Lysis of vibrios by Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms (BALOs) isolated from marine environment

Four marine Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms (BALOs), viz. BDW01, BDW02, BDW03 and BDW04, were isolated from the Shenzhen Bay of Guangdong province, China, using Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) strain minus as the host bacterium. They were identified as BALOs by electron microscopy and specific polymerase chain reaction methods. Lysis experiments on 41 potentially pathogenic vibrios showed that individually, BDW01, BDW02, BDW03 and BDW04 lysed 36.6, 39.0, 65.8 and 63.4% vibrios, respectively. In combination, they lysed 87.8% of the vibrios tested. In terms of different vibrio species lysed, four BALOs combined could lyse 81.8% Vibrio alginolyticus (11 strains), 83.3% non-O1 Vibrio cholerae (6 strains), 88.9% Vibrio fluvialis (9 strains), 100% Vibrio minicus (4 strains) and 88.9% Vp (9 strains). The results of this work clearly demonstrated the potential of BALOs in lysing potentially pathogenic vibrios.