NC_005139:343500 Vibrio vulnificus YJ016 chromosome I, complete sequence
Host Lineage: Vibrio vulnificus; Vibrio; Vibrionaceae; Vibrionales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This is a Biotype 1 hospital isolate from Taiwan. It contains larger chromosomes and >1000 genes as compared to Vibrio cholerae and contains a conjugative plasmid, pYJ016. There are numerous virulence factors including a cytolysin, protease, capsular polysaccharide as well as iron-uptake systems encoded in the genome. This genus is abundant in marine or freshwater environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas; regions that provide an important reservoir for the organism in between outbreaks of the disease. Vibrio can affect shellfish, finfish, and other marine animals and a number of species are pathogenic for humans. Organisms of this species are opportunistic pathogens that can attack immunocompromised patients and causes gastroenteritis (inflammation of mucous membranes of stomach and intestine), wound infections, and primary septicemia (spread of the organism through the blood). This organism is the major cause of death from eating raw oysters, especially in people with liver damage. It only affects humans and other primates.