Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

HARMONY AND HAZARDS: A COMPARITIVE STUDY OF Vibrio spp. IN Crassostrea virginica AS PROTECTORS AND POTENTIAL PERILS IN COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS

Ali Parsaeimehr* , Kelvin Ofori, Gulnihal Ozbay

Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture, Science, and Technology, Delaware State University, Dover, DE, 19901, USA. Email:  aparsaeimehr@desu.edu.

 



Crassostrea virginica plays a crucial role in maintaining our ecosystem and food chain, acting as a natural filter for water by removing sediments, bacteria, and nutrients. However, C. virginica can also host microorganisms like Vibrio spp. some of which pose risks to human health.

 In this regard, V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus can cause infections, while  V. coralliilyticus and  V. tubiashii harm shellfish. To identify Vibrio in both oysters and seawater, we employed 16S rRNA-specific primers and used PCR and RT-PCR to confirm specific types such as V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus . Our results revealed the presence of V. parahaemolyticus and  V. coralliilyticus , with V. parahaemolyticus being the predominant species. Importantly, the levels of  Vibrio  for both oyster larvae and human health  were recorded  3.36 cfu / g in C. virginica and 200 cfu / mL in seawater.  While Vibrio the  concentrations of human-pathogenic Vibrio recorded  91.6 cfu / g in C. virginica and 120.33 cfu / mL in seawater during our studies. 

 Keywords: Pathogenic bacteria , Crassostrea virginica molecular biology, food safety.