Publicaties

The Harveyi clade or core group of the Vibrio genus includes both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Some of the species belonging to the clade, such as Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio campbellii and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, include serious pathogens of aquatic organisms. Importantly, within these species, some strains are pathogenic, whereas others are not. Other members of the clade, such as Vibrio natriegens and Vibrio ...

Aims: Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus has emerged as a severe bacterial disease of cultured shrimp. To identify the key virulence factors, two AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus (Vp(AHPND)) strains (123 and 137) and two non-Vp(AHPND) strains (HZ56 and ATCC 17082) were selected. Methods and Results: Challenge tests showed that the four strains exhibited different virulence towards shrimp with ...

Vibrio harveyi is one of the major pathogens in aquaculture. To identify the key virulence factors affecting pathogenesis of V. harveyi towards fish, we conducted a field investigation for three representative fish farms infected with V. harveyi. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and whole-genome sequencing were conducted to delineate the phylogenetic relationship and genetic divergence of V. harveyi. A total of 25 V. harveyi strains were ...

Salmonellosis and antimicrobial resistance caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella are public health concerns. This study aimed at determining prevalence, serovars, virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella from beef products. Four-hundred beef samples from 25 retail outlets in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were analyzed for Salmonella using standard methods, confirmation with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of ...

F4+ enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) are an important cause of neonatal and postweaning diarrhoea in piglets, resulting in severe economic losses in swine husbandry. The main virulence factors associated with this pathogen are F4 fimbriae and enterotoxins. The F4 fimbriae mediate the attachment of the pathogen to F4-specific receptors expressed on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells and are therefore one of the important focuses of ...

Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of the plague, is considered a genetically homogeneous species. Brazil is currently in a period of epidemiological silence but plague antibodies are still detected in sentinel animals, suggesting disease activity in the sylvatic cycle. The present study deployed an in silico approach to analyze virulence factors among 407 Brazilian genomes of Y. pestis belonging to the Fiocruz Collection (1966–1997). The ...

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is the causative agent of porcine pleuropneumonia. The virulence factors of this microorganism involved in colonization and the induction of lung lesions have been thoroughly studied and some have been well characterized. A. pleuropneumoniae binds preferentially to cells of the lower respiratory tract in a process involving different adhesins and probably biofilm formation. Apx toxins and lipopolysaccharides exert ...

Aims: In this study, we investigated the responsiveness of 15 Vibrio anguillarum strains to three host factors (mucin, bile salts and cholesterol). Methods and Results: Three virulence-related phenotypes were investigated in this respect, i.e. motility, biofilm formation and exopolysaccharide production. Almost all V.anguillarum strains showed a significantly increased motility in the presence of either of the three host factors. Only five of ...