罗非鱼水产品中的喹诺酮类药物耐药菌和耐药基因检测分析

本研究旨在了解水产品中携带的细菌对喹诺酮类药物的耐药状况及耐药基因类型,评估水产品中细菌耐药性风险。从广州市14家超市随机购买100条鲜活的罗非鱼,高通量测序分析结果显示,罗非鱼携带的优势菌群为大肠埃希菌(Escherichia hydrophila)和气单胞菌(Aeromonas)。采用大肠埃希菌和气单胞菌筛选培养方法,分别从鳃、肌肉和肠内容物筛选分离出182株大肠埃希菌和280株气单胞菌;运用琼脂二倍稀释法测定了恩诺沙星和环丙沙星对分离菌株的最小抑菌浓度;通过PCR法扩增质粒介导的喹诺酮类耐药(PMQR)基因(qnrA、qnr B、qnrC、qnrD、qnrS、aac(6￠)-Ib-cr、qepA、oqxAB)并进行测序和比对分析。结果显示,分离的气单胞菌对恩诺沙星和环丙沙星的耐药率分别为2.50%和2.14%;分离的大肠埃希菌对恩诺沙星和环丙沙星的耐药率分别为25.82%和18.13%。肌肉中分离的气单胞菌和大肠埃希菌对恩诺沙星和/或环丙沙星的耐药率均低于鳃和肠道的;各组织分离的大肠埃希菌对氟喹诺酮类药物的耐药率均远高于气单胞菌。分离菌株中,携带PMQR基因的大肠埃希菌占59.89%,且检出的耐药基因种类较多,包括qnrB、qnrD、qnrS、aac(6?)-Ib-cr和oqx AB;而携带PMQR基因的气单胞菌仅占6.79%,只检出耐药基因aac(6￠)-Ib-cr和qnrS。结论认为,罗非鱼食用部分肌肉携带的耐药菌较少,食品相对安全;肠道和鳃组织携带的耐药菌以大肠埃希菌为主,而且大部分菌株携带有不同类型的PMQR基因,存在一定的耐药传播隐患。     

湛江水产品中大肠埃希氏菌耐药性检测与分析

采用K-B纸片扩散法,对从近江牡蛎、翡翠贻贝、菲律宾蛤仔、文蛤、华贵类栉孔扇贝等鲜活样品和罗非鱼片、熟虾等冷冻样品中分离的52株大肠埃希氏菌菌株进行青霉素类、喹诺酮类、单环内酰胺类和磺胺类等19种抗菌药物的药敏性分析,同时PCR扩增检测超广谱β-内酰胺酶(ESBLs)、质粒介导喹诺酮耐药(PMQR)基因,以检测湛江水产品中大肠埃希氏菌的耐药性及ESBLs、PMQR基因的携带情况。结果显示,52株大肠埃希氏菌菌株均对1种以上抗菌药物产生耐药性,其中对红霉素(90.4%)、复方新诺明(55.8%)、四环素(53.8%)、头孢噻肟(51.9%)的耐药率较高;76.9%的菌株表现出多重耐药,最多对9大类抗生素耐药;确证为产ESBLs菌株10株(19.2%),8株携带blaTEM基因,7株携带blaSHV基因,未检出blaCTX和blaOXA基因;检出PMQR菌株15株,检出率为28.8%,其中15株同时携带qnrA、aaac(6′)-Ib-c、qepA 3种耐药基因,9株携带qnrS基因,8株携带oqxB基因,1株携带qnrD基因,未检出qnrB、qnrC和oqxA耐药基因;2株大肠埃希氏菌同时携带ESBLs基因和PMQR基因。研究结果表明,湛江地区水产品中大肠埃希氏菌普遍耐药,且耐药谱广。菌株同时携带ESBLs基因和PMQR基因,有增加细菌耐药性的可能。     

