Presence of Hemolysin Genes (vmh, tdh and hlx) in Isolates of Vibrio mimicus Determined by Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

A total of 120 strains of Vibrio mimicus, 51 clinical and 69 environmental, were examined for the presence of three types of hemolysin genes (vmh, tdh and hlx) by PCR. Ninety-six percent (115) of the strains contained at least one of these hemolysin genes. Only 5 strains from the environment were missing all three hemolysin genes. The tdh was only found in 20 of the 51 clinical isolates of V. mimicus. This may indicate that the tdh gene is a virulence determinant of V. mimicus. More than 90% of the strains isolated from both the environment and patients possessed the vmh gene. Two clinical isolates possessed the hlx gene alone and had no other enterotoxic factors.