Indole-3-acetic acid increases the survival of brine shrimp challenged with vibrios belonging to the Harveyi clade.

Vibrios belonging to the Harveyi clade (including closely related species such as Vibrio campbellii, Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio parahaemolyticus) are important pathogens of aquatic organisms. In this study, we investigated the use of indole-3-acetic acid to control disease caused by Harveyi clade vibrios. Indole-3-acetic acid, which can be produced by various seaweeds and microalgae, was added to the rearing water of brine shrimp larvae challenged with 12 different Harveyi clade Vibrio strains. Indole-3-acetic acid significantly decreased the virulence of 10 of the strains without any effect on their growth. The latter is important as it will minimize the selective pressure for resistance development. The survival rate of brine shrimp larvae increased from 1.2-fold to 4.8-fold upon treatment with 400 μM indole-3-acetic acid. Additionally, indole-3-acetic acid significantly decreased the swimming motility in 10 of the strains and biofilm formation in eight of the strains. The mRNA levels of the pirA and pirB toxin genes were decreased to 46% and 42% by indole-3-acetic acid in the AHPND-causing strain V. parahaemolyticus M0904. Hence, our data demonstrate that indole-3-acetic acid has the potential to be an effective virulence inhibitor to control infections in aquaculture.