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Infection and Immunity, May 2002, p. 2441-2453, Vol. 70, No. 5
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.5.2441-2453.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Evidence for the Emergence of Non-O1 and Non-O139 Vibrio cholerae Strains with Pathogenic Potential by Exchange of O-Antigen Biosynthesis Regions
Manrong Li,1,2,
Toshio Shimada,3 J. Glenn Morris, Jr.,1,2 Alexander Sulakvelidze,1 and Shanmuga Sozhamannan1,2*
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine,1
VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, Maryland 21201,2
Laboratory of Enteric Infection 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan3
Received 8 November 2001/
Returned for modification 20 December 2001/
Accepted 18 January 2002
The novel epidemic strain Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal originated from a seventh-pandemic O1 El Tor strain by antigenic shift resulting from homologous recombination-mediated exchange of O-antigen biosynthesis (wb*) clusters. Conservation of the genetic organization of wb* regions seen in other serogroups raised the possibility of the existence of pathogenic non-O1 and non-O139 V. cholerae strains that emerged by similar events. To test this hypothesis, 300 V. cholerae isolates of non-O1 and non-O139 serogroups were screened for the presence of virulence genes and an epidemic genetic background by DNA dot blotting, IS1004 fingerprinting, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. We found four non-O1 strains (serogroups O27, O37, O53, and O65) with an O1 genetic backbone suggesting exchange of wb* clusters. DNA sequence analysis of the O37 wb* region revealed that a novel
23.4-kb gene cluster had replaced all but the
4.2-kb right junction of the 22-kb O1 wbe region. In sharp contrast to the backbones, the virulence regions of the four strains were quite heterogeneous; the O53 and O65 strains had the El Tor vibrio pathogenicity island (VPI) cluster, the O37 strain had the classical VPI cluster, and the O27 strain had a novel VPI cluster. Two of the four strains carried CTX
; the O27 strain possessed a CTX
with a recently reported immune specificity (rstR-4** allele) and a novel ctxB allele, and the O37 strain had an El Tor CTX
(rstRET allele) and novel ctxAB alleles. Although the O53 and O65 strains lacked the ctxAB genes, they carried a pre-CTX
(i.e., rstRcla). Identification of non-O1 and non-O139 serogroups with pathogenic potential in epidemic genetic backgrounds means that attention should be paid to possible future epidemics caused by these serogroups and to the need for new, rapid vaccine development strategies.
* Corresponding author. Present address: Intralytix, Inc., The Columbus Center, 701 E. Pratt St., Room 4016, Baltimore, MD 21201. Phone: (410) 625-2422. Fax: (410) 625-2506. E-mail:
ssozhamannan{at}intralytix.com.
Editor: D. L. Burns
Present address: Intralytix, Inc., Baltimore, MD 21201.
Infection and Immunity, May 2002, p. 2441-2453, Vol. 70, No. 5
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.5.2441-2453.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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