Cooperation and cheating orchestrate Vibrio assemblages and polymicrobial synergy in oysters infected with OsHV-1 virus.

Polymicrobial infections threaten the health of humans and animals but remain understudied in natural systems. We recently described the Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS), a polymicrobial disease affecting oyster production worldwide. In the French Atlantic coast, the disease involves coinfection with ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) and virulent Vibrio. However, it is unknown whether consistent Vibrio populations are associated with POMS in different regions, how Vibrio contribute to POMS, and how they interact with OsHV-1 during pathogenesis. By connecting field-based approaches in a Mediterranean ecosystem, laboratory infection assays and functional genomics, we uncovered a web of interdependencies that shape the structure and function of the POMS pathobiota. We show that Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio rotiferianus are predominant in OsHV-1-diseased oysters and that OsHV-1 drives the partition of the Vibrio community observed in the field. However only V. harveyi synergizes with OsHV-1 by promoting mutual growth and accelerating oyster death. V. harveyi shows high-virulence potential and dampens oyster cellular defenses through a type 3 secretion system, making oysters a more favorable niche for microbe colonization. In addition, V. harveyi produces a key siderophore called vibrioferrin. This important resource promotes the growth of V. rotiferianus, which cooccurs with V. harveyi in diseased oysters, and behaves as a cheater by benefiting from V. harveyi metabolite sharing. Our data show that cooperative behaviors contribute to synergy between bacterial and viral coinfecting partners. Additional cheating behaviors further shape the polymicrobial consortium. Controlling cooperative behaviors or countering their effects opens avenues for mitigating polymicrobial diseases.

Phage-host coevolution in natural populations.

Coevolution between bacteriophages (phages) and their bacterial hosts occurs through changes in resistance and counter-resistance mechanisms. To assess phage-host evolution in wild populations, we isolated 195 Vibrio crassostreae strains and 243 vibriophages during a 5-month time series from an oyster farm and combined these isolates with existing V. crassostreae and phage isolates. Cross-infection studies of 81,926 host-phage pairs delineated a modular network where phages are best at infecting co-occurring hosts, indicating local adaptation. Successful propagation of phage is restricted by the ability to adsorb to closely related bacteria and further constrained by strain-specific defence systems. These defences are highly diverse and predominantly located on mobile genetic elements, and multiple defences are active within a single genome. We further show that epigenetic and genomic modifications enable phage to adapt to bacterial defences and alter host range. Our findings reveal that the evolution of bacterial defences and phage counter-defences is underpinned by frequent genetic exchanges with, and between, mobile genetic elements.

Vibrio splendidus O-antigen structure: a trade-off between virulence to oysters and resistance to grazers.

A major debate in evolutionary biology is whether virulence is maintained as an adaptive trait and/or evolves to non-virulence. In the environment, virulence traits of non-obligatory parasites are subjected to diverse selective pressures and trade-offs. Here, we focus on a population of Vibrio splendidus that displays moderate virulence for oysters. A MARTX (Multifunctional-autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin) and a type-six secretion system (T6SS) were found to be necessary for virulence toward oysters, while a region (wbe) involved in O-antigen synthesis is necessary for resistance to predation against amoebae. Gene inactivation within the wbe region had major consequences on the O-antigen structure, conferring lower immunogenicity, competitive advantage and increased virulence in oyster experimental infections. Therefore, O-antigen structures that favour resistance to environmental predators result in an increased activation of the oyster immune system and a reduced virulence in that host. These trade-offs likely contribute to maintaining O-antigen diversity in the marine environment by favouring genomic plasticity of the wbe region. The results of this study indicate an evolution of V. splendidus towards moderate virulence as a compromise between fitness in the oyster as a host, and resistance to its predators in the environment.

Selection of Vibrio crassostreae relies on a plasmid expressing a type 6 secretion system cytotoxic for host immune cells.

