TY - JOUR AU - Ortega-Balleza, Jessica L. AU - Sánchez-Varela, Alejandro AU - Rodríguez-Luna, Isabel C. AU - Guo, Xianwu PY - 2018/12/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Virulence genes in Aeromonas spp. (Aeromonadales: Aeromonadaceae) isolated from Oreochromis spp. (Perciformes: Cichlidae) destined for human consumption in Mexico. JF - Revista de Biología Tropical JA - Rev. Biol. Trop. VL - 66 IS - 4 SE - Articles DO - 10.15517/rbt.v66i4.32829 UR - https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/32829 SP - 1606–1613 AB - <p>The genus <em>Aeromonas</em> are widely distributed in aquatic ecosystems are Gram-negative rods, oxidase-positive, and glucose-fermenting, considered emerging pathogens in humans. <em>Aeromonas</em> belongs to the fish microbiota, these microorganisms have a diversity of virulence factors responsible for a variety of infections in humans mainly gastrointestinal diseases. The presence of <em>Aeromonas</em> in products intended for consumption with high commercial demand such as tilapia generates sanitary concern due to the pathogenic potential of this bacteria. In this context, identification of virulence genes in strains of <em>Aeromonas</em> isolated in <em>Oreochromis</em> spp. intended for human consumption in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico is important due to the lack of molecular studies in this geographical area. In the present study the pathogenic potential of 15 strains of <em>Aeromonas</em> (<em>A. veronii, A. hydrophila</em> and <em>A. schubertii</em>) from <em>Oreochromis</em> spp. for human consumption were analyzed. Through PCR six virulence genes were analyzed (<em>alt</em>, <em>ast, aerA, hlyA, gcat </em>and <em>stx1</em>) and the strains used as control were: <em>Aeromonas hydrophila</em> subsp. <em>hydrophila</em> ATCC 7966, <em>Aeromonas caviae</em> 429865 INP, <em>Escherichia coli </em>O157: H7 and <em>Escherichia coli</em> K12. El 100 % (n = 15) of the strains harbored at least one virulence gene, <em>aerA</em> gene was detected in 86.66 % of the analyzed strains, while <em>ast </em>and <em>stx1</em> genes were not identified. Moreover, <em>Aeromonas</em> strains had associated genes in the same strain: <em>aerA / gcat, alt / aerA, alt / aerA / gcat / hlyA </em>and <em>alt / aerA / gcat, </em>of which<em> aerA / gcat </em>were observed mostly in <em>A. veronii, </em>while<em> A. hydrophila </em>had the highest associations. These findings indicate that the strains of <em>Aeromonas</em> isolated in <em>Oreochromis</em> spp. have the potential to cause human diseases, and therefore, this species used as food, could be a vehicle for infections caused by <em>Aeromonas.</em> It also allows to provide information on this emerging microorganism to effectively treat and control any epidemiological event caused by <em>Aeromonas</em> spp. in the future.</p> ER -