上海地区9株鱼源病原菌耐药性监测与分析

为了解上海地区鱼源病原菌对主要抗菌药物的耐药现状,合理、规范地使用抗菌药物治疗鱼类细菌性疾病,运用K-B纸片法研究了上海地区的9株鱼源病原菌对28种抗菌药物的耐药性,并用PCR法分析了病原菌携带喹诺酮类gyrA、qnrA、qnrS耐药基因情况。结果显示,9株病原菌对青霉素类、磺胺类、红霉素及链霉素高度耐药;对氯霉素、头孢他啶、庆大霉素、妥布霉素的敏感率为100.0%;对氟苯尼考、头孢氨苄、卡那霉素、阿米卡星、阿奇霉素、四环素类、环丙沙星、左氧氟沙星、莫西沙星、呋喃妥因的敏感率为88.9%;对新霉素、恩诺沙星、诺氟沙星的敏感率为77.8%。根据渔药使用标准,可将庆大霉素、氟苯尼考、多西环素、新霉素、诺氟沙星等作为治疗首选药物。9株病原菌中,gyrA基因检出率为66.7%,qnrS基因检出率为22.2%,未检测到qnrA基因,显示上海地区鱼源病原菌对喹诺酮类药物已在基因水平呈现出一定程度的耐药性。     

猪-鱼复合养殖模式中气单胞菌I类整合子的流行情况及其耐药特征

为了解广东地区猪-鱼复合养殖模式下气单胞菌整合子流行情况及其耐药特征,从广东省5个不同猪-鱼复合养殖场采集分离猪粪、鱼、池塘水及池塘底泥的气单胞菌共317株,通过微量二倍稀释法测定其对20种药物的敏感性;PCR扩增Ⅰ类整合子整合酶基因intI1,并分析其基因盒阵列结构。结果表明,317株气单胞菌对20种药物耐药程度不一,氨苄西林、磺胺间甲氧嘧啶、萘啶酸的耐药率相对较高。intI1的检出率为15.77%,鱼源和猪源的整合子检出率高于环境源。整合子阳性菌对测试的12种药物的耐药率显著高于阴性菌,且表现为多重耐药;50个Ⅰ类整合子共检测到16种耐药基因盒,包括了编码氨基糖苷类耐药基因aadA1、aadA2、aac6-Ⅱ、aacA4,甲氧苄啶耐药基因drfA1、dfrA12、dfrA15、dfrA17、dfrB4,β内酰胺类耐药基因bla_(OXA-10)、bla_(OXA-21),氯霉素耐药基因catB3、catB8,利福平耐药基因arr2、arr3以及质粒介导的喹诺酮类耐药基因aac(6')-Ib-cr。携带了不同类耐药基因盒的整合子阳性菌还表现出所对应的对甲氧苄啶、链霉素、氯霉素类等的耐药表型,由此推测整合子的存在与细菌的多重耐药密切相关。研究表明,I类整合子分布于广东地区猪-鱼复合养殖模式下不同来源气单胞菌,并介导细菌对多种抗菌药物耐药。有必要开展畜禽-鱼复合养殖模式下细菌耐药性的传播机制研究,为水产养殖合理用药提供依据。     

耐喹诺酮类抗生素的鱼源嗜水气单胞菌中内生质粒pAhW39的克隆及功能

为探究嗜水气单胞菌中内生质粒与菌株对喹诺酮类抗生素耐药表型的关系,实验克隆并分析了分离自湖北仙桃某渔场患病团头鲂的对喹诺酮类抗生素耐药的嗜水气单胞菌W39菌株中的质粒pAhW39。测序结果显示,质粒pAhW39的大小为6 739 bp,GC含量为46.13%,低于目前已公布的嗜水气单胞菌染色体DNA的GC含量(60.1%～62.0%),表明该质粒可能是通过水平转移而获得;含有4个预测的开放阅读框(ORF),即nspV、nspV-like、repB和qnrS2,分别负责编码Ⅱ型核酸内切酶NspV和NspV-like、复制蛋白RepB和喹诺酮类耐药蛋白QnrS2。在无抗生素压力条件下,质粒pAhW39的稳定性较高,不容易丢失。通过微量肉汤稀释法检测菌株耐药性发现,与质粒pAhW39消失株(W39-C)相比,喹诺酮类的萘啶酸和环丙沙星对W39菌株的最小抑菌浓度分别升高16倍和8倍,表明载有qnrS2的pAhW39介导了W39菌株对喹诺酮类药物的耐药表型。比较基因组分析发现,pAhW39与分离自美国马里兰州某医院管道废水的气单胞菌ASNIH2菌株中的质粒pAER-e58e相似度极高,碱基一致性高达99.9%,表明pAhW39(或pAERe58e)传播具有广泛性和稳定性,同时提醒我们质粒介导的喹诺酮类抗生素耐药在鱼源气单胞菌中的存在,可能会导致喹诺酮类抗生素耐药表型在水产养殖上快速而广泛地传播。     

