Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China.
J Fish Dis. 2023 May;46(5):487-497. doi: 10.1111/jfd.13760. Epub 2023 Jan 28.
Aeromonas veronii is a zoonotic pathogen capable of causing sepsis and ulceration in freshwater fish. Recently, reports of numerous cases indicate a marked increase in pathogenicity. Nonetheless, little is known about the pathogenesis of A. veronii infections. In this study, an in-frame mutant of the A. veronii vipB gene was generated to investigate its biological function. Deletion of the vipB gene resulted in a significant 204.71-fold decrease in the LD of A. veronii against zebrafish and a 2-fold and 4-fold reduction in the toxicity to EPC cells at 1 h and 2 h of infection, respectively. The virulence-related genes of the mutant ΔvipB all showed significantly reduced expression levels compared to the wild strain. In addition, the motility of the mutant ΔvipB decreased significantly, the adhesion ability to EPC cells was 3.25-fold lower than that of the parental strain, and the oxidative stress tolerance was 2.31-fold lower than that of TH0426 strain. In contrast, the biofilm formation amount of ΔvipB strain increased by 1.65-fold at both 12 h and 24 h. Our findings suggest that the vipB gene is associated with flagella stability, virulence, and oxidative stress tolerance and plays critical roles in the pathogenesis of A. veronii infections.
维氏气单胞菌是一种动物源性病原菌,能够导致淡水鱼类的败血症和溃疡。最近,大量病例报告表明其致病性明显增加。然而,关于维氏气单胞菌感染的发病机制知之甚少。在本研究中,构建了维氏气单胞菌 vipB 基因的框内缺失突变株,以研究其生物学功能。vipB 基因缺失导致该菌对斑马鱼的半数致死量(LD50)显著下降了 204.71 倍,在感染 1 h 和 2 h 时对 EPC 细胞的毒性分别降低了 2 倍和 4 倍。与野生株相比,突变株 ΔvipB 的毒力相关基因表达水平均显著降低。此外,突变株 ΔvipB 的运动能力显著下降,对 EPC 细胞的黏附能力比亲本株低 3.25 倍,对氧化应激的耐受能力比 TH0426 株低 2.31 倍。相比之下,ΔvipB 菌株的生物膜形成量在 12 h 和 24 h 时分别增加了 1.65 倍。本研究结果表明,vipB 基因与鞭毛稳定性、毒力和氧化应激耐受有关,在维氏气单胞菌感染的发病机制中发挥着重要作用。