AUTHOR=Esteves Kevin , Mosser Thomas , Aujoulat Fabien , HERVIO-HEATH Dominique , MONFORT Patrick , Jumas-Bilak Estelle 

TITLE=Highly diverse recombining populations of Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in French Mediterranean coastal lagoons

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00708

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2015.00708

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic> and <italic>Vibrio cholerae</italic> are ubiquitous to estuarine and marine environments. These two species found in Mediterranean coastal systems can induce infections in humans. Environmental isolates of <italic>V. cholerae</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 109) and <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 89) sampled at different dates, stations and water salinities were investigated for virulence genes and by a multilocus sequence-based analysis (MLSA). <italic>V. cholerae</italic> isolates were all <italic>ctxA</italic> negative and only one isolate of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> displayed <italic>trh2</italic> 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, <italic>V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, Vibrio mimicus</italic>, and <italic>Vibrio metoecus</italic>. 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 <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> and <italic>V. cholerae</italic> whereas the frequency of recombination events in <italic>V. cholerae</italic> was lower in low salinity condition. Mediterranean coastal lagoon systems housed <italic>V. cholerae</italic> and <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> 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.</p>