Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes
Abstract The lifestyle of Vibrio cholerae is primarily environmental, yet a chance encounter with a human host can lead to cholera, a potentially lethal form of diarrhea. Strains belonging to O1 and O139 serogroups have pandemic potential, but the contribution of non-O1/non-O139 serovars towards the...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04734-6 |
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| author | Daniele Provenzano Jeffrey W. Turner Jorge Duran-Gonzalez David A. Laughlin Maya Kitaoka Daniel Unterweger David Silva Viviana Trevino Miguel F. Gonzales Boris Ermolinsky Stefan Pukatzki |
| author_facet | Daniele Provenzano Jeffrey W. Turner Jorge Duran-Gonzalez David A. Laughlin Maya Kitaoka Daniel Unterweger David Silva Viviana Trevino Miguel F. Gonzales Boris Ermolinsky Stefan Pukatzki |
| author_sort | Daniele Provenzano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The lifestyle of Vibrio cholerae is primarily environmental, yet a chance encounter with a human host can lead to cholera, a potentially lethal form of diarrhea. Strains belonging to O1 and O139 serogroups have pandemic potential, but the contribution of non-O1/non-O139 serovars towards the genesis of cholera remains unclear. Endemic V. cholerae lineages were investigated given several historical accounts describing cholera epidemics and sporadic, contemporary cholera-like outbreaks along the lower Rio Grande Delta (LRGD). Seven isolates were recovered from an urban segment of the Rio Grande and six from a rural segment where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Urban isolates all encode ß-lactamase, and with one exception are phylogenetically closely related, rough (do not express O-antigen), harbor identical plasmids, exhibit a disabled Type VI Secretion System (T6SS), and decreased protease activity. In contrast, rural strains belong to distinct serogroups, are sensitive to ß-lactams, express proteases, and kill Escherichia coli in T6SS competition assays. Genome-scale phylogenetics and multilocus sequence typing indicate that urban and rural isolates belong to distinct and novel phylogroups. These results suggest that an urban niche heavily impacted by anthropogenic pressures and a downstream protected rural niche are inhabited by distinct V. cholerae phylotypes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c43ea66f2c74d1fa125363d9bb7bca7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| spelling | doaj-art-9c43ea66f2c74d1fa125363d9bb7bca72025-08-20T03:03:28ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-04734-6Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypesDaniele Provenzano0Jeffrey W. Turner1Jorge Duran-Gonzalez2David A. Laughlin3Maya Kitaoka4Daniel Unterweger5David Silva6Viviana Trevino7Miguel F. Gonzales8Boris Ermolinsky9Stefan Pukatzki10School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyDepartment of Life Sciences, Texas A&M Corpus ChristiSchool of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleySchool of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of AlbertaDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of AlbertaSchool of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleySchool of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleySchool of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleySchool of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyDepartment of Biology, The City College of New YorkAbstract The lifestyle of Vibrio cholerae is primarily environmental, yet a chance encounter with a human host can lead to cholera, a potentially lethal form of diarrhea. Strains belonging to O1 and O139 serogroups have pandemic potential, but the contribution of non-O1/non-O139 serovars towards the genesis of cholera remains unclear. Endemic V. cholerae lineages were investigated given several historical accounts describing cholera epidemics and sporadic, contemporary cholera-like outbreaks along the lower Rio Grande Delta (LRGD). Seven isolates were recovered from an urban segment of the Rio Grande and six from a rural segment where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Urban isolates all encode ß-lactamase, and with one exception are phylogenetically closely related, rough (do not express O-antigen), harbor identical plasmids, exhibit a disabled Type VI Secretion System (T6SS), and decreased protease activity. In contrast, rural strains belong to distinct serogroups, are sensitive to ß-lactams, express proteases, and kill Escherichia coli in T6SS competition assays. Genome-scale phylogenetics and multilocus sequence typing indicate that urban and rural isolates belong to distinct and novel phylogroups. These results suggest that an urban niche heavily impacted by anthropogenic pressures and a downstream protected rural niche are inhabited by distinct V. cholerae phylotypes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04734-6Vibrio choleraeNovel phylogroupsPhylotypesAntibiotic resistanceLower Rio Grande DeltaCholera environmental reservoir |
| spellingShingle | Daniele Provenzano Jeffrey W. Turner Jorge Duran-Gonzalez David A. Laughlin Maya Kitaoka Daniel Unterweger David Silva Viviana Trevino Miguel F. Gonzales Boris Ermolinsky Stefan Pukatzki Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes Scientific Reports Vibrio cholerae Novel phylogroups Phylotypes Antibiotic resistance Lower Rio Grande Delta Cholera environmental reservoir |
| title | Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes |
| title_full | Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes |
| title_fullStr | Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes |
| title_short | Vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower Rio Grande Delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes |
| title_sort | vibrio cholerae endemic to the lower rio grande delta segregate into urban and rural phylotypes |
| topic | Vibrio cholerae Novel phylogroups Phylotypes Antibiotic resistance Lower Rio Grande Delta Cholera environmental reservoir |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04734-6 |
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