Investigation of Aeromonas: A Medical and Biotechnological Perspective

Abstract

The genus Aeromonas is widely distributed in aquatic environments and certain strains are serious pathogens in poikilothermic animals and humans. Human infections related with this pathogen include gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, wound infections and septicemia. In this study, both the correct medical diagnosis with taking advantages of molecular approaches and a brief investigation of the enzymatic activity potential of Aeromonas were aimed. Aeromonas spp. isolates were collected from different stream samples of Sinop, Turkey and were identified according to morphological, physiological and biochemical tests based on API 20NE (Biomeriux, France). The evaluation of total cell protein profiles and molecular identification based on 16S rRNA sequencing were conducted. Amylase, cellulase and protease enzyme activities of strains were also determined. The strains were separated into two clusters of 73% and over according to the SDS-PAGE total cell protein profiles reflecting a less discriminative power for this method in the strain identification. On the other hand, according to the 16S rRNA sequence analysis results, two isolates were identified as Aeromonas tecta and the other two as Aeromonas veronii at 99% similarity level reflecting the superiority of this approach when compared with SDS-PAGE profile. Enzyme assays showed that; three of the isolates were able to produce the amylase and only one could produce the cellulase but none produced the protease enzyme. Though our results are based on limited samples, enzyme activity potential of Aeromonas is recommended to be further investigated in detail in future studies. Pollution of the water by organic materials is a serious environment and health problem and thus bacterial extracellular enzyme activities degrading these pollutants in aquatic environments may reflect a bioremediation strategy in terms of a biotechnological perspective. Taking into consideration of Aeromonas in human infections, the realiable identification based on molecular techniques is an obligatory for medical practice. Besides, exploiting this pathogen in search of enzyme activities may broaden our biotechnology perspective.