Abstract
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a newly emerging shrimp disease that has severely damaged the global shrimp industry. AHPND is caused by toxic strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus that have acquired a "selfish plasmid" encoding the deadly binary toxins PirAvp/PirBvp. To better understand the repertoire of virulence factors in AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus, we conducted a comparative analysis using the genome sequences of the clinical strain RIMD2210633 and of environmental non-AHPND and toxic AHPND isolates of V. parahaemolyticus. Interestingly, we found that all of the AHPND strains, but none of the non-AHPND strains, harbor the antibacterial type VI secretion system 1 (T6SS1), which we previously identified and characterized in the clinical isolate RIMD2210633. This finding suggests that the acquisition of this T6SS might confer to AHPND-causing V. parahaemolyticus a fitness advantage over competing bacteria and facilitate shrimp infection. Additionally, we found highly dynamic effector loci in the T6SS1 of AHPND-causing strains, leading to diverse effector repertoires. Our discovery provides novel insights into AHPND-causing pathogens and reveals a potential target for disease control.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e00737-17 |
Journal | Applied and environmental microbiology |
Volume | 83 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2017 |
Keywords
- AHPND
- MIX effectors
- Shrimp
- T3SS
- T6SS
- Type III secretion system
- Type VI secretion system
- Vibrio
- Vibrio parahaemolyticus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
- Food Science
- Biotechnology
- Ecology