Development of a real‐time PCR assay for rapid detection and quantification of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida in fish tissues

The availability of a rapid and accurate method for the diagnosis of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (Phdp), able to discriminate its strictly correlated subsp. damselae (Phdd), formally known as Vibrio damsela, is essential for managing fish pasteurellosis outbreaks in farmed fish. A single‐step, high‐sensitivity real‐time PCR assay for simultaneous detection and quantification of P. damselae was designed targeting partial of the sequence of the bamB gene and tested for specificity and sensitivity on laboratory‐generated samples as well as on experimentally infected seabream tissue samples. With a limit of detection (LOD) of one copy in pure bacterial DNA, the sensitivity was higher than all methods previously reported. Validation in target and non‐target bacterial species proved the assay was able to discriminate Phdd‐Phdp subspecies from diverse hosts/geographical origins and between non‐target species. In addition, two SNPs in the target amplicon region determine two distinctive qPCR dissociation curves distinguishing between Phdp‐Phdd. This is the first time that a molecular method for P. damselae diagnosis combines detection, quantification and subspecies identification in one step. The assay holds the potential to improve the knowledge of infection dynamics and the development of better strategies to control an important fish disease.     

条石鲷(Oplegnathus fasciatus)源美人鱼发光杆菌杀鱼亚种(Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida)的分离鉴定

2013年浙江省舟山市某网箱养殖条石鲷(Oplegnathus fasciatus)暴发了一种严重的疾病,病鱼主要症状为脾、肾出现1-2 mm的白色类结节.从患病鱼内脏处分离得到1株优势菌OF-1,经人工感染实验证实为此次引起条石鲷死亡的致病菌,半数致死量为5.93×104 CFU/g.形态学观察结果显示,菌株OF-1为革兰氏阴性、短杆状,在TCBS培养基上不生长.API 20E细菌鉴定系统、16S rRNA系统发育树分析结果证实,该菌株为美人鱼发光杆菌杀鱼亚种(Photobacterium damselae subsp.piscicida).该菌对庆大霉素、青霉素、氟哌酸、氧氟沙星、氨苄青霉素等药物高度敏感,对红霉素、链霉素、卡那霉素、苯唑青霉素等药物具有抗性.     

Fish photobacteriosis—The importance of rapid and accurate identification of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida

MALDI‐TOF MS was tested for the identification of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida on isolates grown on two media, cultured at three incubation times and applied on the target plate by the direct sample spotting (DS), by the on‐target extraction (OTE) and by the full extraction (FE) method, in triplicates. The identification of samples grown on blood agar (BA) outperformed identification on tryptic soya agar (TSA) by 0.64% for DS and OTE. The OTE gave the highest scores in both culture media, all incubation times and replicates. Reliable 24‐hr species identification was 61.54%, 84.61% and 53.85% for samples grown on TSA and identified by DS, OTE and FE, respectively. For isolates grown on BA, they were 76.92%, 96.15% and 30.77%, respectively. When identified by OTE, the 48‐hr identification was 93.58%, but for 72 hr declined to 71.79%. The reliable identification with the highest score from the first measurement was 100% only for OTE from BA (24 hr), whereas OTE from TSA gave 84.61% (24 hr), 76.92% (48 hr) and 84.61% (72 hr). The reliable MALDI‐TOF MS identification of Ph. damselae subsp. piscicida is incubation time, media, target plate preparation and replicate‐dependent.     

Adhesion to sole, Solea senegalensis Kaup, mucus of microorganisms isolated from farmed fish, and their interaction with Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida

Abstract Most studies carried out to select microorganisms as candidate probiotics have focused on in vitro antagonism tests, such as the production of inhibitory compounds against pathogenic microorganisms. However, attachment to mucous surfaces could be another criterion to be considered when selecting potential probiotics for aquaculture. Nineteen isolates obtained from farmed Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis Kaup, and gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L., have been evaluated for their capacity to adhere to skin and intestinal mucus of Senegalese sole, and their antagonistic effect against Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, an important pathogen for farmed sole. The isolates from gilthead sea bream showed the highest percentage of adhesion to sole mucus, whilst the pathogenic microorganisms assayed and the isolates from sole showed, in general, a lower ability to adhere to sole mucus. The results suggest that the adhesion to fish mucus was more dependent on the isolate tested than on the host mucus. The isolates from gilthead sea bream also showed a higher antagonistic activity against P. damselae subsp. piscicida than those from Senegalese sole. Four isolates were selected, on the basis of their adhesive ability and antagonistic effect on P. damselae subsp. piscicida, to study their interactions with the pathogen in respect of adhesion to skin and intestinal mucus under exclusion, competition and displacement conditions. The results obtained show the ability of three isolates to reduce the adhesion of P. damselae subsp. piscicida to sole mucus under displacement and competition conditions. The adhesion of the pathogen to sole intestinal mucus was also significantly reduced when three isolates were assayed under exclusion conditions.     