Pacific oyster mortality syndrome affects juveniles of Crassostrea gigas oysters and threatens the sustainability of commercial and natural stocks of this species. Vibrio crassostreae (V. crassostreae) has been repeatedly isolated from diseased animals, and the majority of the strains have been demonstrated to be virulent for oysters. In this study, we showed that oyster farms exhibited a high prevalence of a virulence plasmid carried by V. crassostreae, while oysters, at an adult stage, were reservoirs of this virulent population. The pathogenicity of V. crassostreae depends on a novel transcriptional regulator, which activates the bidirectional promoter of a type 6 secretion system (T6SS) genes cluster. Both the T6SS and a second chromosomal virulence factor, r5.7, are necessary for virulence but act independently to cause haemocyte (oyster immune cell) cytotoxicity. A phylogenetically closely related T6SS was identified in V. aestuarianus and V. tapetis, which infect adult oysters and clams respectively. We propose that haemocyte cytotoxicity is a lethality trait shared by a broad range of mollusc pathogens, and we speculate that T6SS was involved in parallel evolution of pathogen for molluscs.

Species-specific mechanisms of cytotoxicity toward immune cells determine the successful outcome of Vibrio infections.

Vibrio species cause infectious diseases in humans and animals, but they can also live as commensals within their host tissues. How Vibrio subverts the host defenses to mount a successful infection remains poorly understood, and this knowledge is critical for predicting and managing disease. Here, we have investigated the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning infection and colonization of 2 virulent Vibrio species in an ecologically relevant host model, oyster, to study interactions with marine Vibrio species. All Vibrio strains were recognized by the immune system, but only nonvirulent strains were controlled. We showed that virulent strains were cytotoxic to hemocytes, oyster immune cells. By analyzing host and bacterial transcriptional responses to infection, together with Vibrio gene knock-outs, we discovered that Vibrio crassostreae and Vibrio tasmaniensis use distinct mechanisms to cause hemocyte lysis. Whereas V. crassostreae cytotoxicity is dependent on a direct contact with hemocytes and requires an ancestral gene encoding a protein of unknown function, r5.7, V. tasmaniensis cytotoxicity is dependent on phagocytosis and requires intracellular secretion of T6SS effectors. We conclude that proliferation of commensal vibrios is controlled by the host immune system, preventing systemic infections in oysters, whereas the successful infection of virulent strains relies on Vibrio species-specific molecular determinants that converge to compromise host immune cell function, allowing evasion of the host immune system.

Ancestral gene acquisition as the key to virulence potential in environmental Vibrio populations.

Diseases of marine animals caused by bacteria of the genus Vibrio are on the rise worldwide. Understanding the eco-evolutionary dynamics of these infectious agents is important for predicting and managing these diseases. Yet, compared to Vibrio infecting humans, knowledge of their role as animal pathogens is scarce. Here we ask how widespread is virulence among ecologically differentiated Vibrio populations, and what is the nature and frequency of virulence genes within these populations? We use a combination of population genomics and molecular genetics to assay hundreds of Vibrio strains for their virulence in the oyster Crassostrea gigas, a unique animal model that allows high-throughput infection assays. We show that within the diverse Splendidus clade, virulence represents an ancestral trait but has been lost from several populations. Two loci are necessary for virulence, the first being widely distributed across the Splendidus clade and consisting of an exported conserved protein (R5.7). The second is a MARTX toxin cluster, which only occurs within V. splendidus and is for the first time associated with virulence in marine invertebrates. Varying frequencies of both loci among populations indicate different selective pressures and alternative ecological roles, based on which we suggest strategies for epidemiological surveys.

Nigritoxin is a bacterial toxin for crustaceans and insects.

The Tetraconata (Pancrustacea) concept proposes that insects are more closely related to aquatic crustaceans than to terrestrial centipedes or millipedes. The question therefore arises whether insects have kept crustacean-specific genetic traits that could be targeted by specific toxins. Here we show that a toxin (nigritoxin), originally identified in a bacterial pathogen of shrimp, is lethal for organisms within the Tetraconata and non-toxic to other animals. X-ray crystallography reveals that nigritoxin possesses a new protein fold of the α/ß type. The nigritoxin N-terminal domain is essential for cellular translocation and likely encodes specificity for Tetraconata. Once internalized by eukaryotic cells, nigritoxin induces apoptotic cell death through structural features that are localized in the C-terminal domain of the protein. We propose that nigritoxin will be an effective means to identify a Tetraconata evolutionarily conserved pathway and speculate that nigritoxin holds promise as an insecticidal protein.