2株亚东鲑源气单胞菌的鉴定及其致病性与药敏特性分析

亚东鲑(Salmo trutta fario)是西藏地区重要的冷水性经济鱼类之一。为明确亚东鲑暴发性死亡的原因, 对从患病亚东鲑体内分离得到的 2 株优势细菌 B1、A3-2 进行种类鉴定、毒力基因检测、动物回归感染、耐药基因检测和药敏试验。结果显示, 2 株优势细菌鉴定为杀鲑气单胞菌(Aeromonas salmonicida) B1 和温和气单胞菌(Aeromonas sobria) A3-2。杀鲑气单胞菌 B1 对亚东鲑具有较强的致病性, 而温和气单胞菌 A3-2 对亚东鲑未表现出致病性。杀鲑气单胞菌 B1 携带有 10 种毒力基因: 外毒素(AerA、Act 和 hly 基因)、胞外酶(gcat、ahyB 和 Lip 基因)、Ⅲ型分泌系统(aexT、aopP 和 ascF-G 基因)、鞭毛(Fla 基因); 温和气单胞菌 A3-2 携带有 5 种毒力基因: 外毒素(Act 和 Alt 基因)、胞外酶(gcat 基因)、Ⅲ型分泌系统(aexT 和 aopP 基因)。杀鲑气单胞菌 B1 对头孢曲松、阿莫西林、氟苯尼考、环丙沙星、四环素、链霉素等 21 种抗菌药物敏感, 仅对万古霉素耐药; 温和气单胞菌 A3-2 对头孢曲松、氟苯尼考、环丙沙星、吡哌酸、四环素、链霉素等 17 种抗菌药物敏感, 对青霉素、阿莫西林、磺胺异噁唑、复方新诺明、万古霉素等 6 种药物耐药。杀鲑气单胞菌 B1 含有 AmpC、gyrA 和 parC 等 3 种耐药基因; 温和气单胞菌 A3-2 含有 AmpC、gyrA、parC 和 tetE 等 4 种耐药基因, 2 种气单胞菌的耐药基因检出结果与耐药表型基本一致。杀鲑气单胞菌 B1 是引起亚东鲑暴发性死亡的重要病原菌, 本研究为亚东鲑养殖过程中杀鲑气单胞菌的感染特征、疫苗研制和疾病防控提供了基础数据。     

海水养殖动物源弧菌喹诺酮类药物耐药表型与基因型分析

采用琼脂稀释法测定121株海水养殖源弧菌对喹诺酮类药物(恩诺沙星、诺氟沙星和环丙沙星)的敏感性,利用PCR方法检测其质粒介导的喹诺酮类耐药基因(qnrVC、qnrS、qnrA和qnrB)、外排泵耐药基因(oqxA、oqxB、acrR、marR和soxR)和整合子(Int1、SXT和ISCR1),同时研究4种外排泵抑制剂(甲基吡咯烷酮,NMP;利血平,RSP;羰基氰氯苯腙,CCCP;苯丙氨酸-精氨酸-β萘酰胺,PAβN)对弧菌恩诺沙星、诺氟沙星和环丙沙星最小抑菌浓度的影响。在121株弧菌中,恩诺沙星耐药菌株31株(25.6%),诺氟沙星耐药株21株(17.4%),环丙沙星耐药株22株(18.2%);4种质粒介导喹诺酮类耐药基因仅检测到qnrA(2株)和qnrVC(30株),5种喹诺酮类外排泵基因仅在溶藻弧菌352菌株中检测到oqxB;121株弧菌中检测到39株菌携带Int1、42株菌携带SXT、44株菌携带ISCR1;在NMP、RSP、CCCP和PAβN作用下,分别有22株、25株、31株和7株弧菌对恩诺沙星的敏感性下降,分别有6株、5株、9株和4株弧菌对诺氟沙星的敏感性下降,分别有17株、13株、5株和14株弧菌对环丙沙星的敏感性下降。研究结果表明,弧菌对喹诺酮类药物耐药表型与基因型存在较大的不一致性,外排泵抑制剂对弧菌喹诺酮类药物的耐药性具有显著影响,预示弧菌对喹诺酮类药物耐药存在着新的机制。     

