Isolation of a Small Rod with Lytic Activity against Vibrio parahaemolyticus from Fresh Sea Water

Abstract

A small rod, capable of forming crater-like plaques on lawns of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, was isolated from a marine environment. The isolate was a gram-negative straight rod with round ends and was small in size, equal to that of halophilic Bdellovibrio strain 5501. The isolate appeared to have close taxonomic relationships to Cytophaga, since this bacterium moved slowly in a gliding manner on a solid agar surface, hydrolyzed agar and starch, contained yellow pigment and was halophilic. The isolate was able to grow not only under host-dependent but also under host-independent conditions when low nutrient media were used for cultivation, and its bacteriolytic mode was different from that of Bdellovibrio, an endoparasite. The isolate was halophilic and required Mg⁺⁺ and Ca⁺⁺ in addition to 3% saline for growth. The isolate showed a broad host range when tested for plaque-forming activity on gram-negative bacteria but not on the gram-positive bacteria tested so far.