Long dsRNAs promote an anti-viral response in Pacific oyster hampering ostreid herpesvirus 1 replication.

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated genetic interference (RNAi) is a widely used reverse genetic tool for determining the loss-of-function phenotype of a gene. Here, the possible induction of an immune response by long dsRNA was tested in a marine bivalve (Crassostrea gigas), as well as the specific role of the subunit 2 of the nuclear factor κB inhibitor (IκB2). This gene is a candidate of particular interest for functional investigations in the context of oyster mass mortality events, as Cg-IκB2 mRNA levels exhibited significant variation depending on the amount of ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) DNA detected. In the present study, dsRNAs targeting Cg-IκB2 and green fluorescent protein genes were injected in vivo into oysters before being challenged by OsHV-1. Survival appeared close to 100% in both dsRNA-injected conditions associated with a low detection of viral DNA and a low expression of a panel of 39 OsHV-1 genes as compared with infected control. Long dsRNA molecules, both Cg-IκB2- and GFP-dsRNA, may have induced an anti-viral state controlling the OsHV-1 replication and precluding the understanding of the specific role of Cg-IκB2 Immune-related genes including Cg-IκB1, Cg-Rel1, Cg-IFI44, Cg-PKR and Cg-IAP appeared activated in the dsRNA-injected condition, potentially hampering viral replication and thus conferring a better resistance to OsHV-1 infection. We revealed that long dsRNA-mediated genetic interference triggered an anti-viral state in the oyster, emphasizing the need for new reverse genetics tools for assessing immune gene function and avoiding off-target effects in bivalves.

Vibrio crassostreae, a benign oyster colonizer turned into a pathogen after plasmid acquisition.

Vibrios are frequently associated with oyster mortality; however whether they are the primary causative agent or secondary opportunistic colonizers is not well understood. Here we combine analysis of natural infection dynamics, population genomics and molecular genetics to ask (i) to what extent oysters are passively colonized by Vibrio population present in the surrounding water, (ii) how populations turn over during pathogenicity events and (iii) what genetic factors are responsible for pathogenicity. We identified several populations of Vibrio preferentially associated with oyster tissues. Among these, Vibrio crassostreae is particularly abundant in diseased animals while nearly absent in the surrounding water, and its pathogenicity is correlated with the presence of a large mobilizable plasmid. We further demonstrate that the plasmid is essential for killing but not necessary for survival in tissues of oysters. Our results suggest that V. crassostreae first differentiated into a benign oyster colonizer that was secondarily turned into a pathogen by introgression of a virulence plasmid into the population, possibly facilitated by elevated host density in farming areas.

Ontogeny of osmoregulation in the Pacific blue shrimp, Litopenaeus stylirostris (Decapoda, Penaeidae): Deciphering the role of the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase.

The role of the main ion transporting enzyme Na+/K+-ATPase in osmoregulation processes was investigated in Litopenaeus stylirostris. The development and localization of the osmoregulation sites were studied during ontogenesis by immunodetection of Na(+)K(+)-ATPase using monoclonal antibodies and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Osmoregulation sites were identified as the pleurae and branchiostegites in the zoeae and mysis stages. In the subsequent post-metamorphic stages the osmoregulatory function was mainly located in the epipodites and branchiostegites and osmotic regulation was later detected in the gills. The presence of ionocytes and microvilli in these tissues confirmed their role in ionic processes. The complete open reading frame of the mRNA coding for the α-subunit of Na+K+-ATPase was characterized in L. stylirostris. The resulting 3092-bp cDNA (LsNKA) encodes a putative 1011-amino-acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 112.3kDa. The inferred amino acid sequence revealed that the putative protein possesses the main structural characteristics of the Na+K+-ATPase α-subunits. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses indicated that LsNKA transcripts did not significantly vary between the different developmental stages. The number of transcripts was about 2.5-fold higher in the epipodites and gills than in any other tissues tested in juveniles. A reverse genetic approach was finally implemented to study the role of LsNKA in vivo. Knockdown of LsNKA expression by gene-specific dsRNA injection led to an increase of shrimp mortality following an abrupt salinity change compared to control animals. These data strongly suggest that LsNKA plays an important role in osmoregulation when the shrimp are challenged by changing salinities.

