title: Survival, induction and resuscitation of Vibrio cholerae from the viable but non-culturable state in the Southern Caribbean Sea.
abstract: The causative agent of cholera, Vibrio cholerae, can enter into a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state in response to unfavorable conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in situ survival of V. cholerae in an aquatic environment of the Southern Caribbean Sea, and its induction and resuscitation from the VBNC state. V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139 was inoculated into diffusion chambers placed at the Cuare Wildlife Refuge, Venezuela, and monitored for plate, total and viable cells counts. At 119 days of exposure to the environment, the colony count was < 10 CFU/mL and a portion of the bacterial population entered the VBNC state. Additionally, the viability decreased two orders of magnitude and morphological changes occurred from rod to coccoid cells. Among the aquatic environmental variables, the salinity had negative correlation with the colony counts in the dry season. Resuscitation studies showed significant recovery of cell cultivability with spent media addition (p < 0.05). These results suggest that V. cholerae can persist in the VBNC state in this Caribbean environment and revert to a cultivable form under favorable conditions. The VBNC state might represent a critical step in cholera transmission in susceptible areas.
authors: Departamento de Biología de Organismos, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors: Milagro
authors: M
authors: Fernández-Delgado
authors: Centro de Biofísica y Bioquímica, Laboratorio de Fisiología Gastrointestinal, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Altos de Pipe, Edo. Miranda, Venezuela.
authors: María Alexandra
authors: MA
authors: García-Amado
authors: Centro de Biofísica y Bioquímica, Laboratorio de Fisiología Gastrointestinal, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Altos de Pipe, Edo. Miranda, Venezuela.
authors: Monica
authors: M
authors: Contreras
authors: Departamento de Parasitología, Universidad de Carabobo, Valencia, Edo. Carabobo, Venezuela.
authors: Renzo Nino
authors: RN
authors: Incani
authors: Asociación de Lancheros de Chichiriviche, Edo. Falcón, Venezuela.
authors: Humberto
authors: H
authors: Chirinos
authors: Instituto de Inmunología, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors: Héctor
authors: H
authors: Rojas
authors: Departamento de Biología de Organismos, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors: Paula
authors: P
authors: Suárez
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D017691:Caribbean Region; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D046508:Culture Techniques; D050296:Microbial Viability; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1 / Q000502:physiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology
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