Phenotypic and molecular characteristics of an Aeromonas hydrophila strain isolated from the River Nile

Aeromonas hydrophila, an inhabitant of aquatic ecosystems found in most parts of the world, has considerable virulence potential. The polymerase chain reaction technique was used to assay for the presence of five virulence factor genes: haemolytic toxins aerA and ahh1, elastase ahyB, the enterotoxin act, and the polar flagella flaA/flaB in the A. hydrophila strain isolated from the River Nile. Drug screening showed high levels of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics and tetracycline. Slime production was determined by the Congo red agar plate test. The isolate produced two restriction enzymes named AehI and AehII which are isoschizomers of XhoI and StuI respectively. The complete nucleotide sequence of the cryptic plasmid pAhy2.5 (2524 bp) from this strain was determined. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of two open reading frames (ORFs) encoding putative proteins. The protein coded by ORF1 is homologous with Rep proteins of plasmids belonging to the pC194 family, which are known to replicate by the rolling-circle mechanism. The putative double-strand origin of replication and a region with palindromic sequences that could function as a single-strand origin were detected in pAhy2.5.