Crassostrea gigas mortality in France: the usual suspect, a herpes virus, may not be the killer in this polymicrobial opportunistic disease.

Successive disease outbreaks in oyster (Crassostrea gigas) beds in France have resulted in dramatic losses in production, and subsequent decline in the oyster-farming industry. Deaths of juvenile oysters have been associated with the presence of a herpes virus (OsHV-1 µvar) and bacterial populations of the genus Vibrio. Although the pathogenicity of OsHV-1 µvar, as well as several strains of Vibrio has been demonstrated by experimental infections, our understanding of the complexity of infections occurring in the natural environment remains limited. In the present study, we use specific-pathogen-free (SPF) oysters infected in an estuarine environment to study the diversity and dynamics of cultured microbial populations during disease expression. We observe that rapid Vibrio colonization followed by viral replication precedes oyster death. No correlation was found between the vibrio concentration and viral load in co-infected animals. We show that the quantity of viral DNA is a predictor of mortality, however, in the absence of bacteria, a high load of herpes virus is not sufficient to induce the full expression of the disease. In addition, we demonstrate that juvenile mortalities can occur in the absence of herpes virus, indicating that the herpes virus appears neither essential nor sufficient to cause juvenile deaths; whereas bacteria are necessary for the disease. Finally, we demonstrate that oysters are a reservoir of putative pathogens, and that the geographic origin, age, and cultivation method of oysters influence disease expression.

A single regulatory gene is sufficient to alter Vibrio aestuarianus pathogenicity in oysters.

Oyster diseases caused by pathogenic vibrios pose a major challenge to the sustainability of oyster farming. In France, since 2012 a disease affecting specifically adult oysters has been associated with the presence of Vibrio aestuarianus. Here, by combining genome comparison, phylogenetic analyses and high-throughput infections of strains isolated before or during the recent outbreaks, we show that virulent strains cluster into two V. aestuarianus lineages independently of the sampling dates. The bacterial lethal dose was not different between strains isolated before or after 2012. Hence, the emergence of a new highly virulent clonal strain is unlikely. Each lineage comprises nearly identical strains, the majority of them being virulent, suggesting that within these phylogenetically coherent virulent lineages a few strains have lost their pathogenicity. Comparative genomics allowed the identification of a single frameshift in a non-virulent strain. This mutation affects the varS gene that codes for a signal transduction histidine-protein kinase. Genetic analyses confirmed that varS is necessary for infection of oysters and for a secreted metalloprotease expression. For the first time in a Vibrio species, we show here that VarS is a key factor of pathogenicity.

Populations, not clones, are the unit of vibrio pathogenesis in naturally infected oysters.

Disease in oysters has been steadily rising over the past decade, threatening the long-term survival of commercial and natural stocks. Our understanding and management of such diseases are of critical importance as aquaculture is an important aspect of dealing with the approaching worldwide food shortage. Although some bacteria of the Vibrio genus isolated from diseased oysters have been demonstrated to be pathogenic by experimental infection, direct causality has not been established. Little is known about the dynamics of how the bacterial population hosted by oysters changes during disease progression. Combining experimental ecology, a high-throughput infection assay and genome sequencing, we show that the onset of disease in oysters is associated with progressive replacement of diverse benign colonizers by members of a phylogenetically coherent virulent population. Although the virulent population is genetically diverse, all members of that population can cause disease. Comparative genomics across virulent and nonvirulent populations identified candidate virulence factors that were clustered in population-specific genomic regions. Genetic analyses revealed that one gene for a candidate virulent factor, a putative outer membrane protein, is necessary for infection of oysters. Finally, analyses of oyster mortality following experimental infection suggest that disease onset can be facilitated by the presence of nonvirulent strains. This is a new form of polymicrobial disease, in which nonpathogenic strains contribute to increase mortality.

