An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of Vibrio harveyi in penaeid shrimp and water

Central Chirality and Axial Chirality Recognition of the Enantioselective Antibodies to Herbicide Metolachlor

Enantioselective antibodies have emerged as efficient tools in the field of chiral chemical detection and separation. However, it is complicated to obtain a highly stereoselective antibody due to the unclear recognition mechanism. In this study, the hapten of metolachlor was synthesized and enantio-separated. The absolute configuration of the four haptens obtained was identified by the computed and experimental electronic circular dichroism comparison. Five polyclonal antibodies against the Rac-metolachlor and its enantiomers were generated by immunization. The cross-activity of all the 5 antibodies with 44 structural analogues, including metolachlor enantiomers, was tested. It demonstrated that antibodies have higher specificity to recognize central chirality than axial chirality. Especially, αRR-MET-Ab exhibited excellent specificity and stereoselectivity. Accordingly, 3D-QSAR models were constructed and revealed that paired stereoisomers exhibited opposite interactions with the antibodies. It is the first time that the antibodies against four stereoisomers were prepared and analyzed, which will be conducive to the rational design of the stereoselective antibodies.

Emerging bioanalytical sensors for rapid and close-to-real-time detection of priority abiotic and biotic stressors in aquaculture and culture-based fisheries

Abiotic stresses of various chemical contamination of physical, inorganic, organic and biotoxin origin and biotic stresses of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal origins are the significant constraints in achieving higher aquaculture production. Testing and rapid detection of these chemical and microbial contaminants are crucial in identifying and mitigating abiotic and biotic stresses, which has become one of the most challenging aspects in aquaculture and culture-based fisheries. The classical analytical techniques, including titrimetric methods, spectrophotometric, mass spectrometric, spectroscopic, and chromatographic techniques, are tedious and sometimes inaccessible when required. The development of novel and improved bioanalytical methods for rapid, selective and sensitive detection is a wide and dynamic field of research. Biosensors offer precise detection of biotic and abiotic stressors in aquaculture and culture-based fisheries within no time. This review article allows filling the knowledge gap for detection and monitoring of chemical and microbial contaminants of abiotic and biotic origin in aquaculture and culture-based fisheries using nano(bio-) analytical technologies, including nano(bio-)molecular and nano(bio-)sensing techniques.

Identification of Vibrio harveyi proteins involved in the specific immune response of Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis, Kaup)

Senegalese sole cultures are frequently affected by Vibrio harveyi disease outbreaks. Vaccines in aquaculture are one of the most successful methods of preventing fish pathologies; however, these vaccines are usually composed of inactivated whole cells containing a wide pool of antigens, and some do not induce any protection against pathogens. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify immunogenic proteins of V. harveyi involved in the specific antibody production by Senegalese sole. S. senegalensis specimens were immunized, by intraperitoneal injection, with V. harveyi bacterin supplemented with inactivated extracellular polymeric substances (ECP) and Freund incomplete adjuvant to obtain polyclonal antiserum. One month later, specimens were re-inoculated with the same antigens. Sera from immunized fish were collected two months post first immunization. Strong specific immune response to V. harveyi antigens was detected by ELISA using bacterin (limit dilutions of sera were 1:64000), ECP (1:4000) and outer membrane proteins (OMP) (1:4000) as antigens. Presence of immunogenic proteins in V. harveyi ECP and OMP were determined by 2D-PAGE. For Western Blot analysis some gels were transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes and incubated with sera from S. senegalensis specimens immunized against V. harveyi. 2D-PAGE and Western Blot showed at least five reactive proteins in the ECP and two in the OMP fraction. The spots that clearly reacted with the sole antiserum were excised from stained gel, and analyzed by mass spectrometry (MALDI/TOFTOF). A database search was then performed, using MASCOT as the search method. According to the results, the five ECP spots were identified as Maltoporine, protein homologous to Metal dependent phosphohydrolase, two porins isoforms of V. harveyi and a protein homologous to the cell division protein FtsH. Reactive proteins in the OMP fraction were identified as the protein 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase and a protein homologous to acid phosphatase.

Identification of vhhP2, a novel genetic marker of Vibrio harveyi, and its application in the quick detection of V. harveyi from animal specimens and environmental samples

AIMS

To investigate the species-specific prevalence of vhhP2 among Vibrio harveyi isolates and the applicability of vhhP2 in the specific detection of V. harveyi from crude samples of animal and environmental origins.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A gene (vhhP2) encoding an outer membrane protein of unknown function was identified from a pathogenic V. harveyi isolate. vhhP2 is present in 24 V. harveyi strains isolated from different geographical locations but is absent in 24 strains representing 17 different non-V. harveyi species, including V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus. A simple polymerase chain reaction method for the identification of V. harveyi was developed based on the conserved sequence of vhhP2. This method was demonstrated to be applicable to the quick detection of V. harveyi from crude animal specimens and environmental samples. The specificity of this method was tested by applying it to the examination of two strains of V. campbellii, which is most closely related to V. harveyi. One of the V. campbellii strains was falsely identified as V. harveyi.

CONCLUSIONS

vhhP2 is ubiquitously present in the V. harveyi species and is absent in most of the non-V. harveyi species; this feature enables vhhP2 to serve as a genetic marker for the rapid identification of V. harveyi. However, this method can not distinguish some V. campbellii strains from V. harveyi.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

the significance of our study is the identification of a novel gene of V. harveyi and the development of a simple method for the relatively accurate detection of V. harveyi from animal specimens and environmental samples.

PCR and molecular detection for differentiating Vibrio species

Vibriosis is an economically important disease of fish, marine invertebrates (particularly penaeid shrimps), and large marine mammals and is responsible for high mortality rates in aquaculture worldwide. Some Vibrio species are also responsible for zoonoses, whereas others are relatively nonpathogenic. Using 16S- and 23S-based PCR reactions, we obtained species-specific patterns and a 470-bp band, respectively. DNA sequences obtained on the 23S rRNA gene allowed us to identify species-specific probes for Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus, V. anguillarum and for a cluster of taxonomically related species: V. carchariae/harveyi/campbelii. A phylogenetic tree based on the 23S sequences confirmed previous results obtained by Western blotting.