AUTHOR=Lopez-Joven Carmen , de Blas Ignacio , Furones M. Dolores , Roque Ana 

TITLE=Prevalences of pathogenic and non-pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in mollusks from the Spanish Mediterranean Coast

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00736

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2015.00736

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic> is a well-recognized pathogen of humans. To better understand the ecology of the human-pathogenic variants of this bacterium in the environment, a study on the prevalence in bivalves of pathogenic variants (<italic>tlh</italic>+ and <italic>tdh</italic>+ and/or <italic>trh</italic>+) versus a non-pathogenic one (only <italic>tlh</italic>+ as species marker for <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic>), was performed in two bays in Catalonia, Spain. Environmental factors that might affect dynamics of both variants of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> were taken into account. The results showed that the global prevalence of total <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> found in both bays was 14.2% (207/1459). It was, however, significantly dependent on sampling point, campaign (year) and bivalve species. Pathogenic variants of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> (<italic>tdh</italic>+ and/or <italic>trh</italic>+) were detected in 3.8% of the samples (56/1459), meaning that the proportion of bivalves who contained <italic>tlh</italic> gene were contaminated by pathogenic <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> strains is 27.1% (56/207). Moreover, the presence of pathogenic <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> (<italic>trh</italic>+) was significantly correlated with water salinity, thus the probability of finding pathogenic <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> decreased 1.45 times with every salinity unit (ppt) increased. Additionally, data showed that <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> could establish close associations with <italic>Ruditapes</italic> spp. (<italic>P-value</italic> &lt; 0.001), which could enhance the transmission of illness to human by pathogenic variants, when clams were eaten raw or slightly cooked. This study provides information on the abundance, ecology and characteristics of total and human-pathogenic <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> variants associated with bivalves cultured in the Spanish Mediterranean Coast.</p>