Detection and diversity of pathogenic Vibrio from Fiji.
abstract: Here we investigate the diversity of pathogenic Vibrio species in marine environments close to Suva, Fiji. We use four distinct yet complementary analyses - biochemical testing, phylogenetic analyses, metagenomic analyses and molecular typing - to provide some preliminary insights into the diversity of vibrios in this region. Taken together our analyses confirmed the presence of nine Vibrio species, including three of the most important disease-causing vibrios (i.e. V. cholerae, V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus), in Fijian marine environments. Furthermore, since toxigenic V. parahaemolyticus are present on fish for consumption we suggest these bacteria represent a potential public health risk. Our results from Illumina short read sequencing are encouraging in the context of microbial profiling and biomonitoring. They suggest this approach may offer an efficient and cost-effective method for studying the dynamics of microbial diversity in marine environments over time.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Chemical Sciences Institute of Applied Sciences, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Institute of Molecular BioSciences, Massey University, Private Mailbag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, L69 3GL Liverpool, UK Institute of Fundamental Sciences Massey Genome Service, Massey University, Private Mailbag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kerala, India Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA.
authors.forename: Reema
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Narayan
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McLenachan
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Winkworth
authors.forename: Suparna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lockhart
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Abdulla M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hatha
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Aalbersberg
authors.forename: Dhana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rao