耐喹诺酮类药物嗜水气单胞菌的分离鉴定及电镜观察

本研究对吉林省内12个水域采集和送检的66尾病鱼进行细菌分离鉴定,共检出46株嗜水气单胞菌疑似株,通过生化试验和PCR扩增气溶素基因aer鉴定法,确定其中22株为嗜水气单胞菌。进一步采用纸片扩散法和双倍稀释法测定嗜水气单胞菌分离株对多种抗生素的耐药性,其中部分菌株存在不同程度的耐药性,22株嗜水气单胞菌中有4株对喹诺酮类药物耐药,并且为交叉耐药。其对喹诺酮类药物的抑菌圈均小于19mm。嗜水气单胞菌耐喹诺酮类药物的检出率为18 2%。将病料中分离的8株嗜水气单胞菌在电镜下观察发现,2株耐药菌表面发现均匀分布的球形结构,而6株敏感菌表面未见此结构。     

虹鳟鱼源气单胞菌的药物感受性及变化

正本文从北京市两家虹鳟鱼养殖场的发病鱼体上共分离出25株疑致病性气单胞菌,其对磺胺类药物呈现较高的耐受性,耐药率均在84%以上。虹鳟鱼源气单胞菌对盐酸多西环素和氟喹诺酮类药物较为敏感,耐药率均低于10%;其中盐酸多西环素为最敏感的药物,敏感率为100%。氟苯尼考易使病原菌短时间产生较高的耐药性。研究表明不同种类的菌株对抗菌药物的感受性不同,同种菌的不同菌株之间对抗菌药物的感受性也不同,需要针对具体样品及时检测,依据检测结果指导养殖者合理使用抗菌药物,才可能取得较好的效果。     

乌鳢源气单胞菌的耐药表型与耐药基因研究

对18株分离自患病乌鳢的气单胞菌进行了6大类共11种常用抗菌药物的耐药性研究。药敏试验结果显示,这18株菌对磺胺类药物--甲氧嘧啶、复方新诺明产生了高达100%的耐药性,对红霉素、阿米卡星、四环素也有一定的耐药率(50%~90%),而对喹诺酮类3种药物--恩诺沙星、环丙沙星、诺氟沙星则耐药率较低,并存在多重耐药的现象。通过对喹诺酮类、四环素类、氨基糖苷类、氯霉素类等4大类抗生素15种耐药基因进行检测,发现ant、qnr S、cat检出率较高,分别为50.0%、44.4%、38.9%,而qnr B、cat B基因则未检出。同种细菌不同分离株表现出不同的耐药性,结果表明,生产用药时有必要针对病原进行药敏试验,筛选敏感药物进行疾病防治。     

Phenotypic,molecular and pathological characterization of motile aeromonads isolated from diseased fishes cultured in Uruguay

