Genome Sequence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus VP152 Strain Isolated from Penaeus indicus in Malaysia.

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a Gram-negative bacterium that naturally occurs in marine associated aquatic environments (Letchumanan et al., 2014; Malcolm et al., 2015). This bacterium causes highest number of seafood-associated gastroenteritis in many countries including United States and Asian countries (Scallan et al., 2011; Newton et al., 2012). V. parahaemolyticus is often been isolated from aquatic environments such as seawater and marine sediment, as well as from vertebrate and invertebrate seafood products (Shen et al., 2009). The most likely route of infection in humans is reported to be associated with consumption of raw or improperly cooked seafood (Daniels et al., 2000; Jun et al., 2014; Hazen et al., 2015; Raghunath, 2015; Law et al., 2015). Recently, V. parahaemolyticus has been demonstrated to be a major source of infection in the aquaculture industry (Letchumanan et al., 2014; Soto-Rodriguez et al., 2015; Tey et al., 2015). Aquaculture farmers rely on a wide range of antibiotics to prevent (prophylactic use) and treat (therapeutic use) bacterial infections in fish and invertebrates (Cabello et al., 2013). The extensive use of antibiotics and other chemotherapeutics in aquaculture has led to the emergence of multidrug resistant strains in the biosphere (Letchumanan et al., 2015a, 2016; Rao and Lalitha, 2015). Multidrug resistant V. parahaemolyticus strains have been isolated and detected from shrimp in Thailand (Yano et al., 2014), Malaysia (Al-Othrubi et al., 2011; Sani et al., 2013; Letchumanan et al., 2015b,c) and China (Peng et al., 2010; Xu et al., 2014). Resistance toward clinically used antibiotics will eventually hamper the treatment of bacterial infections in humans and potentially increase the fatality rate (Daniels et al., 2000). Therefore, monitoring Vibrio species in aquaculture surroundings is crucial for both human health and the aquaculture industry. In our previous study, we have isolated environmental V. parahaemolyticus strains from two types of Malaysian shrimp, Penaeus indicus and Solenocera subnuda. We detected the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) and thermostable direct related hemolysin (trh) virulence genes through a PCR based assay and studied the antibiotic resistance profile of all the isolated strains (Letchumanan et al., 2015c). V. parahaemolyticus VP152 was isolated from Penaeus indicus (Banana prawn) and originated from a supermarket sample. This strain did not possess both the tdh and trh virulence genes, which are responsible for causing diseases in humans and marine animals. Despite the fact that V. parahaemolyticus VP152 strain does not have tdh and trh virulence genes properties, the strain cannot be ignored in light of the fact that it exhibits multidrug resistance profiles toward 11/14 antibiotics tested. Based on the antibiotic susceptibility phenotype, the strain exhibited multiple-antibiotic resistance toward ampicillin, oxytetracycline, nalidixic acid, ampicillin/sulbactam, tetracycline, third generation cephalos porins (cefotaxime and ceftazidime), aminoglycosides (amikacin, kanamycin, and gentamicin) and trimethoprim/sulfameth oxazole (Letchumanan et al., 2015c). This is a worrying situation as the antibiotic resistant profiles shown by V. parahaemolyticus VP152 include the recommended antimicrobial agents used in treatment of Vibrio spp. infections, including third generation cephalosporin, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, tetracycline, gentamicin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (Daniels and Shafaie, 2000; Shaw et al., 2014). Therefore, the whole genome sequence of V. parahaemolyticus VP152 was studied with respect to the multidrug resistance profiles to gain a better understanding of the antibiotic resistant patterns. The availability of this genome sequence of V. parahaemolyticus VP152 will aid as a basis for further in-depth analysis of the antibiotic resistance profile of environmental V. parahaemolyticus.