title: Isolation of viable but nonculturable Vibrio cholerae O1 from environmental water samples in Kolkata, India, in a culturable state.
abstract: Previously, we reported that viable but nonculturable (VBNC) Vibrio cholerae was converted into a culturable state by coculture with several eukaryotic cell lines including HT-29 cells. In this study, we found that a factor converting VBNC V. cholerae into a culturable state (FCVC) existed in cell extracts of eukaryotic cells. FCVC was nondialyzable, proteinase K-sensitive, and stable to heating at <60°C for 5 min. We prepared thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose (TCBS) plates with FCVC (F-TCBS plates). After confirming that VBNC V. cholerae O1 and O139 formed typical yellow colonies on F-TCBS plates, we tried to isolate cholera toxin gene-positive VBNC V. cholerae from environmental water samples collected in urban slum areas of Kolkata, India and succeeded in isolating V. cholerae O1 El Tor variant strains harboring a gene for the cholera toxin. The possible importance of VBNC V. cholerae O1 as a source of cholera outbreaks is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Research Center of Okayama University for Infectious Diseases in India, Okayama University, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Mitsutoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Senoh
authors.forename: Jayeeta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ghosh-Banerjee
authors.forename: Tamaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Sumio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shinoda
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamabata
authors.forename: G Balakrish
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeda
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002460:Cell Line; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000235:genetics; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D011204:Poverty Areas; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D002772:Cholera Toxin
keywords: Factor converting VBNC into culturable; VBNC 
  Vibrio cholerae