Isolation of Vibrio vulnificus during winter months is difficult due to the entrance of these cells into the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state. While several studies have investigated in vitro gene expression upon entrance into and persistence within the VBNC state, to our knowledge, no in situ studies have been reported. We incubated clinical and environmental isolates of V. vulnificus in estuarine waters during winter months to monitor the expression of several genes during the VBNC state and compared these to results from in vitro studies. katG (periplasmic catalase) was down-regulated during the VBNC state in vitro and in situ compared to the constitutively expressed gene tufA. Our results indicate that the loss of catalase activity we previously reported is a direct result of katG repression, which likely accounts for the VBNC response of this pathogen. While expression of vvhA (hemolysin) was detectable in environmental strains during in situ incubation, it ceased in all cases by ca. 1 h. These results suggest that the natural role of hemolysin in V. vulnificus may be in osmoprotection and/or the cold shock response. Differences in expression of the capsular genes wza and wzb were observed in the two recently reported genotypes of this species. Expression of rpoS, encoding the stress sigma factor RpoS, was continuous upon entry into the VBNC state during both in situ and in vitro studies. We found the half-life of mRNA to be less than 60 minutes, confirming that mRNA detection in these VBNC cells is a result of de novo RNA synthesis.Vibrio vulnificus is a gram-negative bacterium found in estuarine and coastal waters, including the East, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States and coastal waters throughout the world (15,26,27,35,46), at high numbers in bivalve mollusks. This bacterium is capable of causing rapidly fatal septicemia and wound infections subsequent to the ingestion of raw or undercooked seafood or following the exposure of wounds to water containing this pathogen (27). The ingestion of raw shellfish, especially oysters, is the most common means of developing primary septicemia, which affects individuals who either are immunocompromised or display underlying hepatic disorders with increased serum iron levels almost exclusively (32). In fact, it has been established experimentally that elevated serum iron levels highly correlate with the growth of V. vulnificus in human serum (25,44,52). V. vulnificus is of extreme significance to the seafood industry, as it causes more seafood-borne deaths than any other organism in the United States and also has the highest case fatality rate of any food-borne infection reported in this country (23). Indeed, 30 to 40 cases resulting in death occur each year in the United States. Interestingly, approximately 90% of all who suffer from V. vulnificus-induced primary septicemia are males, due to the apparent protection from the endotoxin by estrogen in females (24).The environment for V. vulnificus, as for all estuarine bacteria, consists of constantly f...