Abstract
Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, has the ability to grow and survive in the aquatic free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. The aim of the present study was to examine the ability of the clinical isolate V. cholerae O139 MO10 to grow in A. castellanii and to determine the effect of the bacterial capsule and LPS O side chain on intracellular growth. Results from co-cultivation, viable counts, a gentamicin assay, electron microscopy and statistical analysis showed that the association of V. cholerae O139 MO10 with A. castellanii did not inhibit growth of the amoeba, and enhanced growth and survival of V. cholerae O139 MO10 occurred. The wild-type V. cholerae O139 MO10 and a capsule mutant or capsule/LPS double mutant grew inside A. castellanii. Neither the capsule nor the LPS O side chain of V. cholerae O139 was found to play an important role in the interaction with A. castellanii, disclosing the ability of V. cholerae to multiply and survive inside A. castellanii, as well as the role of A. castellanii as an environmental host for V. cholerae.
Highlights
Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 have the ability to grow and survive inside the aquatic free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii (Abd et al, 2005, 2007)
The involvement of macromolecules in this interaction has not been studied, and it is not known whether the capsule and LPS O side chain play a role in intracellular growth and survival of V. cholerae in A. castellanii
It is known that the mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin fimbria of V. cholerae O139 contributes to its attachment to plankton in aquatic habitats (Chiavelli et al, 2001)
Summary
Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 have the ability to grow and survive inside the aquatic free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii (Abd et al, 2005, 2007). V. cholerae O139, the causative agent of cholera, possesses a mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin fimbria (Chiavelli et al, 2001), a polysaccharide capsule (Johnson et al, 1994; Weintraub et al, 1994) and a LPS (Knirel et al, 1997). Both the capsule and LPS O side chain are considered virulence factors (Waldor et al, 1994) and have been found to be important factors for colonization in the mammalian intestine (Nesper et al, 2002). It is known that the mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin fimbria of V. cholerae O139 contributes to its attachment to plankton in aquatic habitats (Chiavelli et al, 2001)
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