Molecular characterization of environmental and nontoxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae

Environmental and nontoxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae 0-1 were examined for genes homologous to genes encoding Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT). Restriction fragments encoding LT A and B subunits were isolated from the recombinant plasmid EWD299 and labeled in vitro with 32P. These probes were then hybridized to deoxyribonucleic acid extracted from strains of V. cholerae and visualized by autoradiography. None of the nontoxigenic strains of V. cholerae 0-1 from Louisiana, Alabama, Maryland, Guam, Brazil, Bangladesh, or Great Britain hybridized with the LT probes, whereas all toxigenic strains exhibited homology. In addition, strains of V. cholerae non-0-1, "group F" vibrios, V. vulnificus, and Aeromonas hydrophila were tested, and all were negative except two strains of V. cholerae non-0-1. The presence of plasmids did not correlate with toxigenicity or nontoxigenicity in any of the species examined. Thus, it appears that these strains are not simple nontoxigenic mutants, but rather do not possess any genetic material encoding cholera toxin. Such strains therefore cannot revert and serve as a reservoir of cholera.