Ureolytic Vibrio parahaemolyticus Isolated from the Kamak Bay of Yeosu, in 2002 and 2003

Five urease-positive Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains were isolated from Kamak Bay in Yeosu in 2002 and 2003. V. parahaemolyticus YKB4 and YKB14 were isolated from seawater, YFB20 from black rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli), and YFO2l and YFO22 from olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The five urease-positive strains (YKB4, YKB14, YFB20, YFO21, and YFO22) did not show hemolysin and protease activity, while they did alter in color (to red) as the bacteria grew in the urea broth medium. All samples showed identical biochemical characteristics as a reference strain, V. parahaemolyticus KCTC2471, except in urease production. The five urease-positive strains showed urease activities at a mid stationary phase, and their activity was maximal in the late stationary phase of their culture supernatant. The addition of urea to the Luria-Bertani (LB) broth medium significantly affected the initial production of urease of V. parahaemolyticus isolates. Mortality by urease-positive V. parahaemolyticus YKB4, YKB14, YFO2l, and YFO22 was significantly high, being$60-80\%$, while YFB20 only reflected a rate of $20\%$. Protease-positive V. parahaemolyticus FM39 and FM50 showed a $40\%$ and $60\%$ mortality rate, respectively. However, hemolysin-positive V. parahaemolyticus had no mortality, like the non-pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus KCTC2471, while V. vulnificus resulted in a $40\%$ mortality rate. Injection with urease-positive V. parahaemolyticus strains showed mortality within 12 hrs in mice, and the strains could be isolated from the dead mice.