Multiplex PCR assay for correct identification of the fish pathogenic species of Edwardsiella genus reveals the presence of E. anguillarum in South America in strains previously characterized as E. tarda

Aims Develop a species‐specific multiplex PCR to correctly identify Edwardsiella species in routine diagnostic for fish bacterial diseases. Methods and Results The genomes of 62 Edwardsiella spp. isolates available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database were subjected to taxonomic and pan‐genomic analyses to identify unique regions that could be exploited by species‐specific PCR. The designed primers were tested against isolated Edwardsiella spp. strains, revealing errors in commercial biochemical tests for bacterial classification regarding Edwardsiella species. Conclusion Some of the genomes of Edwardsiella spp. in the NCBI platform were incorrectly classified, which can lead to errors in some research. A functional mPCR was developed to differentiate between phenotypically and genetically ambiguous Edwardsiella, with which, we detected the presence of Edwardsiella anguillarum affecting fish in Brazil. Significance and Impact of the Study This study shows that the misclassification of Edwardsiella spp in Brazil concealed the presence of E. anguillarum in South America. Also, this review of the taxonomic classification of the Edwardsiella genus is a contribution to the field to help researchers with their sequencing and identification of genomes, showing some misclassifications in online databases that must be corrected, as well as developing an easy assay to characterize Edwardsiella species in an end‐point mPCR.