Elsevier

Water Research

Volume 242, 15 August 2023, 120033
Water Research

Sargasso Sea Vibrio bacteria: Underexplored potential pathovars in a perturbed habitat

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.120033Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Vibrio spp. cultivar genome and phenotype screens show pathogenic abilities.

  • Plastic debris Vibrio metagenome displays full complement of pathogenic genes.

  • Full genomic sequences suggest new Vibrio species are represented.

  • Open ocean Vibrio spp. warrant risk assessment as emerging pathogens.

Abstract

We fully sequenced the genomes of 16 Vibrio cultivars isolated from eel larvae, plastic marine debris (PMD), the pelagic brown macroalga Sargassum, and seawater samples collected from the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas of the North Atlantic Ocean. Annotation and mapping of these 16 bacterial genome sequences to a PMD-derived Vibrio metagenome-assembled genome created for this study showcased vertebrate pathogen genes closely-related to cholera and non-cholera pathovars. Phenotype testing of cultivars confirmed rapid biofilm formation, hemolytic, and lipophospholytic activities, consistent with pathogenic potential. Our study illustrates that open ocean vibrios represent a heretofore undescribed group of microbes, some representing potential new species, possessing an amalgam of pathogenic and low nutrient acquisition genes, reflecting their pelagic habitat and the substrates and hosts they colonize.

Keywords

Vibrio
Pathogen
Plastic marine debris
Sargassum
Marine
Oligotrophic
Open ocean

Data availability

  • Data will be made available on request.

Cited by (0)

1

Co-corresponding authors.