Grimontia indica AK16T, sp. nov., Isolated from a Seawater Sample Reports the Presence of Pathogenic Genes Similar to Vibrio Genus

Abstract

Grimontia indica strain AK16T sp. nov. is the type strain of G. indica sp. nov. a new species within the genus Grimontia. This strain, whose genome is described here, was isolated from seawater sample collected from southeast coast of Palk Bay, India. G. indica AK16T is a Gram-negative, facultative aerobic rod shaped bacterium. There are only two other strains in the genus Grimontia one of which, Grimontia hollisae CIP 101886T, is a reported human pathogen isolated from human stool sample while the other, ‘Grimontia marina IMCC5001T’, was isolated from a seawater sample. As compared to the pathogenic strain Grimontia hollisae CIP 101886T, the strain AK16T lacks some genes for pathogenesis like the accessory colonization factors AcfA and AcfD, which are required for the colonization of the bacterium in the host body. While it carries some pathogenesis genes like OmpU, which are related to pathogenesis of Vibrio strains. This suggests that the life cycle of AK16T may include some pathogenic interactions with marine animal(s), or it may be an opportunistic pathogen. Study of the Grimontia genus is important because of the severe pathogenic traits exhibited by a member of the genus with only three species reported in total. The study will provide some vital information which may be useful in future clinical studies on the genus.

Grimontia celer sp. nov., from sea water

“…These values are close to the G+C contents derived from the genomes of the other two members of the genus Grimontia, 48.7 and 49.5 mol% for 'G. indica' and G. hollisae, respectively (Singh et al, 2014).…”

“…The genus Grimontia, part of the family Vibrionaceae in the class Gammaproteobacteria, currently accounts for two species with validly published names, the type species, Grimontia hollisae (Thompson et al, 2003) (formerly Vibrio hollisae) and Grimontia marina (Choi et al, 2012), and a third species 'Grimontia indica' (Singh et al, 2014) has been proposed. While G. hollisae was originally isolated from patients with diarrhea (Hickman et al, 1982) and has been related to human disease (Carnahan et al, 1994), G. marina and 'G.…”

“…Both G. hollisae and 'G. indica' strain genomes have already been determined and compared (Singh et al, 2014).…”

Grimontia sedimenti sp. nov., isolated from benthic sediments near coral reefs south of Kuwait

“…It is worth Table 1. Key characteristics that differentiate strain S25 T from the reference strains Strains: 1, S25 T ; 2, Grimontia celer 96-237 T [current study]; 2, 'Grimontia indica' AK16 T [6]; 3, Grimontia marina IMCC 5001 T [7]; 4, Grimontia hollisae ATCC 33564 T [5]. +, Positive; w, weak positive; −, negative; nd, not determined.…”

“…The first was Grimontia hollisae [5] isolated from patient stool and it shared a pathogenic gene cluster with Vibrio [6]. The other three species, Grimontia marina [7], ‘ Grimontia indica ’ [6] and Grimontia celer [8] are all isolated from seawater. Among them, ‘ Grimontia indica ’ has pathogenesis genes, suggesting that this species has a life cycle involving pathogenic interaction with marine animals.…”