dVibrio fluvialis is an important food-borne pathogen that causes diarrheal illness and sometimes extraintestinal infections in humans. In this study, we sequenced the genome of a clinical V. fluvialis strain and determined its phylogenetic relationships with other Vibrio species by comparative genomic analysis. We found that the closest relationship was between V. fluvialis and V. furnissii, followed by those with V. cholerae and V. mimicus. Moreover, based on genome comparisons and gene complementation experiments, we revealed genetic mechanisms of the biochemical tests that differentiate V. fluvialis from closely related species. Importantly, we identified a variety of genes encoding potential virulence factors, including multiple hemolysins, transcriptional regulators, and environmental survival and adaptation apparatuses, and the type VI secretion system, which is indicative of complex regulatory pathways modulating pathogenesis in this organism. The availability of V. fluvialis genome sequences may promote our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms for this emerging pathogen.
Vibrio fluvialis is a Gram-negative, oxidase-producing, halophilic bacterium that is normally found in coastal water and seafood. Clinically, V. fluvialis has been implicated as a cause of gastroenteritis with diarrhea (1) and even wound infection with primary septicemia in immunocompromised individuals (2). In an epidemic situation, V. fluvialis behaved more aggressively than Vibrio cholerae O1, having a higher attack rate and a different clinical picture in the population (3). The gastrointestinal illness caused by this pathogen is usually associated with the consumption of raw or improperly cooked seafood. Additionally, this bacterium causes significant economic loss, like in the lobster industries of the eastern coasts of the United States and Canada (4). Therefore, V. fluvialis has gained importance as an epidemic-causing Vibrio, especially in coastal areas.V. fluvialis was broadly defined as a nonagglutinating Vibrio species (5). It was first isolated in 1975 from patients with severe diarrhea (6) and was originally called "group F Vibrios" by Furniss et al. and "EF-6 Vibrios" by the Centers for Disease Control (6, 7). Both phenotypic tests and DNA relatedness indicated that these organisms were much closer to the genus Vibrio than to the genus Aeromonas (8). In some taxonomic studies, group F was separated into two subgroups based on gas production during glucose fermentation (9, 10). The aerogenic group F strains were in a different DNA relatedness group from the anaerogenic strains, and the two biogroups were separated into two species within the genus Vibrio (8). The name V. fluvialis was proposed for both aerogenic and anaerogenic strains of group F and the synonymous group EF-6. However, only anaerogenic strains have been isolated from human samples, even though both aerogenic and anaerogenic strains of V. fluvialis have been found in the environment (11). Subsequently, the aerogenic strains of group F were confirmed to be...