Comparative genomics of pathogenic lineages of Vibrio nigripulchritudo identifies virulence-associated traits.

Vibrio nigripulchritudo is an emerging pathogen of farmed shrimp in New Caledonia and other regions in the Indo-Pacific. The molecular determinants of V. nigripulchritudo pathogenicity are unknown; however, molecular epidemiological studies have suggested that pathogenicity is linked to particular lineages. Here, we performed high-throughput sequencing-based comparative genome analysis of 16 V. nigripulchritudo strains to explore the genomic diversity and evolutionary history of pathogen-containing lineages and to identify pathogen-specific genetic elements. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed three pathogen-containing V. nigripulchritudo clades, including two clades previously identified from New Caledonia and one novel clade comprising putatively pathogenic isolates from septicemic shrimp in Madagascar. The similar genetic distance between the three clades indicates that they have diverged from an ancestral population roughly at the same time and recombination analysis indicates that these genomes have, in the past, shared a common gene pool and exchanged genes. As each contemporary lineage is comprised of nearly identical strains, comparative genomics allowed differentiation of genetic elements specific to shrimp pathogenesis of varying severity. Notably, only a large plasmid present in all highly pathogenic (HP) strains encodes a toxin. Although less/non-pathogenic strains contain related plasmids, these are differentiated by a putative toxin locus. Expression of this gene by a non-pathogenic V. nigripulchritudo strain resulted in production of toxic culture supernatant, normally an exclusive feature of HP strains. Thus, this protein, here termed 'nigritoxin', is implicated to an extent that remains to be precisely determined in the toxicity of V. nigripulchritudo.

Insights into the antiviral functions of the RNAi machinery in penaeid shrimp.

Over the last decade, RNA interference pathways have emerged in eukaryotes as critical regulators of many diverse biological functions including, among others, transcriptional gene regulation, post-transcriptional gene silencing, heterochromatin remodelling, suppression of transposon activity, and antiviral defences. Although this gene silencing process has been reported to be relatively well conserved in species of different phyla, there are important discrepancies between plants, invertebrates and mammals. In penaeid shrimp, the existence of an intact and functional RNAi machinery is supported by a rapidly growing body of evidence. However, the extent to which this process participates to the host immune responses remains poorly defined in this non-model organism. This review summarizes our current knowledge of RNAi mechanisms in shrimp and focuses on their implication in antiviral activities and shrimp immune defences.

Pathotyping of Vibrio isolates by multiplex PCR reveals a risk of virulent strain spreading in New Caledonian shrimp farms.

Two recurring syndromes threaten the viability of the shrimp industry in New Caledonia, which represents the second largest export business. The "Syndrome 93" is a cold season disease due to Vibrio penaeicida affecting all shrimp farms, while the "Summer Syndrome" is a geographically restricted vibriosis caused by a virulent lineage of Vibrio nigripulchritudo. Microbiological procedures for diagnosis of these diseases are time-consuming and do not have the ability to discriminate the range of virulence potentials of V. nigripulchritudo. In this study, we developed a multiplex PCR method to simultaneously detect these two bacterial species and allow for pathotype discrimination. The detection limits of this assay, that includes an internal amplification control to eliminate any false-negative results, were determined at 10 pg purified DNA and 200 cfu/ml. After confirming the effectiveness of our method using experimentally infected animals, its accuracy was compared to standard biochemical methods during a field survey using 94 samples collected over 3 years from shrimp farms encountering mortality events. The multiplex PCR showed very high specificity for the detection of V. penaeicida and V. nigripulchritudo (inclusivity and exclusivity 100%) and allowed us to detect the spreading of highly pathogenic isolates of V. nigripulchritudo to a farm adjoining the "Summer Syndrome area." This assay represents a simple, rapid, and cost-effective diagnostic tool for implementing timely risk management decisions but also understanding the seasonal and geographical distribution of these pathogens.

Virulence of an emerging pathogenic lineage of Vibrio nigripulchritudo is dependent on two plasmids.

