Distribution, genetic richness and phage sensitivity of Vibrio spp. from coastal British Columbia

Abstract

This study examined the distribution, susceptibility to viral infection and genetic diversity of Vibrio spp. in the coastal waters and sediments of British Columbia during summer (July and August). Abundances of presumptive Vibrio spp. ranged from 1.5 to 346 ml(-1) within the water column (1-291 m); whereas, abundances at the water-sediment interface were much higher (up to approximately 3 x 10(4)Vibrio spp. cc(-1)), and decreased with sediment depth (down to 30 cm). The genetic diversity of Vibrio spp. isolates was not tied to the location from which they originated and was only influenced in a minor way by the type of environment. However, the environment had a greater effect on phage-typing patterns. Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates from environments with high abundances of cells (sediments and oysters) were generally more susceptible to viral infection than those from the water column which were highly resistant. Therefore, although Vibrio spp. were widespread in the areas investigated, the results show that there is segregation of bacterial host strains in different environments, under differing selection pressures, which ultimately will affect in situ phage production.

Influence of temperature and spawning effort on Haliotis tuberculata mortalities caused by Vibrio harveyi: an example of emerging vibriosis linked to global warming

“…Similarly, a relation between field temperature and vibrio concentration were previously suggested (Stabili et al , 2005; Gonzalez‐Acosta et al , 2006) as seasonality of infection corresponded to warm‐water months with high vibrio concentrations. The concentrations observed in the present study [mean of 6 × 10 6 CFU mL −1 (seawater–sediment interface) and 4 × 10 4 CFU mL −1 (water column)] are higher than those generally reported in association with animal mortalities (Pujalte et al , 1999; Thompson et al , 2004; Comeau & Suttle, 2007); but reports show extremely variable numbers (Koren & Rosenberg, 2006; Raghunath et al , 2007). The concentration of vibrios is often 80 × higher at the seawater–sediment interface than in the water column (Comeau & Suttle, 2007).…”

“…The concentrations observed in the present study [mean of 6 × 10 6 CFU mL −1 (seawater–sediment interface) and 4 × 10 4 CFU mL −1 (water column)] are higher than those generally reported in association with animal mortalities (Pujalte et al , 1999; Thompson et al , 2004; Comeau & Suttle, 2007); but reports show extremely variable numbers (Koren & Rosenberg, 2006; Raghunath et al , 2007). The concentration of vibrios is often 80 × higher at the seawater–sediment interface than in the water column (Comeau & Suttle, 2007). We observed a similar trend in this study.…”

Virus-mediated transfer of nitrogen from heterotrophic bacteria to phytoplankton

“…Finally, even if PWH3a-P1 were able to bind to Vibrio spp., the estimated abundance of Vibrio spp. in BC coastal waters ranges from ∼ 1 mL −1 to several hundred mL −1 (Comeau and Suttle 2007), and is not enough to significantly affect N release. Moreover, this would not affect the observation that N released by viral lysis is incorporated into cells.…”

Stumbling across the Same Phage: Comparative Genomics of Widespread Temperate Phages Infecting the Fish Pathogen Vibrio anguillarum

“…However, little is known about the geographical distribution of specific vibriophages. The diversity of bacteriophages can be high when examined locally but when a more global approach is attempted, diversity can be relatively limited due to the phages ability move among different biomes [27,28,29]. …”