Identifying gene-level mechanisms of successful dispersal of Vibrio parahaemolyticus during El Niño events
Campbell, Amy Marie (University of Southampton. ​School of Ocean and Earth Science)
Gavilan, Ronnie G. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Hauton, Chris (University of Southampton. ​School of Ocean and Earth Science)
van Aerle, Ronny (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science)
Martinez-Urtaza, Jaime (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	El Niño events, the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, facilitate the movement of warm surface waters eastwards across the Pacific Ocean. Marine organisms transported by these waters can act as biological corridors for water-borne bacteria with attachment abilities. El Niño events have been hypothesized as driving the recent emergence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) variants, marine bacterium causing gastroenteritis, in South America, but the lack of a robust methodological framework limited any further exploration. Here, we introduce two new analysis approaches to explore Vp dynamics in South America, which will be central to uncovering Vp dynamics in the future. Distributed non-linear lag models found that strong El Niño events increase the relative probability of Vp detection in Peru, with a 3-4-month lag time. Machine learning found that the presence of a specific gene (vopZ) involved in attachment to plankton in a pandemic Vp clone in South America was temporally associated with strong El Niño events, offering a possible strategy for survival over long-range dispersal, such as that offered by El Niño events. Robust surveillance of marine pathogens and methodological development are necessary to produce resolute conclusions on the effect of El Niño events on water-borne diseases.
Grants:	European Commission 101057554 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-127107NB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00526
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	El Niño ; Gene association ; Machine learning ; Pathogen dispersal ; Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Published in:	Microbial Genomics, Vol. 10, issue 11 (November 2024) , art. 001317, ISSN 2057-5858

DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.001317
PMID: 39513998

8 p, 1.8 MB

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