Affiliation:
1. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
2. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City, North Carolina, USA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Despite years of successful isolation of
Vibrio vulnificus
from estuarine waters, beginning in 2007, it was extremely difficult to culture
V. vulnificus
from either North Carolina estuarine water or oyster samples. After employing culture-based methods as well as PCR and quantitative PCR for the detection of
V. vulnificus
, always with negative results, we concluded that this pathogen had become nearly undetectable in the North Carolina estuarine ecosystem. We ensured that the techniques were sound by seeding North Carolina oysters with
V. vulnificus
and performing the same tests as those previously conducted on unadulterated oysters.
V. vulnificus
was readily detected in the seeded oysters using both classes of methods. Furthermore, oysters were obtained from the Gulf of Mexico, and
V. vulnificus
was easily isolated, confirming that the methodology was sound but that the oysters and waters of North Carolina were lacking the
V. vulnificus
population studied for decades. Strikingly, the apparent loss of detectable
V. vulnificus
coincided with the most severe drought in the history of North Carolina. The drought continued until the end of 2009, with an elevated water column salinity being observed throughout this period and with
V. vulnificus
being nearly nonexistent. When salinities returned to normal after the drought abated in 2010, we were again able to routinely isolate
V. vulnificus
from the water column, although we were still unable to culture it from oysters. We suggest that the oysters were colonized with a more salt-tolerant bacterium during the drought, which displaced
V. vulnificus
and may be preventing recolonization.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
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