Development of a More Sensitive and Specific Chromogenic Agar Medium for the Detection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Other Vibrio Species

Summary

Detection and isolation of clinically relevant Vibrio species require selective and differential culture media. This study evaluated the ability of a new chromogenic medium to detect and identify V. parahaemolyticus and other related species. The new medium was found to have better sensitivity and specificity than the conventional medium.

Abstract

Foodborne infections in the US caused by Vibrio species have shown an upward trend. In the genus Vibrio, V. parahaemolyticus is responsible for the majority of Vibrio-associated infections. Thus, accurate differentiation among Vibrio spp. and detection of V. parahaemolyticus is critically important to ensure the safety of our food supply. Although molecular techniques are increasingly common, culture-depending methods are still routinely done and they are considered standard methods in certain circumstances. Hence, a novel chromogenic agar medium was tested with the goal of providing a better method for isolation and differentiation of clinically relevant Vibrio spp. The protocol compared the sensitivity, specificity and detection limit for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus between the new chromogenic medium and a conventional medium. Various V. parahaemolyticus strains (n=22) representing diverse serotypes and source of origins were used. They were previously identified by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and further verified in our laboratory by tlh-PCR. In at least four separate trials, these strains were inoculated on the chromogenic agar and thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar, which is the recommended medium for culturing this species, followed by incubation at 35-37 °C for 24-96 hr. Three V. parahaemolyticus strains (13.6%) did not grow optimally on TCBS, nonetheless exhibited green colonies if there was growth. Two strains (9.1%) did not yield the expected cyan colonies on the chromogenic agar. Non-V. parahaemolyticus strains (n=32) were also tested to determine the specificity of the chromogenic agar. Among these strains, 31 did not grow or exhibited other colony morphologies. The mean recovery of V. parahaemolyticus on the chromogenic agar was ~96.4% relative to tryptic soy agar supplemented with 2% NaCl. In conclusion, the new chromogenic agar is an effective medium to detect V. parahaemolyticus and to differentiate it from other vibrios.

Introduction

As a member of the Vibrio genus, V. parahaemolyticus is a Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, curved, rod-shaped bacterium. It exhibits high motility in both liquid and semi-solid environments. Most V. parahaemolyticus strains are non-pathogenic to humans, yet the pathogenic subtypes have caused epidemics and pandemics, hence this species is considered to be an important foodborne pathogen in many countries^1,2. The incidence of Vibrio infection in the US has shown an upward trend since 2000³. Among Vibrio spp., V. parahaemolyticus is the most frequently reported species causing illnesses in the ....

Protocol

1. Media and Culturing of Microbial Strains

NOTE: Use aseptic techniques in all experiments. Use sterile materials. Sterilize all containers, tools and reagent prior to use. Autoclave all waste materials prior to disposal because they are considered biohazardous. Autoclave temperature and time combination is ≥121 °C x ≥15 min for all of the following procedures.

1. To make ~1-L tryptic soy agar (TSA), first add 1 L deionized water in a 2-L Erlenmeyer flask containing a magnetic stir bar. Use a flask that is at least two times larger than the final volume. Add 30 g of tryptic soy broth powder and 20 g agar granules ....

Results

In this study, 54 microbial strains were assembled, which included 22 strains within the V. parahaemolyticus species, 19 other Vibrio species, and 13 non-Vibrio species (Table 1). Most V. parahaemolyticus strains were either received from FDA, CDC or other state health departments. They represent diverse serotypes and isolation sources. These strains were previously identified by the regulatory agencies. We further confirmed the identit.......

Discussion

This study focuses on culture media development and evaluation. Conventionally, TCBS is the selective and differential medium used for isolating and detecting V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae and V. vulnificus¹². However, limitations have been reported for this medium, such as the inability to differentiate V. cholerae from other Vibrio species. Sucrose and pH indicator are the differentiation agents of TCBS. Thus, acid production by sucrose fermenter causes color change of .......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Reagent/Equipment
Agar	Fisher Scientific	DF0140-15-4	may use other brands
Autoclave	Any
BHI powder	Fisher Scientific	DF0418-17-7	may use other brands
Blender	Any		to blend oyster meat
CampyGen gas generator	Hardy Diagnostics	CN035A	to provide a microaerophilic atmosphere; may use other brands
Chocolate agar plates	Hardy Diagnostics	E14	may use other brands
Common PCR reagents (dNTPs, MgCl2, Taq Polymerase)	Any		or use PCR beads (Fisher Sci 46-001-014)
Culture tubes	Fisher Scientific	S50712	may use other brands
Eppendorf tubes	Fisher Scientific	S348903	may use other brands
Gel doc	Any
HardyChrom Vibrio agar plates	Hardy Diagnostics	G319	This study evaluates this medium
Incubator	Any
Inoculating loops	Fisher Scientific	22-363-606	10 microliter-size was used in this study
NaCl	Fisher Scientific	BP358-212	may use other brands
Oysters	Any
PBS	Fisher Scientific	R23701	may use other brands
Petri dish	Fisher Scientific	FB0875713	may use other brands
Pipette and tips	Any		Sterilized tips
Primers for tlh	IDT DNA
Scale	Any
Spreader	Fisher Scientific	08-100-11	Beads may be used instead
Stomacher blender	Stomacher	400	Samples were homogenized at 200 rpm for 30 sec.  Other homogenizer can be used.
Sterile filter bags for blenders	Fisher Scientific	01-812-5
TCBS powder	Hardy Diagnostics	265020	This study evaluates this medium
Thermocycler	Any
TSB powder	Fisher Scientific	DF0370-07-5	may use other brands
UV viewing cabinet	Any		Emit long-wave UV light
Water bath	Any
Name	Sources	Catalog Number	Comments
Bacterial species and strains
Aeromonas hydrophila	ATCC
Candida albicans	ATCC
Campylobacter jejuni	ATCC
Escherichia coli	ATCC
Proteus mirabilis	ATCC
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	ATCC
Staphylococcus aureus	ATCC
Salmonella Choleraesuis	ATCC
Shigella boydii	ATCC
Shigella flexneri	ATCC
Shigella sonnei	ATCC
Vibrio alginolyticus	ATCC
V. cholerae (serotypes include O139, O1, non O1, El Tor biovars)	FDA, ATCC
V. damsela	FDA
V. fisherii	Environment
V. fluvialis	CDC
V. furnissii	CDC
V. hollisae	FDA
V. metschnikovii	ATCC
V. mimicus	FDA
V. parahaemolyticus(serotypes include O3:K6, O1:K56, O4:K8, O5:K15, O8, etc)	ATCC, FDA, CDC, Environment
V. proteolyticus	FDA
V. vulnificus	FDA