Information about motile aeromonads from aquaculture systems of the Neotropical region is scarce. The aim of this study was to characterize motile Aeromonas isolated from ornamental and consumable fishes cultured in Uruguay. Biochemical and molecular methods were used for species identification. Antimicrobial susceptibility and the presence of virulence genes were evaluated. Genetic diversity was analysed by rep‐PCR, and virulence of the most representative isolates was determined by calculating the fifty lethal dose in experimentally challenged fish (Australoheros facetus). Aeromonas hydrophila and A. veronii were the most prevalent identified species (38.2% and 32.4%, respectively), whereas A. allosacharophila, A. bestiarium, A. caviae and A. punctata were less prevalent. This study constitutes the first report of these last four species in Uruguay. All isolates were resistant to at least three antimicrobials, and 82.3% of them showed multidrug resistance. Virulence genotypes were correlated with the Aeromonas species and haemolytic activity. The genotype act+/alt+/ast+/ela+/lip+ was the most prevalent (26.5%). A correlation between virulence genotypes and Aeromonas species was found. A. punctata showed a clonal structure according to rep‐PCR analysis, whereas other species showed high genetic diversity. The number of virulence genes of the isolates was related with virulence according to the experimental challenge assays.     

Incidence of class 1 integron and other antibiotic resistance determinants in Aeromonas spp. from rainbow trout farms in Australia

There is limited information on antibiotic resistance determinants present in bacteria of aquaculture origin in Australia. The presence of integron and other resistance determinants was investigated in 90 Aeromonas isolates derived from nine freshwater trout farms in Victoria (Australia). Polymerase chain reaction was carried out for the detection of integrase genes Int1, Int2 and Int3, gene cassette array, integron‐associated aadA, sul1 and qac1 genes, streptomycin resistance genes strA‐strB, β‐lactamase resistance genes bla_TEM and bla_SHV, and tetracycline resistance genes tetA‐E and tetM. Clonal analysis was performed by pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Class 1 integrons were detected in 28/90 (31%) and class 2 and class 3 in none of the strains, aadA gene in 19/27 (70%) streptomycin‐resistant strains, sul1 in 13/15 (86.7%) sulphonamide‐resistant strains and qac1 gene in 8/28 (28.6%) integron‐bearing strains. Five strains from two different farms carried gene cassettes of 1000 bp each containing the aadA2 gene and PFGE analysis revealed genetic relatedness. tetC was detected in all and tetA in 9/18 (50%) tetracycline‐resistant strains. The strA‐strB, bla_TEM or bla_SHV genes were not detected in any of the strains. Aeromonas spp. carrying integrons and other resistance genes are present in farm‐raised fish and sediments even though no antibiotics were licensed for use in Australian aquaculture at the time of the study.     

Plasmid‐mediated antimicrobial resistance in motile aeromonads from diseased Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

For the sustainable farming of tilapia, proper maintenance of their health and adequate treatment for infections at appropriate time are inevitable. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in aquaculture, as a part of treatment and as growth promoters, accelerates antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among the fish pathogens. In the present study, we have isolated diverse aeromonads from Nile tilapia and studied their antibiogram and plasmid profiling. Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas veronii, Aeromonas sobria, Aeromonas dhakensis, Aeromonas caviae, Aeromonas jandaei and Aeromonas aquatica were isolated from infected tilapia (n = 150), and their Shannon wiener diversity index was calculated as 1.926. A. veronii was found to be the most multiple antibiotic‐resistant pathogen with the MAR index of 0.46, and A. aquatica was noticed as the least resistant isolate. The minimum inhibitory concentration of resistant antibiotics was shown as >256 mcg/ml for most of the isolates. The virulent genes such as aerolysin and hemolysin were identified in all the isolates except A. aquatica. The detection of class 1 integrons, plasmid profiling and plasmid curing studies confirmed that AMR exhibited by most of the Aeromonas species is of plasmid mediated. This challenges the risk of wide spread of AMR among the pathogens and subsequent treatment of the infection.     

