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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Produce Safety and Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344489
Research Project: Molecular Identification and Characterization of Bacterial and Viral Pathogens Associated with Foods

Location: Produce Safety and Microbiology Research

Title: Arcobacter cryaerophilus isolated from New Zealand mussels harbor a putative virulence plasmid

Author
item ON, STEPHEN - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - NEW ZEALAND
item ALTHUS, DAMIEN - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - NEW ZEALAND
item Miller, William - Bill
item LIZAMORE, DARRELL - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - NEW ZEALAND
item WONG, SAMUEL - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - NEW ZEALAND
item MATHAI, ANSO - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - NEW ZEALAND
item CHELIKANI, VENKATA - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY - NEW ZEALAND
item CARTER, GLEN - UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Submitted to: Frontiers in Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/2019
Publication Date: 8/5/2019
Citation: On, S.L., Althus, D., Miller, W.G., Lizamore, D., Wong, S.G., Mathai, A.J., Chelikani, V., Carter, G. 2019. Arcobacter cryaerophilus isolated from New Zealand mussels harbor a putative virulence plasmid. Frontiers in Microbiology. 10:1802. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01802.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01802

Interpretive Summary: Arcobacter species are typically associated with freshwater or marine environments. Consequently, they are a common contaminant of shellfish (for example, mussels, clams and oysters). Some species, primarily Arcobacter butzleri, are associated with human disease and have been routinely isolated from human clinical samples. The pathogenicity of other Arcobacter species is still inconclusive, although updated culturing and molecular techniques have improved the epidemiology of these organisms. In this study, four bacterial strains were isolated from greenshell mussels; genome sequencing and molecular/phenotypic typing identified these strains as Arcobacter cryaerophilus. Moreover, an extrachromosomal element, encoding putative toxins, hemolysins and other virulence determinants, was identified, suggesting that these A. cryaerophilus strains may be capable of causing food-borne human illness.

Technical Abstract: We examined shellfish for the emerging pathogens Arcobacter. Four A. cryaerophilus (associated with human illness) isolates were recovered from greenshell mussels. We describe the first virulence plasmid found in Arcobacter that contains toxigenic, hemolytic, antibiotic-resistance and gene transfer traits and discuss the wider public health implications of this finding.