Molecular cloning and functional analysis of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida haem receptor gene

A haem receptor gene from Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (formerly known as Pasteurella piscicida) has been cloned, sequenced and analysed for its function. The gene, designated as pph, has an open reading frame consisting of 2154 bp, a predicted 718 amino acid residues and exists as a single copy. It is homologous with the haem receptors of Vibrio anguillarum hupA, V. cholerae hutA, V. mimicus mhuA and V. vulnificus hupA at 32.7, 32.7, 45.6 and 30.9%, respectively, and is highly conserved, consisting of a Phe-Arg-Ala-Pro sequence (FRAP), an iron transport related molecule (TonB) and a Asn-Pron-Asn-Leu sequence (NPNL), binding motifs associated with haem receptors. As a single gene knockout mutant P. damselae subsp. piscicida was able to bind haem in the absence of pph, suggesting that other receptors may be involved in its iron transport system. This study shows that the P. damselae subsp. piscicida pph belongs to the haem receptor family, is conserved and that its iron-binding system may involve more than one receptor.     

龙胆石斑鱼源美人鱼发光杆菌的生物学特性与系统发育学分析

对从1尾病死的观赏用龙胆石斑鱼Epinephelus lanceolatus L.中分离到的细菌,进行了形态特征、理化特性和对抗菌类药物的敏感性等较系统的表观生物学性状鉴定。同时,测定了16S rRNA基因序列、分析了相关细菌相应序列的同源性、构建了系统发生树。结果表明,供试两株纯培养菌（编号：HQ061227-1、HQ061227-2）为发光杆菌属Photobacterium（Beijerinck 1889）的美人鱼发光杆菌美人鱼亚种P.damselae subsp.damselae（Love et al.1982;Smith et al.1991）,用HQ061227-1株作为代表菌株的16S rRNA基因序列长度（不包括引物结合区）为1469bp（GenBank登录号：EF635307）,与GenBank数据库中美人鱼发光杆菌美人鱼亚种的同源性在99%。药敏试验结果显示,对供试37种抗菌药物中的青霉素G等4种耐药,对头孢唑啉等32种敏感,对氨苄青霉素低敏。     

Development of a multiplex PCR assay for Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida identification in fish samples

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction protocol for the detection of Photobacterium damselae and subspecies piscicida and damselae discrimination, with internal amplification control, was developed. Assay specificity was assessed by testing 19 target and 25 non-target pure cultures. The detection limit was 500 fg, corresponding to 100 genome equivalents. The optimized protocol was also prevalidated with spleen, kidney and blood samples from infected and uninfected sea bass, without any culture step, and it can be proposed as a valid alternative to culture standard methods for the rapid and specific diagnosis of photobacteriosis in fish.     

Invasion and survival of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida in non-phagocytic cells of gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L.

Fluorescence microscopy and gentamicin protection assays were used to investigate the ability of four Photobacterium damselae subsp. pisicida (Phdp) strains to adhere to and to invade the fish epithelial cell line, SAF-1, derived from Sparus aurata . All strains tested were detected intracellularly using both techniques, although internalization levels varied among strains. Treatment with cytochalasin D and experiments carried out at 4 °C demonstrated that a functional host cell cytoskeleton and active cell metabolism are necessary for bacterial internalization. Intracellular bacteria were detected for up to 7 days with a round morphology and were stained with DAPI, indicating that some bacterial cells may remain viable inside SAF-1 cells. Our in vitro findings indicate that Phdp are capable of adhering, entering and surviving within the non-phagocytic epithelial cell line SAF-1, which may be important for persistence and establishment of a carrier state in S. aurata .     