Comparative genomic analysis of five high drug‐resistance Aeromonas hydrophila strains induced by doxycycline in laboratory and nine reference strains in Genbank

Aeromonas hydrophila is an opportunistic pathogen and the leading cause of fatal haemorrhagic septicaemia in fish and shellfish. Doxycycline, one of the second generation tetracyclines, has been used in fish farming to fight against infectious diseases caused by A. hydrophila due to its broad‐spectrum antimicrobial activity and lower cost. However, progressive increase in resistance of Aeromonas strains to doxycycline aroused serious concern. In this report, drug‐resistant A. hydrophilaAH10 strains were induced and selected by using a consecutive batch culture system in Mueller‐Hinton Broth (MHB) supplemented with varying concentrations of doxycycline. Five isolates (AH101‐105) were obtained from the bacterial culture induced by 25 μg/ml doxycycline for drug‐resistance analysis. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values of all five isolates were 50 times higher than that of the parental strain AH10. All of them also displayed high‐level resistance to sulphonamides and amides. We sequenced five isolates and performed comparative genomic analysis of these draft genomes with nine A. hydrophila complete genomes from GenBank. Results showed that the pan‐genome of 14 strains contains 4,730 genes, 3,056 genes of which present in all strains. The drug‐resistance genes also showed significant difference in these genomes, which indicated dangers of indiscriminate use of antibiotics in aquaculture and the necessity of understanding the variation of antibiotic resistance of A. hydrophila. Pan‐genome analysis further revealed that no specific SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) or InDel (insertion and deletion variation) was identified in any functional gene locus among the genomes of AH10 mutated strains, in contrast, significant CNVs (copy number variations) and SV (structure variations) for gene groups were identified in all the mutant genomes.     

Antimicrobial susceptibility and enrofloxacin resistance of streptococcal bacteria from farmed Nile tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus 1758) in Thailand

This study examined the antimicrobial susceptibility and mutation(s) in quinolone resistance‐determining regions (QRDRs) in streptococcal pathogens isolated from farmed Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in Thailand. Surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility in tilapia streptococcal pathogens reveals that Streptococcus agalactiae (n = 97) and Streptococcus iniae (n = 3) from diseased tilapia were susceptible to amoxicillin, florfenicol, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and sulfadimethoxine/ormetoprim, however, only 78 isolates were susceptible to enrofloxacin. Twenty‐two enrofloxacin‐resistant S. agalactiae isolates were further examined for mutations in the QRDRs of gyrA, gyrB, parC and parE genes. Twenty isolates had single base pair changed in the gyrA sequence, C‐242‐T. Point mutations in gyrB, GC‐1135, 1136‐AA and T‐1466‐G, were identified in one isolate. All resistant isolates harboured a mutation in the parC gene, C‐236‐A, while no mutations were observed in the parE gene. The study represented mutations of gyrA and parC genes as marked modification of the enrofloxacin‐resistant S. agalactiae from farmed tilapia. This study is a primary report of the QRDRs mutations associated with fluoroquinolone resistance from streptococcal pathogen in the cultured fish. The phenotypic and genotypic characterization of enrofloxacin resistance S. agalactiae evident in this study has led to an improved regulation of antimicrobial use in Thai aquaculture.     

Limited performance of MALDI‐TOF for identification of fish Aeromonas isolates at species level

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the MALDI‐TOF MS to identify 151 isolates of Aeromonas obtained mostly from diseased fish. MALDI‐TOF MS correctly identified all isolates to the genus level but important differences in the percentage of isolates correctly identified depending on the species were observed. Considering exclusively the first identification option, Aeromonas bestiarum, Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas salmonicida, Aeromonas veronii and Aeromonas sobria were the best identified with results >95%. However, considering the first and second identification options, the only species that showed values >90% was A. hydrophila. Overall, when the database was supplemented with 14 new spectra, the number of accurate identifications increased (41% vs. 55%) and the number of inconclusive identifications decreased (45% vs. 29%), but great differences in the success of species‐level identifications were found. Species‐distinctive mass peaks were identified only for A. hydrophila and A. bestiarum (5003 and 7360 m/z in 95.5% and 94.1% of their isolates, respectively). This work demonstrates the utility of MALDI‐TOF MS for Aeromonas identification to the genus level, but there is no consistency for the accurate identification of some of the most prevalent species implicated in fish disease.     

