Effect of Mild Acid Treatment on the Survival, Enteropathogenicity, and Protein Production in Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important food-borne enteropathogen that encounters various adverse conditions in its native environment or during infection. Effects of mild acid treatment on survival under stress conditions, enteropathogenicity, and protein production in this pathogen were investigated. Logarithmically grown cells, at pH 7.5 shifted to pH 5.0 for 30 min, were more resistant to subsequent acid challenge at pH 4.4. A two-phase adaptive procedure (pH 5.8 for 30 min; pH 5.0 for 30 min) was better than a single-phase procedure for enhancing the acid tolerance of this pathogen. The acid-adapted cells were cross-protected against the challenges of low salinity and thermal inactivation. One-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that proteins with molecular masses of 6.4, 9.0, 13.6, 16.3, 18.9, 22.9, 24.4, 28.3, 33. 9, 36.9, 41.2, 47.6, 58.1, 65.6, 80.5, 88.2, and 96.9 kDa were induced or significantly enhanced, while proteins of 25.3, 30.1, 30. 7, and 91.7 kDa were significantly inhibited. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that 20 species of proteins were induced or significantly enhanced, while 26 species were inhibited. In assays conducted using the suckling mouse model, enteropathogenicity of the acid-adapted cells was significantly enhanced in terms of intestine/body weight ratio and in vivo recovery of infected cells.