title: Effect of starvation on survival and virulence expression of Aeromonas hydrophila from different sources.
abstract: Aeromonas hydrophila is an aquatic bacterium responsible for several human illnesses. The aim of this work was to investigate the survival ability and virulence expression of two strains from different sources (fish, strain 87 and surface water, strain LS) maintained in a seawater microcosm. The strains were analyzed for the total and viable bacterial counts, adhesion ability to Hep-2 cells and aerA gene expression by qPCR throughout the experiment (35 days). Both strains reached a putative VBNC state and lost adhesive properties but exhibited a different behavior in the expression of aerA. This could be due to the different origin of the two strains; the former adapted to a habitat rich of nutrient and the latter already used to survive in a more hostile environment. Moreover, our results indicate that the quantitative determination of aerA mRNA can be a useful indicator of virulence expression under stress conditions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", Urbino, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casabianca
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Orlandi
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.forename: Luigia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sabatini
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cesare
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sisti
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pasquaroli
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magnani
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Citterio
mesh_terms: D016980:Aeromonas hydrophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D058491:Bacterial Load; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D050296:Microbial Viability; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; C032676:aerolysin