• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.251-261
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• 2000

V. vulnificus is an estuarine bacterium which causes septicemia and shock in susceptible patients. The organism produces a hemolytic cytolysin (VvH), which has a membrane damaging effect on erythrocytes. To clarify the mechanisms by which VvH might contribute to virulence, we examined its effect on macrophages. When mouse peritoneal macrophages were harvested and co-cultured with hemolysin-positive V. vulnificus strains (100 bacteria/cell), about 60% of the macrophages were killed; macrophages were not killed when co-cultured V. vulnificus strain CVD 707, a VvH-negative deletion mutant. Exposure of macrophages to filtered culture supernatants (2.5 HU/ml) and purified VvH (3 HU/ml) resulted in an increase in dead cells (80 and 90%, respectively), as determined by the trypan blue dye exclusion method and LDH release from macrophages was also increased (70 and 65.5%, respectively). The cytotoxic effect of VvH on macrophages was both the dose- and time-dependent. The VvH caused damage to the macrophage membrane and was blocked significantly by preincubation with cholesterol (p<0.01). Fetal bovine serum showed remarkable inhibition of VvH synthesis by V. vulnificus and inhibited VvH activity in culture supernatant. Cell viability was increased by 35% (p<0.01) and LDH release decreased by 28% (p<0.01) when macrophages were incubated with V. vulnificus (100 bacterial cell) in DMEM-10% FBS for 2 hr. Bacterial clearance activity of mice against V. vulnificus CVD 707 was decreased by pretreatment with 10 HU of VvH. This result suggests that the VvH can impair the membrane of macrophages and may playa role in the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus septicemia.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2003

This study was carried out to investigated the distribution and characteristics of Vibrio spp. isolated from fish and shellfish, seawater and brackish water samples collected from Pohang, Uljin, Yeongduk and Gyeongju in Gyeongbuk Province from April 2000 to October 2000. Total 155 strains of genus Vibrio were isolated from 439 collected samples, and numbers of isolated strains of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus were 140 and 15, respectively. The isolation rate from the samples collected in Pohang was the highest as 41.5% (76 strains), and wat the highest as 71.4% (30 strains) in brackish water, and was the highest as 55.7% (34 strains) in August. And the optimal pH, temperature, and NaCl concentration for growth of V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae were 8.0, 3$0^{\circ}C$ and 2.0％, respectively. In a resistance test for environmental factors, heat and cold resistants of V. parahaemolyticus were higher than those of V. vulnificus, withstanding for 15 minutes at 6$0^{\circ}C$ and 6 days at -18$^{\circ}C$. The pH range for existence of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus were 4.5~l1.0 and 4.5~10.0, showing the similar resistance to pH. V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus could grow in media containing up to 10.0% and 7.0% NaCl, respectively, Salt-tolerance of V. parahaemolyticus was higher than that of V. vulnificus. In an antibiotics sensitivity test against 16 strains of V. parahaemolyticus, twelve strains were resistant to ampicillin, eight strains were resistant to cephalothin. one strain was resistant to streptomycin, and one strain was resistant to ticarcillin.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.259-264
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• 2004

Cytolysin produced by Vibrio vulnificus has been incriminated as one of the important virulence determinants in V. vulnificus infection. Ion selectivity of cytolysin-induced pores was examined in a CPAE cell, a cell line of pulmonary endothelial cell, using inside-out patch clamp techniques. In symmetrical NaCl concentration (140 mM), intracellular or extracellular application of cytolysin formed ion-permeable pores with a single channel conductance of $37.5{\pm}4.0$ pS. The pore currents were consistently maintained after washout of cytolysin. Replacement of $Na^+$ in bath solution with monovalent ions $(K^+,\;Cs^+\;or\;TEA^+)$ or with divalent ions $(Mg^{2+},\;Ca^{2+})$ did not affect the pore currents. When the NaCl concentration in bath solution was lowered from 140 to 60 and 20 mM, the reversal potential shifted from 0 to -11.8 and -28.2 mV, respectively. The relative permeability of the cytolysin pores to anions measured at $-40\;mV\;was\;Cl^-\;=\;NO_2^-\;{\geq}\;Br^-\;=\;I^-\;> \;SCN^-\;>\;acetate^-\;>\;isethionate^-\;>\;ascorbic acid^-\;>\;EDTA^{2-},$ in descending order. The cytolysin-induced pore current was blocked by $CI^-$ channel blockers or nucleotides. These results indicate that V. vulnificus cytolysin forms anion-selective pores in CPAE cells.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2018

