Vibrio parahaemolyticus Genome sequencing and assembly. Vibrio parahaemolyticus

For effective Vibrio spp. surveillance, including the eventual identification of the source contaminated seafood, strain delineation is important. Serotype is an important characteristic in strain delineation since there is strong association between certain serotypes and pandemic illness. Between 2000 and 2009 several human clinical isolates originating from provincial public health laboratories were submitted to the National Microbiology Laboratory (Public Health Agency of Canada), British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), and the Bureau of Microbial Hazards (BMH) (Health Canada). Twenty-six of these isolates were identified as O:4 but showed weak agglutination with the polyvalent antiserum K group II and failed to agglutinate with any of the seven associated monovalent antiserum (K agglutinins – 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 17). Genome sequencing was undertaken as an approach to identify possible mutations responsible for failed agglutination present in the capsular antigen encoding regions or associated promoters or enhancers.