Morphological, Cultural, Biochemical, and Serological Comparison of Japanese Strains ofVibrio parahemolyticuswith Related Cultures Isolated in the United States

Abstract

Morphological, cultural, biochemical, and serological characteristics of 79 strains of Vibrio parahemolyticus isolated from patients suffering from gastroenteric disease in Japan were compared with 17 suspected V. parahemolyticus cultures isolated from wound infections and 14 nonpathogenic vibrios isolated from an estuarine environment in the United States. These groups were differentiated on the basis of several key reactions which included: the range of growth temperature and salt tolerance; the production of catalase and acetoin; the hydrolysis of starch; the fermentation and utilization as single carbon source of sucrose, cellobiose, and arabinose; and the ability to swarm on 1 % agar. The separation of the groups on the basis of cultural and biochemical analyses was confirmed by means of slide agglutinations with specific anti-K antisera. The results of this study strongly suggest that the wound infection isolates are V. parahemolyticus species which are easily distinguished from the nonpathogenic estuarine vibrios. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cultures examined. A total of 110 cultures (Table 1) were used for the present studies. The first group of 79 V. parahemolyticus included 78 strains isolated in Japan from feces of patients suffering from gastroenteritis or from food implicated in food poisoning outbreaks. These strains represented all known K antigens with the exception of K-22 antigen. One strain, OY-G1-3, isolated from Puget Sound, was identified as V. parahemolyticus by specific bacteriophage susceptibility (1). The V. parahemolyticus group was obtained from the following donors:

Survey of Media for the Resuscitation of Heat‐stressed Vibrio parahaemolyticus

“…nevertheless superior to the remaining 16 agar media for supporting colony formation. The results obtained with WBAY are not easy to interpret; the medium is adjusted to pH 6.9, a value below the optimal range (pH 7.5 to 8.5) associated with the organism, and it contains a carbohydrate (sucrose 1 %) which V. parahaemolyticus does not use (Twedt, Spaulding & Hall, 1969). In addition to a modified salts content, the MSWYE medium contains 0.1 % yeast extract and 0.1 % proteose peptone compared to 0.3 "/o and 1.0 %, respectively, contained in SWYE.…”

Taxonomy of Marine Bacteria: Beneckea parahaemolytica and Beneckea alginolytica

“…1) consist of 132 isolates which include all the strains from cases of gastroenteritis (91 strains), 6 strains from suspected seafoods, and 5 out of 41 strains isolated from nonenteric infections (strains 250, 265, 266, 290, and 314). The specific source of the remaining 30 strains was not available, although it is known that they were isolated in Japan from cases of gastroenteritis, suspected seafoods, or sea water (31). The two clusters formed by strains 189 to 305 include the proposed type strain of B. parahaemolytica (strain 113) as well as four strains (114 to 117) which have been previously characterized (8).…”

“…As a consequence of the extensive phenotypic characterization of a number of species of the genus Beneckea (2,8,9), it has become possible to evaluate some of the traits previously used for the differentiation of B. parahaemolytica from other common marine bacteria. Of the previously proposed traits (25,26,27,31), the inability to utilize sucrose and the ability to grow at 40 C and utilize L-arabinose have proven to be the most valid. As an individual trait, the inability to utilize sucrose distinguishes B. parahaemolytica from the majority of the species and groups of Beneckea but not from B. campbellii, B. nigrapulchrituda, and group C-2; when considered in conjunction with the ability to grow at 40 C, the only other known member of Beneckea which cannot be distinguished from B. parahaemolytica is group C-2.…”

“…In both outbreaks, cooked seafood appears to have been contaminated with materials from marine sources prior to consumption. Recently, organisms resembling B. parahaemolytica have been implicated in localized tissue infections (31) and in a case of gangrene which necessitated the amputation of a leg (24). B. alginolytica, unlike B. parahaemolytica, does not appear to cause gastroenteritis (27,36).…”

“…B. alginolytica, unlike B. parahaemolytica, does not appear to cause gastroenteritis (27,36). The pathogenicity of this common marine bacterium is indicated, however, by its isolation from infections of the ear and eye as well as from localized skin infections (31).…”