Serum resistance and hemagglutination ability of marine vibrios pathogenic for fish

Abstract

Representative strains of marine vibrios pathogenic for fish were shown to be resistant to the bactericidal activity of normal (nonimmune) rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) serum, and loss of this resistance coincided with a marked reduction in virulence. Thermal lability and a requirement for Mg2+, but not for Ca2+, suggested that a mechanism for serum killing was the alternative complement pathway. In the case of Vibrio anguillarum, serum resistance was not coded for by the virulence plasmid pJM1. Additional testing showed that these pathogenic vibrios were able to agglutinate a variety of eucaryotic cells and that selected strains agglutinated trout erythrocytes; however, a correlation between strain virulence and the ability to agglutinate fish erythrocytes was not apparent. Moreover, whereas mannose was found to inhibit the agglutinating activity of several strains, two of the the high-virulence strains displayed a transient, mannose-resistant hemagglutinating activity. No relationship between the carriage of pJM1 by the V. anguillarum strains and hemagglutinating activity was demonstrable.