Halobacteriovorax isolated from marine water of the Adriatic sea, Italy, as an effective predator of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, non-O1/O139 V. cholerae, V. vulnificus.
AIM
To detect marine Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) which are able to infect Vibrio parahaemolyticus from seawater of the Adriatic, Italy. To test, prey specificity and predation efficiency of our Halobacteriovorax isolate, named HBXCO1, towards 17 Vibrio and 7 non-Vibrio strains linked to the Adriatic sea, Italy.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Double layer agar plating technique was used to enumerate BALOs and to evaluate their prey specificity and predation efficiency. Transmission electron microscopy and 16S rRNA analysis were used to identify them. Means of BALOs counts ranged from 5·0 PFU per ml (March 2017) to 98·6 PFU per ml (August 2016). HBXCO1 had the ability to attack all tested prey strains of V. parahaemolyticus, Vibrio cholerae non-O1/O139 and Vibrio vulnificus, but it did not prey on non-Vibrio strains and V. alginolyticus under the tested conditions.


CONCLUSIONS
Bdellovibrio and like organisms capable of infecting pathogenic vibrios are naturally present in seawater of the Adriatic, Italy. Isolate HBXCO1 shows prey specificity preferentially for the Vibrio genus and high predatory efficiency towards a wide range of pathogenic strains.


SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY
The public impact of V. parahaemolyticus, non-O1/O139 V. cholerae and V. vulnificus in bivalves is relevant and current decontamination processes are not always effective. We believe that the predator HBXCO1 represents a potential candidate for the development of strategies of biocontrol of pathogenic vibrios in bivalves from harvesting to trade.
['Ottaviani|D|D|http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7301-8656', 'Chierichetti|S|S|', 'Angelico|G|G|', 'Forte|C|C|', 'Rocchegiani|E|E|', 'Manuali|E|E|', 'Leoni|F|F|']
D000818:Animals D000898:Antibiosis D049872:Bivalvia D007558:Italy D020560:Proteobacteria D012623:Seawater D014734:Vibrio cholerae D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus D041261:Vibrio vulnificus D014871:Water Microbiology
Halobacteriovorax Vibrio parahaemolyticus V. vulnificus Bdellovibrio and like organisms non-O1/O139 V. cholerae Vibrio-specific predator