Vibrio nigripulchritudo monitoring and strain dynamics in shrimp pond sediments.

AIMS A description of bacterial pathogens in shrimp ponds is necessary to understand their pathogenesis. Vibrio nigripulchritudo was shown to contain saprophytic and pathogenic strains among New Caledonian isolates. We established a method to map the development of V. nigripulchritudo in pond sediments at three different genetic levels: the species level, then at the pathogenic cluster level and finally at the plasmid level, present only in all highly pathogenic isolates. METHODS AND RESULTS PCR methods were applied to shrimp pond sediments both before and after a mortality outbreak. Using crude samples, the species V. nigripulchritudo is not detected at first (0/42 samples at day 56 post stocking) but appears frequently in the sediments after the mortality event (30/42 at day 107). The distribution of strains from the pathogenic cluster of V. nigripulchritudo also follows this pattern. In contrast, the pSFn1 virulence-associated plasmid was detected in one sample at day 56 and none at day 107. An enrichment method was developed to lower the detection limits of our assays. After enrichment, the species V. nigripulchritudo was detected in all samples at both dates. The number of samples positive for pSFn1 was 42/42 samples at day 56 and 29/42 at day 107. CONCLUSIONS These results show that the sediments contain V. nigripulchritudo, notably pathogenic strains. Surprisingly, the virulence-associated plasmid pSFn1 found in all V. nigripulchritudo isolated from moribund shrimp appears less frequently in sediments, possibly being useless or even detrimental to its recipient bacteria in this environment. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY This study confirms the presence of pathogenic V. nigripulchritudo strains in shrimp pond sediment before a mortality outbreak complying with a previous hypothesis that sediments could be the infecting reservoir. After the outbreak, both total V. nigripulchritudo and pathogenic strains populations have largely increased, possibly contributing to the recurrent mortality observed in this shrimp vibriosis.