Deep-sea hydrothermal vent bacteria related to human pathogenicVibriospecies

Abstract

Vibriospecies are both ubiquitous and abundant in marine coastal waters, estuaries, ocean sediment, and aquaculture settings worldwide. We report here the isolation, characterization, and genome sequence of a novelVibriospecies,Vibrio antiquarius, isolated from a mesophilic bacterial community associated with hydrothermal vents located along the East Pacific Rise, near the southwest coast of Mexico. Genomic and phenotypic analysis revealedV. antiquariusis closely related to pathogenicVibriospecies, namelyVibrio alginolyticus,Vibrio parahaemolyticus,Vibrio harveyi, andVibrio vulnificus, but sufficiently divergent to warrant a separate species status. TheV. antiquariusgenome encodes genes and operons with ecological functions relevant to the environment conditions of the deep sea and also harbors factors known to be involved in human disease caused by freshwater, coastal, and brackish water vibrios. The presence of virulence factors in this deep-seaVibriospecies suggests a far more fundamental role of these factors for their bacterial host. Comparative genomics revealed a variety of genomic events that may have provided an important driving force inV. antiquariusevolution, facilitating response to environmental conditions of the deep sea.