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Genomic and Pathological Characterization of Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND)-Associated Natural Mutant Vibrio parahaemolyticus Isolated from Penaeus vannamei Cultured in Korea
by
, , and
Ye Bin Kim
1,†,
Seon Young Park
2,†,
Hye Jin Jeon
3,
Bumkeun Kim
3,
Mun-Gyeong Kwon
4,
Su-Mi Kim
4,
Jee Eun Han
3,*
and
Ji Hyung Kim
1,* 1
Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, College of Bionano Technology, Gachon University, Seongnam 13120, Republic of Korea
2
Laboratory of Aquatic Biomedicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
3
Institute for Veterinary Biomedical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
4
Aquatic Disease Control Division, National Fishery Products Quality Management Service, Busan 46083, Republic of Korea
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors equally contributed to this work.
Animals 2024, 14(19), 2788; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14192788 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 28 August 2024
/
Revised: 25 September 2024
/
Accepted: 25 September 2024
/
Published: 26 September 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bacterial and Viral Diseases in Aquatic Animals)
Simple Summary
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a plasmid-encoded PirA/B toxin mediated bacterial disease that causes significant economic losses to the global shrimp industry. Since the first AHPND outbreak of Penaeus vannamei cultures in Korea in 2016, AHPND-associated Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VpAHPND) is still considered a major threat to the Korean shrimp industry. Although several diagnostic methods have been developed against AHPND, several concerns have been raised about the misdiagnosis of the pathogen due to the transferability and mutation of the plasmid. In this study, we report the emergence of a natural mutant VpAHPND (pirA−, pirB+), which was isolated from cultured P. vannamei in Korea, and also provide its detailed genomic and pathological characteristics.
Abstract
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is one of the most important diseases in the global shrimp industry. The emergence of mutant AHPND-associated V. parahaemolyticus (VpAHPND) strains has raised concerns regarding potential misdiagnosis and unforeseen pathogenicity. In this study, we report the first emergence of a type II (pirA−, pirB+) natural mutant, VpAHPND (strain 20-082A3), isolated from cultured Penaeus vannamei in Korea. Phenotypic and genetic analyses revealed a close relationship between the mutant strain 20-082A3 and the virulent Korean VpAHPND strain 19-021-D1, which caused an outbreak in 2019. Detailed sequence analysis of AHPND-associated plasmids showed that plasmid pVp_20-082A3B in strain 20-082A3 was almost identical (>99.9%) to that of strain 19-021-D1. Moreover, strains 20-082A3 and 19-021-D1 exhibited the same multilocus sequence type (ST 413) and serotype (O1:Un-typeable K-serogroup), suggesting that the mutant strain is closely related to and may have originated from the virulent strain 19-021-D1. Similar to previous reports on the natural mutant VpAHPND, strain 20-082A3 did not induce AHPND-related symptoms or cause mortality in the shrimp bioassay. The emergence of a mutant strain which is almost identical to the virulent VpAHPND highlights the need for surveillance of the pathogen prevalent in Korea. Further investigations to elucidate the potential relationship between ST 413 and recent Korean VpAHPND isolates are needed.
Keywords:
VpAHPND; strain 19-021-D1; ST 413; O1: non-typeable K; shrimp bioassay