A novel research on isolation and characterization of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae from Pacific white shrimp,Penaeus vannamei,displaying black gill disease cultured in China

In June 2019, massive mortalities of cultured Penaeus vannamei occurred in a local farm in Hainan Province, China. The diseased shrimp displayed evident black gills. Three bacterial strains 20190611001, 20190611007 and 20190611022 were isolated from hepatopancreas and gills of the diseased shrimp and identified as Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae based on the sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and toxR genes. These three isolates showed haemolytic activities. Of them, strain 20190611022 isolated from hepatopancreas was selected and processed for pathogenic analysis. The calculated median lethal dose (LD₅₀) was 9.75 ± 4.29 × 10⁵CFU/g (body weight) by challenging P. vannameivia reverse gavage. The diseased shrimp displayed enlarged hepatopancreatic tubules and sloughing of epithelial cells in tubular lumens. The strain 20190611022 was also characterized by the testing of API 20NE systems and antibiotic susceptibility. The results of disc diffusion test showed that strain 20190611022 was sensitive to chloramphenicol, compound sulfamethoxazole, cefoperazone, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime and cefuroxime. To our knowledge, this is the first report of isolation and characterization of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae from natural diseased P. vannamei. Our findings can serve as a basis for further studies of its pathogenicity and provide technological support for disease controlling in shrimp aquaculture.     

Detection of quinolone-resistance genes in Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida strains by targeting-induced local lesions in genomes

Quinolone-resistant strains of the fish-pathogenic bacterium, Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida are distributed widely in cultured yellowtail, Seriola quinqueradiata (Temminck & Schlegel), in Japan. The quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) was amplified with degenerate primers, followed by cassette ligation-mediated PCR. Open reading frames encoding proteins of 875 and 755 amino acid residues were detected in the gyrA and parC genes, respectively. Resistant strains of P. damselae subsp. piscicida carried a point mutation only in the gyrA QRDR leading to a Ser-to-Ile substitution at residue position 83. No amino acid alterations were discovered in the ParC sequence. A mutation in the gyrA gene was also detected in nalidixic acid-resistant mutants of strain SP96002 obtained from agar medium containing increased levels of quinolone. These results suggest that GyrA, as in other Gram-negative bacteria, is a target of quinolone in P. damselae subsp. piscicida. Furthermore, we attempted to detect a point mutation using targeting-induced local lesions in genomes (TILLING), which is a general strategy used for the detection of a variety of induced point mutations and naturally occurring polymorphisms. We developed a new detection method for the rapid and large-scale identification of quinolone-resistant strains of P. damselae subsp. piscicida using TILLING.     

Effectiveness of a divalent vaccine for sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup), against Vibrio harveyi and Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida

The protection of cultured sole, Solea senegalensis, against Vibrio harveyi and Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida was evaluated following the use of a divalent vaccine prepared with formalized whole cells and extracellular products of virulent strains of both pathogenic microorganisms and administered by the immersion route. Two prolonged immersions of 5-10 g fish in the divalent bacterin at a 1-month interval gave high levels of protection similar to those obtained when the respective monovalent vaccines were administered by the intraperitoneal route [relative percentage of survival (RPS) values >70%], which indicates that the former procedure can be a useful strategy with small fish. The high protection afforded by the divalent vaccine in sole lasted for 4 months after which the RPS values against both pathogens decreased significantly.     

The production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida and initial observations using immunohistochemistry

Five monoclonal antibodies (MAbs: F2B1, 1E4, 13B10, 4D4 and F3G12) were produced against lysed Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida ( Ph. d . ssp. piscicida ). The MAbs recognized three antigens of differing molecular weight on the Western blot of Ph. d . ssp. piscicida . They also cross-reacted with five different species of Vibrio . An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with MAbs, F3G12 and 4D4 demonstrated differences between Ph. d . ssp. piscicida and three Ph. d . ssp. damselae type strains, indicating differences in the surface antigenicity between these two groups of bacteria. Antigen retrieval in conjunction with immunohistochemistry (IHC) using MAb 13B10, revealed colonies of bacteria in the kidney, spleen and liver of sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax , infected with pasteurellosis. A number of positive colonies were observed around the mucosal layers of the intestinal tissue, especially within the lamina propria. In addition, a number of bacterial colonies were associated with red blood cells and blood vessels of the organs examined.     

Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, an emerging pathogen in Danish rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), mariculture

A selection of 16 field isolates of Photobacterium damselae from marine rainbow trout farms in Denmark was subjected to phenotypic and genotypic characterization and pathogenicity to fish. All isolates belonged to the subspecies damselae , being positive for haemolysis, motility and urease. There were considerable differences in haemolytic properties, some isolates presenting a broad zone of haemolysis and others only a narrow zone. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed a high diversity indicating that P. damselae subsp. damselae is an opportunistic, not clonal pathogen in Danish marine rainbow trout. Virulence of the strains to rainbow trout was highly variable with LD₅₀ values ranging from 3.9 × 10³ to 1.5 × 10⁸ cfu at 20 °C. The virulence was significantly higher at 20 °C than at 13 °C. The strains with the strongest haemolytic properties were the most virulent suggesting a strong involvement of haemolysin in the pathogenesis. The pathological changes were consistent with a bacterial septicaemia and the haemorrhages were more pronounced than for most other bacterial infections.     

Expression and characterization of the periplasmic cobalamin-binding protein of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida

Cobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) is an essential cofactor in a variety of enzymatic reactions and most prokaryotes contain transport systems to import vitamin B₁₂. A gene coding for a periplasmic cobalamin-binding protein of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida was identified by in silico analysis of sequences from a genomic library. The open reading frame was composed of 834 bp encoding a protein of 277 amino acids. The protein showed 61% identity with the vitamin B₁₂-binding protein precursor of P. profundum , 53% identity with the corresponding protein of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and 43% identity with the periplasmic binding protein BtuF of Escherichia coli. The expression of the native protein was investigated in P. damselae subsp. piscicida , but BtuF was weakly expressed under normal conditions. To characterize the BtuF of P. damselae subsp. piscicida , the recombinant protein was expressed with a C-terminal His₆-tag and purified; the molecular weight was estimated to be approximately 30 kDa. The protein does not contain any free thiol group, consistent with the view that the two cysteine residues are involved in a disulphide bond. The purified BtuF binds cyanocobalamin with an affinity constant of 6 ± 2 μ m .     

Superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida

The ability of a set of Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida strains isolated from different fish species to produce different superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase enzymes was determined. Unlike other bacterial pathogens, P. damselae ssp. piscicida is not able to produce different isoforms of SOD or catalase containing different metal cofactors when cultured under oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide or methyl viologen, or under iron depleted conditions. However, iron content of the growth medium influenced the levels of SOD and catalase activity in cells, these levels decreasing with iron availability of the medium. Comparison of virulent and non-virulent strains of P. damselae ssp. piscicida showed similar contents of SOD, but higher levels of catalase were detected in cells of the virulent strain. Incubation of bacteria with sole, Solea senegalensis (Kaup), phagocytes has shown that survival rates range from 19% to 62%, these rates being higher for the virulent strain. The increased levels of catalase activity detected in the virulent strain indicates a possible role for this enzyme in bacterial survival.     

美人鱼发光杆菌美人鱼亚种dly基因缺失株构建及其生物学特性研究

美人鱼发光杆菌美人鱼亚种(Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, PDD)是广泛分布于全球海洋环境中的一种致病菌。本研究以实验室保存的一株高致病性PDD菌株(PDD1608)作为对象,初步探究毒力基因dly对PDD菌株的生物学特性和致病力的影响。利用λRed重组技术成功构建毒力基因dly缺失株Δdly PDD1608::Cm,比较野生株和缺失株的生长、涌动性、药物敏感性、生理生化特性、生物被膜形成能力、菌株及胞外产物(extracellular products, ECP)的溶血性和磷脂酶活性等生物学特性。选用海水青鳉鱼(Oryzias melastigma)作为实验动物,通过人工感染实验测定野生株和缺失株及其ECP对海水青鳉鱼的致病性。结果显示,毒力基因dly缺失后导致PDD菌株生长变慢,涌动性、溶血性和磷脂酶活性均降低;野生株和缺失株的药物敏感性和生理生化特性未产生变化;与野生株相比,缺失株的生物被膜形成能力有显著差异(P<0.05);人工感染实验表明,缺失株及其ECP对海水青鳉鱼的致病性降低。毒力基因dly影响PDD菌株的生长、涌动性、溶血性和磷脂酶活性等多种生物学特性,并且与PDD菌株及其ECP的致病力强弱密切相关。