title: Highly diverse recombining populations of Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in French Mediterranean coastal lagoons.
abstract: Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae are ubiquitous to estuarine and marine environments. These two species found in Mediterranean coastal systems can induce infections in humans. Environmental isolates of V. cholerae (n = 109) and V. parahaemolyticus (n = 89) sampled at different dates, stations and water salinities were investigated for virulence genes and by a multilocus sequence-based analysis (MLSA). V. cholerae isolates were all ctxA negative and only one isolate of V. parahaemolyticus displayed trh2 gene. Most Sequence Types (ST) corresponded to unique ST isolated at one date or one station. Frequent recombination events were detected among different pathogenic species, V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, Vibrio mimicus, and Vibrio metoecus. Recombination had a major impact on the diversification of lineages. The genetic diversity assessed by the number of ST/strain was higher in low salinity condition for V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae whereas the frequency of recombination events in V. cholerae was lower in low salinity condition. Mediterranean coastal lagoon systems housed V. cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus with genetic diversities equivalent to the worldwide diversity described so far. The presence of STs found in human infections as well as the frequency of recombination events in environmental vibrios populations could predict a potential epidemiological risk.
authors.affiliation: Team "Pathogènes Hydriques Santé, Environnements", HydroSciences Montpellier, UMR 5569, Centre National de la Recherche, IRD, Université de Montpellier Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Kévin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Esteves
authors.affiliation: Team "Pathogènes Hydriques Santé, Environnements", HydroSciences Montpellier, UMR 5569, Centre National de la Recherche, IRD, Université de Montpellier Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mosser
authors.affiliation: Team "Pathogènes Hydriques Santé, Environnements", HydroSciences Montpellier, UMR 5569, Centre National de la Recherche, IRD, Université de Montpellier Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aujoulat
authors.affiliation: Ifremer, RBE, SG2M, Laboratoire Santé, Environnement et Microbiologie Plouzané, France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hervio-Heath
authors.affiliation: Team "Pathogènes Hydriques Santé, Environnements", HydroSciences Montpellier, UMR 5569, Centre National de la Recherche, IRD, Université de Montpellier Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Monfort
authors.affiliation: Team "Pathogènes Hydriques Santé, Environnements", HydroSciences Montpellier, UMR 5569, Centre National de la Recherche, IRD, Université de Montpellier Montpellier, France ; Département d'Hygiène Hospitalière, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Estelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jumas-Bilak
keywords: French coastal lagoons; Vibrio; human pathogens; multi-locus sequence analysis; phylogeny; recombination; virulence factor