Vibrio vulnificus needs various responsive mechanisms to survive and transmit successfully in alternative niches of human and marine environments, and to ensure the acquisition of steady energy supply to facilitate such unique life style. The bacterium had genetic constitution very different from that of Escherichia coli regarding metabolism of glycogen, a major energy reserve. V. vulnificus accumulated more glycogen than other bacteria and at various levels according to culture medium and carbon source supplied in excess. Glycogen was accumulated to the highest level in Luria-Bertani (3.08 mg/mg protein) and heart infusion (4.30 mg/mg protein) complex media supplemented with 1% (w/v) maltodextrin at 3 h into the stationary phase. Regarding effect of carbon source, more glycogen was accumulated when maltodextrin (2.34 mg/mg protein) was added than when glucose or maltose (0.78.1-14 mg/mg protein) was added as an excessive carbon source to M9 minimal medium, suggesting that maltodextrin metabolism might affect glycogen metabolism very closely. These results were supported by the analysis using the malP (encoding a maltodextrin phosphorylase) and malQ (encoding a 4-${\alpha}$-glucanotransferase) mutants, which accumulated much less glycogen than wild type when either glucose or maltodextrin was supplied as an excessive carbon source, but at different levels (3.1-80.3% of wild type glycogen). Therefore, multiple pathways for glycogen metabolism were likely to function in V. vulnificus and that responding to maltodextrin might be more efficient in synthesizing glycogen. All of the glycogen samples from 3 V. vulnificus strains under various conditions showed a narrow side chain length distribution with short chains (G4-G6) as major ones. Not only the comparatively large accumulation volume but also the structure of glycogen in V. vulnificus, compared to other bacteria, may explain durability of the bacterium in external environment.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.281-286
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• 2002

Detection of Vibrio vulnificus in fish farm and searching for the bactericidal methods on this bacteria were studied. To detect this microorganism in sea water, mud, fish and mussels, selective isolation methods and detection of vvhA gene were used from January to October,2000. V. vulnificus was detected from May when the water temperature was over $17^{\circ}C$. From June to September, higher than $19^{\circ}C$, this bacteria could be isolated from most of the samples. Freezing and refrigerating did not inhibit the growth of V. vulnificus. Citric acid did not show the bactericidal effect, but more than 500 mg/l of EDTA did. With the aid of UV and photocatalyst, $TiO_{2}$ showed bactericidal effect after 15 minute treatment. Photocatalytic system consisted of glass bead coated with $TiO_{2}$ and UV illumination showed bactericidal effect on V. vulnificus at the turnover rate of 0.2/min.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.126-130
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• 1998

A pair of designed primers (sequences from Gene Bank) amplified 16S fRNA gene of V. vulnificus within polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine. This PCR product is about 1.3kb DNA fragment. Six enzymes (BamH I, Alu I, Sau3A I, Hind III, Sal I, Sma I) were used for restriction pattern analysis of amplified 16S rRNA gene of V. vulnificus ATCC 27562. Digested fragments are resolved by 3% agarose gel. BamH I did not show digested fragment so, there was no cutting site of BamH I in PCR product. Alu I produced three small fragments from 400 bp to 200 bp. Sau3A I produced three fragments larger than Alu I from 70 bp and 500 bp. One of fragments of Sal I was same with 500 bp of Hind III fragment and the other was 750 bp. Sma I showed two fragments of 800 bp and 470 bp. The profile of digested fragments of 16S rRNA of V.vulnificus ATCC 27562 will may be able to use standard profile for identification of V. vulnificus.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.273-278
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• 1999

