Detection and diversity of pathogenic Vibrio from Fiji

Abstract

Here we investigate the diversity of pathogenic Vibrio species in marine environments close to Suva, Fiji. We use four distinct yet complementary analyses - biochemical testing, phylogenetic analyses, metagenomic analyses and molecular typing - to provide some preliminary insights into the diversity of vibrios in this region. Taken together our analyses confirmed the presence of nine Vibrio species, including three of the most important disease-causing vibrios (i.e. V. cholerae, V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus), in Fijian marine environments. Furthermore, since toxigenic V. parahaemolyticus are present on fish for consumption we suggest these bacteria represent a potential public health risk. Our results from Illumina short read sequencing are encouraging in the context of microbial profiling and biomonitoring. They suggest this approach may offer an efficient and cost-effective method for studying the dynamics of microbial diversity in marine environments over time.