Microbe profile: Aeromonas salmonicida: an opportunistic pathogen with multiple personalities

Abstract

The bacterial species Aeromonas salmonicida is a fish pathogen. Feared by fish farmers everywhere on Earth over the past century, this species has turned out to be more diverse than initially suspected. While some psychrophilic subspecies cannot grow at temperatures above 25 °C or 30 °C, other mesophilic strains growing up to 37 °C and above are now characterized. Adding to the surprising diversity of this species, some of the mesophilic strains infect mammals and birds. The remarkable diversity is explained in part by the presence of numerous mobile genetic elements, which sculpt and modify the genome of the various strains of this species.

Keywords: Aeromonas salmonicida; lifestyle; mobile genetic element; plasmid; type three secretion system.