Genomic and Phenotypic Insights for Toxigenic Clinical Vibrio cholerae O141.

Yaovi M.G Hounmanou,Anders Dalsgaard,Bolutife Fakoya,Brandon Sit,Matthew K Waldor

doi:10.3201/eid2803.210715

Abstract

Vibrio cholerae remains a major public health threat worldwide, causing millions of cholera cases each year. Although much is known about the evolution and pathogenicity of the O1/O139 serogroups of V. cholerae, information is lacking on the molecular epidemiology of non‒O1/O139 strains isolated from patients who have diarrheal illnesses. We performed whole-genome sequence analysis and in vivo infections to investigate characteristics of V. cholerae O141 isolated from sporadic diarrheal cases in 4 countries. The strains formed a distinct phylogenetic clade distinguishable from other serogroups and a unique multilocus sequence type 42, but interstrain variation suggests that O141 isolates are not clonal. These isolates encode virulence factors including cholera toxin and the toxin-coregulated pilus, as well as a type 3 secretion system. They had widely variable capacities for intestinal colonization in the infant mouse model. We propose that O141 isolates comprise a distinct clade of V. cholerae non‒O1/O139, and their continued surveillance is warranted.

Highlights

Vibrio cholerae remains a major public health threat worldwide, causing millions of cholera cases each year
We investigated the genomics and in vivo colonization ability of V. cholerae O141 strains isolated from diarrheal cases from 4 different countries during 1984–1994
Genomic Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis To investigate the genomic diversity of clinical isolates of V. cholerae O141, we sequenced and annotated the genomes of 8 serotype-confirmed O141 strains collected from stool samples of gastroenteritis patients in the United States, Spain, Taiwan, and India over a 10-year period during 1984–1994 [10] (Table)

Summary

Introduction

Vibrio cholerae remains a major public health threat worldwide, causing millions of cholera cases each year. The strains formed a distinct phylogenetic clade distinguishable from other serogroups and a unique multilocus sequence type 42, but interstrain variation suggests that O141 isolates are not clonal These isolates encode virulence factors including cholera toxin and the toxin-coregulated pilus, as well as a type 3 secretion system. Compared with information available on V. cholerae O1, relatively little knowledge is available on the pathogenesis and genomic diversity of V. cholerae isolates from other serogroups, such as O37, O75, and O141 (collectively termed non–O1/O139) These serogroups have been isolated from patients who had diarrheal illness, as well as from aquatic environmental sources [7–10]. We investigated the genomics and in vivo colonization ability of V. cholerae O141 strains isolated from diarrheal cases from 4 different countries during 1984–1994. The strains were isolated from sporadic cases of diarrhea without any documented epidemiologic association

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Conclusion