Pathogenic profile and cytotoxic activity of Aeromonas spp. isolated from Pectinatella magnifica and surrounding water in the South Bohemian aquaculture region

Pectinatella magnifica is an invasive freshwater bryozoan that has expanded in many localities worldwide, including fishing areas. It contains microbial communities, predominantly consisting of Aeromonas bacteria that are frequently associated with fish infections. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential pathogenicity of Aeromonas spp. associated with P. magnifica and evaluate the health risks for fish. Aeromonas strains were isolated from P. magnifica (101 strains) and from surrounding water (29 strains) in the South Bohemian region and investigated for the presence of 14 virulence-associated genes using PCR. We demonstrated high prevalence of phospholipase GCAT, polar flagellin, enolase, DNAse, aerolysin/cytotoxic enterotoxin, serine protease and heat-stable cytotonic enterotoxin-coding genes. Further, all twelve isolates that were analysed for cytotoxicity against intestinal epithelial cells were found to be cytotoxic. Six of the isolates were also tested as co-cultures composed of pairs. Enhanced cytotoxicity was observed when the pair was composed of strains from different species. In conclusion, P. magnifica is colonized by Aeromonas strains that have a relatively high prevalence of virulence-associated genes and the ability to provoke disease. Results also suggest a possibly increased risk arising from mixed infections.     

Environmental factors on virulence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aeromonas hydrophila</Emphasis>

Aeromonas hydrophila are known for being opportunistic pathogens, harboring various virulence factors and triggering lesions and death in fish. The disease caused by bacteria can make fish inappropriate for human consumption, besides representing a risk to public health. The pathogenesis can be influenced by environmental variables, affecting fish productivity and mortality. The present study aimed to determine whether A. hydrophila harbor the virulence genes aerolysin, hydrolipase, elastase, lipase, cytotonic enterotoxin (ast), lateral flagellum (laf), and polar flagellum (fla) and to evaluate the influence of environmental variables on in vitro growth, in vivo virulence and expression of some of these genes. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based screening for the presence of these virulence genes was performed on 35 isolates. Six isolates containing different profiles of virulence genes were tested for in vitro growth under different conditions of pH, temperature, and ammonia and for in vivo virulence under these same environmental conditions. RT-qPCR was used to quantify the expression of aerolysin, lipase, and fla genes. All the tested environmental factors influenced the growth of A. hydrophila, while pH and ammonia concentrations influenced the bacterial virulence. The expression of the fla gene increased when bacteria were grown in higher ammonia concentration. The mortality established by Aeromonas is influenced by several environmental factors pinpointing the importance of its control in fish farming to avoid higher economic loses associated to bacterial disease outbreaks.     

胡子鲶致病性气单胞菌的分离鉴定及其致病力与毒力基因型相关性

为探讨广西南宁市、浦北县和玉林市暴发性死亡胡子鲶的病原菌及其所携带6种毒力基因对其致病力的影响,用常规方法从病鱼的心脏、肝脏等部位分离细菌,人工感染实验确定病原菌的致病性,以API 20NE生化鉴定和16S r RNA分子鉴定相结合的方法对病原菌进行鉴定,采用PCR扩增法检测病原菌的6种毒力基因携带情况。结果显示,从患病鱼中共分离到5株病原菌,其中嗜水气单胞菌3株,温和气单胞菌2株。3株嗜水气单胞菌与标准菌株Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC 7966(CP000462)的亲缘关系最近,相似性均为99.8%,2株温和气单胞菌与标准菌株Aeromonas sobria NO.106(AB472903.1)的亲缘关系最近,相似性均达99.9%。6种毒力基因在5株病原菌中的阳性检出率分别为Act和Aer基因100%,ahal、hly和Alt基因均为80%,ahp基因仅20%;毒力基因型共3种,在5株气单胞菌中分布情况为Act+ahal+hly+Alt+ahp-Aer+3株,占实验菌株的60%,为主要的毒力基因,Act+ahal+hly+Alt+ahp+Aer+和Act+ahal-hly-Alt-ahp-Aer+各1株,各占20%。携带全部所检6种毒力基因的菌株致病力最强,只携带Act和Aer 2种毒力基因的菌株致病力最弱。ahp基因在菌株的致病力中起重要作用,病原菌的致病力是多种毒力基因协同作用的结果。