Detection and characterization of pathogenic vibrios in shellfish by a Ligation Detection Reaction-Universal Array approach

Vibrios are a group of major foodborne pathogens widely distributed in marine environment. Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus are the pathogenic species of Vibrio that pose the greatest threat to human health. However, other vibrios, e.g. Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio mimicus and Grimontia hollisae, apparently less relevant in the group of foodborne pathogens, have been sporadically found in outbreaks. For seafood safety and economic purposes, a rapid and powerful method for the specific identification of harmful Vibrio strains is needed. We developed a PCR-Ligase Detection Reaction-Universal Array (PCR-LDR-UA) assay for the simultaneous identification of pathogenic vibrios and detection of virulence coding genes. The entire procedure was validated on a total of 31 reference strains and isolates from clinical and environmental samples, as well as on bivalve tissue homogenates infected with different strains of target Vibrio species. Twenty-three shellfish samples directed to human consumption were successfully screened, thus demonstrating that the developed microarray-based platform could be a reliable and sensitive detection tool for the identification of harmful Vibrio strains in seafood. ► DNA-microarray for pathogenic Vibrio is developed by LDR-UA approach. ► Multilocus detection of species-specific markers and virulence genes. ► Procedure is validated on reference strains, clinical and environmental isolates. ► Assay performance is evaluated by direct screening of retail shellfish samples. ► The developed LDR-UA platform shows high specificity and sensitivity.