Cytolysin produced by Vibrio vulnificus has been known to be lethal to mice by increasing vascular permeability and neutrophil sequestration in the lung. In the present study, a cytotoxic mechanism of V. vulnificus cytolysin on the neutrophil was investigated. Cytolysin rapidly bound to neutrophils and induced cell death, as determined by the trypan blue exclusion test. V. vulnificus cytolysin caused the depletion of cellular ATP without the release of ATP or lactate dehydrogenase. Formation of transmembrane pores was evidenced by the rapid efflux of potassium and 2-deoxy-D-[$^3H$]glucose from cytolysin-treated neutrophils. It was further confirmed by the rapid flow of monovalent ions in the patch clamp of cytolysin-treated neutrophil membrane. The pore formation was accompanied by the oligomerization of cytolysin monomers on the neutrophil membrane as demonstrated by immunoblot, which exhibited a 210 kDa band corresponding to a tetramer of the native cytolysin of $M_r$ 51,000. These findings indicate that V. vulnificus cytolysin rapidly binds to the neutrophil membrane and oligomerizes to form small transmembrane pores, which induce the efflux of potassium and the depletion of cellular ATP leading to cell death without cytolysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.1093-1098
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• 2004

An open reading frame encoding CadC, consisting of 526 amino acids, was identified from the upstream region of the Vibrio vulnificus cadBA operon. The deduced amino acid sequences of the cadC were 22 to 78% similar to those reported from other Enterobacteriaceae. Functions of cadC gene on acid tolerance were assessed by comparing acid tolerances of V. vulnificus and its isogenic mutant, whose cadC gene was inactivated by allelic exchanges. The results demonstrated that the gene product of cadC contributes to acid tolerance of V. vulnificus, and that its contribution is dependent on prior exposure of cells to moderately acidic pH. The cellular level of cadB and cadA transcripts decreased in the cadC mutant, indicating that CadC exerts its effect on acid tolerance of V. vulnificus by enhancing the expression of cadBA in a pH-dependent manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.78-83
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• 1999

Thirty-six environmental isolates of Vibrio vulnificus obtained from seawater, sediments, and raw seafoods, and 18 clinical isolates from Vibrio septicemia patients were typed by restriction endonuclease digestion profiles (REDP) of genomic DNA with SfiI. The results revealed a high-level of variation in REDPs, indicating a vast genomic diversity among V. vulnificus strains. Genetic relatedness of the strains showed similarities ranging from 10％ to 100％. Different REDPs for isolates from various raw seafoods were obtained, and clustering of strains according to type of seafoods was not observed. In contrast, clinical isolates of V. vulnificus showed higher similarity to one another, and could be subdivided into one separate group. The difference in REDPs of the V. vulnificus isolates from clinical origin and from raw seafoods substantiates the previous observation that only a single type of pathogenic strain was involved in each human infection, despite the numerous genetically polymorphic strains found from implicated oysters.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.387-393
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• 2015

Biotyping of Vibrio vulnificus strains isolated from marine environments along the south coast of Korea showed that the majority of the isolates (94.7%) belonged to biotype 1 and the remaining isolates (5.3%) belonged to biotype 2. Analysis of 16S rRNA V. vulnificus strains isolated from marine environments using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed that 78.7% were type A and 21.3% were type B. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to analyze the genomic differences in V. vulnificus among the biotype 2 strains isolated from marine environments (newly isolated strains group) and reference strains obtained from infected eels (reference strains group). The two groups had distinctly different profiles of the amplicons produced from RAPD. Additionally, biochemical comparison of these strains revealed that all four strains isolated from marine environments differed from the strains isolated from eels in their ability to promote D-mannitol fermentation. Two (NH 1 and NH 2) out of four isolates of biotype 2 from marine environments showed pathogenicity in eels Anguilla japonica in a challenge test. These isolates did not agglutinate with antisera against V. vulnificus NCIMB 2137 (serovar E), ATCC 27562 (non-serovar E), and ATCC 33816 (atypical serovar E).