Vibrioses are the predominant bacterial infections in marine shrimp farms. Vibrio nigripulchritudo is an emerging pathogen of the cultured shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris in New Caledonia and other regions in the Indo-Pacific. The molecular determinants of V. nigripulchritudo pathogenicity are unknown; however, molecular epidemiological studies have revealed that recent pathogenic V. nigripulchritudo isolates from New Caledonia all cluster into a monophyletic clade and contain a small plasmid, pB1067. Here, we report that a large plasmid, pA1066 (247 kb), can also serve as a marker for virulent V. nigripulchritudo, and that an ancestral version of this plasmid was likely acquired prior to other virulence-linked markers. Additionally, we demonstrate that pA1066 is critical for the full virulence of V. nigripulchritudo in several newly developed experimental models of infection. Plasmid pB1067 also contributes to virulence; only strains containing both plasmids induced the highest level of shrimp mortality. Thus, it appears that these plasmids, which are absent from non-pathogenic isolates, may be driving forces, as well as markers, for the emergence of a pathogenic lineage of V. nigripulchritudo.

Non-specific activation of antiviral immunity and induction of RNA interference may engage the same pathway in the Pacific white leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei.

Many questions remain unanswered regarding RNAi-based mechanisms and dsRNA-induced antiviral immune responses in penaeid shrimp. In this study, we report the characterization in the white leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei of RNAi pathway associated proteins Lv-Ago 1 and Lv-Ago 2, two members of the Argonaute family of proteins, as well as Lv-sid 1, the first shrimp homologue of Sid-1, a membrane channel-forming protein implicated in the cellular import of dsRNA. To decipher their functional implication in RNAi-related phenomena, we monitored their relative expression following stimulation by specific and non-specific RNA duplexes of diverse length. The findings show that the length of small RNA duplexes plays a critical role in the activation of both RNAi-related and innate antiviral responses. They also suggest that these two mechanisms of antiviral response may activate the same pathway, requiring Lv-Sid 1 and Lv-Ago 2 induction.

Vibrio aestuarianus zinc metalloprotease causes lethality in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and impairs the host cellular immune defenses.

Extracellular products (ECPs) of the pathogenic Vibrio aestuarianus 01/32 were previously reported to display lethality in Crassostrea gigas oysters and to cause morphological changes and immunosuppression in oyster hemocytes. To identify the source of this toxicity, biochemical and genetic approaches were developed. ECP protease activity and lethality were shown to be significantly reduced following incubation with metal chelators, suggesting the involvement of a zinc metalloprotease. An open reading frame of 1836 bp encoding a 611-aa metalloprotease (designated Vam) was identified. The deduced protein sequence showed high homology to other Vibrio metalloproteases reported to be involved in pathogenicity. To further confirm the role of this enzyme in ECP toxicity, a plasmid carrying the vam gene under the control of an araC-P(BAD) expression cassette was transferred to a Vibrio splendidus related strain, LMG20012(T), previously characterized as non-pathogenic to oysters. Expression of Vam conferred a toxic phenotype to LMG20012(T) ECPs in vivo and cytotoxicity to oyster hemocytes in vitro. Collectively, these data suggest that the Vam metalloprotease is a major contributor to the toxicity induced by V. aestuarianus ECPs and is involved in the impairment of oyster hemocyte functions.

Lack of evidence for Litopenaeus vannamei Toll receptor (lToll) involvement in activation of sequence-independent antiviral immunity in shrimp.

Injection of non-specific dsRNA initiates a broad-spectrum innate antiviral immune response in the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, however, the receptor involved in recognition of this by-product of viral infections remains unknown. In vertebrates, dsRNA sensing is mediated by a class of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and results in activation of the interferon system. Because a TLR (lToll) was recently characterized in L. vannamei, we investigated its potential role in dsRNA recognition. We showed that injection of non-specific RNA duplexes did not modify lToll gene expression. A reverse genetic approach was therefore implemented to study its role in vivo. Silencing of lToll did not impair the ability of non-specific dsRNA to trigger protection from white spot syndrome virus and did not increase the shrimp susceptibility to viral infection, when compared to controls. In contrast, gene-specific dsRNA injected to specifically silence lToll expression activated an antiviral response. These data strongly suggest that shrimp lToll plays no role in dsRNA-induced antiviral immunity.