Dynamics and microevolution of Vibrio parahaemolyticus populations in shellfish farms
In: mSystems. American Society for Microbiology: Washington, DC. e-ISSN 2379-5077, more
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| Keywords |
Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Fujino, Okuno, Nakada, Aoyama, Fukai, Mukai & Ueho, 1951) Sakazaki, Iwanami & Fukumi, 1963 [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Vibrio parahaemolyticus; multilocus sequence typing; mobile genetic elements; microevolution |
| Authors | | Top |
- Fu, S.
- Wang, Q., editor
- Zhang, Y.
- Yang, Q., more
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| Abstract |
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is becoming the leading cause of acute bacterial gastroenteritis, but its population dynamics in aquafarms have received limited attention. To address this research gap, we selected three shellfish farms to examine the impacts of ocean currents and the transport of live aquatic animals on the transmission and microevolution of V. parahaemolyticus by using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and whole-genome sequencing. MLST and genomic analysis revealed that the community structure of V. parahaemolyticus in Dalian and Donggang was relatively stable in the presence of ocean currents; however, horizontal gene transfer of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) between Dalian and Donggang was very common. Further analysis indicated that the transport of live aquatic animals from Dalian to Xiamen not only introduced new V. parahaemolyticus populations but also allowed the exchange of genetic material between the two sites. More interestingly, Dalian-originated strain ST722 was introduced to Xiamen farms, resulting in one MLST allele change and the acquisition of two genomic islands from indigenous isolates in Xiamen within 8 months; such alterations are thought to promote the adaptation of V. parahaemolyticus. These results provide direct observations of how ocean currents and the transport of live aquatic animals contribute to the dissemination and genetic mixture of V. parahaemolyticus, which provides insights into the dynamics and microevolution of V. parahaemolyticus in aquacultural environments. |
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