Genetic Divergence of Vibrio vulnificus Clinical Isolates with Mild to Severe Outcomes
Kendall Kling, Sonya Trinh, Semen A. Leyn, Dmitry A. Rodionov, Ivan D. Rodionov, Alfa Herrera, Kasey S. Cervantes, George A. Pankey, Deborah Ashcraft, Egon A. Ozer, Adam Godzik, K.J.F. Satchell
Abstract
Vibrio vulnificus is an aquatic pathogen that is capable of causing severe disease in humans. Previous studies have suggested that pathogenic isolates were restricted to certain phylogenetic lineages and possibly toxinotype. Our study demonstrated that phylogenetic lineage and multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX) toxinotype do not predict severity of infection. V. vulnificus strains capable of causing severe human disease are not concentrated in Lineage 1 but are genetically diverse. Thus, food surveillance based on lineage type or toxinotype may not be an appropriate intervention measure to control this rare but serious infection.