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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332637
Research Project: Pathogen Characterization, Host Immune Response and Development of Strategies to Reduce Losses to Disease in Aquaculture

Location: Aquatic Animal Health Research

Title: Chitin degradation and metabolism by virulent Aeromonas hydropila

Author
item Zhang, Dunhua
item Xu, Dehai
item Beck, Benjamin

Submitted to: Aquaculture America Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/21/2016
Publication Date: 2/20/2017
Citation: Zhang, D., Xu, D., Beck, B.H. 2017. Chitin degradation and metabolism by virulent Aeromonas hydropila. In: Aquaculture America 2017 Conference, San Antonio, Texas, February 19-22, 2017. p. 524.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Aeromonas hydrophila is the causal agent of motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) in catfish and other warm-water fishes. Severe outbreak of MAS caused by virulent A. hydrophila (vAh) was reported in 2009 in the Southeastern United States; the disease has since resulted in loss of millions of pounds of market-size catfish annually. The persistence of MAS outbreaks may suggest that certain environmental conditions promote vAh maintenance or growth in pond water. One such environmental factor of interest is chitin, a linear polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, which may benefit the water-borne pathogen. Analysis of draft genome sequence of a vAh strain, ML-10-51K, reveals that the bacterium has four genes coding for chitinases with calculated molecular weight (MW) of 106.6, 92.8, 68.7, and 53.2 kDa, respectively, and two genes for chitobiases with MW of 98.2 and 69.0 kDa, respectively. In addition, there are many other chitin and N-acetylglucosamine utilization genes in the pathogen’s genome, such as transcriptional regulator of N-acetylglucosamine utilization, chitin binding protein, phosphatase NagD, N-acetylglucosamine regulated methy-accepting chemotaxis protein, N-acetylglucosamine ABC transport system, glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase, and N-acetylglucosamine-regulated outer membrane porin. In in-vitro assays with M9 minimal salts, ML-10-51K could efficiently use N-acetylglucosamine, colloidal chitin or crystalline chitin as sole carbon source. Extracellular proteins (ECPs) from ML-10-51K culture could degrade colloidal chitin and generate N-acetylglucosamine and N,N’-diacetyl chitobiose. Mass spectrometric analysis of chitin binding proteins in ECPs revealed that all four chitinases found in ML-10-51K genome participated in chitin degradation. Since chitin is abundantly available in natural aquatic ecosystems (resulting from exoskeletons of crustaceans and other arthropods, as well as the cell wall of fungi), it makes it possible for vAh readily to colonize and use the substrate and sustain high population level in fish ponds. Additionally, there is growing evidence that N-acetylglucosamine plays diverse roles in cell signaling pathways that impact the virulence of microbes and the sensitivity of host cells. It would be of importance to further investigate mechanisms associated with chitin metabolism and pathogenesis in virulent Aeromonas hydrophila.