ISSN: 2155-9600
Gargouti AS, Ab-Rashid MNK, Ghazali MF, Mitsuaki N, Haresh KK and Radu S
Vibrio alginolyticus is a halophilic Gram-negative marine bacterium. The current study investigated the presence of the tdh and trh virulence factors in isolates of Vibrio alginolyticus. Five samples of Mantis Shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria) were collected from local markets around Selangor, Malaysia. Samples were then examined using the MPN and multiplex PCR methods. By targeting the species-specific gene toxR, 2 (40%) were found to be positive. The two samples were positive for Vibrio alginolyticus, and one of these samples contained tdh/trh toxin. The Vibrio alginolyticus isolated, possessed and expressed the trh, tdh and toxR toxic genes. Vibrio strain identification was determined by 16S rRNA sequence; the results showed 99% homology to Vibrio alginolyticus. The sequencing of the isolated toxin genes indicated a homology of 97-98% to the Vibrio parahaemolyticus toxin genes. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Vibrio alginolyticus possessing three toxin genes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.