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Effects of varying concentrations of sodium chloride and acidic conditions on the behavior of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus cold-starved in artificial sea water microcosms

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Abstract

There has been limited information available on the behavior of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus as a function of higher levels of NaCl in combination with acidic pH. In the present study, bacterial suspensions were transferred into artificial seawater (pH 4–7) microcosms containing 0.75% NaCl and supplemented with 5, 10, and 30% NaCl, respectively. Each of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus was inoculated in these microcosms and fermented seafood, and then stored at 4 °C until the microbial populations reached below the detectable levels on agar plates (thiosulphate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar and tryptic soy agar amended with 3% NaCl). Consequently, V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 27969, V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 33844, and V. vulnificus ATCC 33815 rapidly reached the viable-but-nonculturable (VBNC) state with increasing levels (≤30%) of NaCl at 4 °C. Within seven days, these pathogens in seafood appeared to enter the VBNC state at 4 °C, as shown by the fluorescence microscopic assay.

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Acknowledgements

This research was a part of the project titled “Development of rapid detection system for food-borne pathogens to strengthen the food safety and to promote the seafood consumption” funded by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Republic of Korea and by “Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)” funded by the Ministry of Education (Grant Number: NRF-2016R1A6A3A11932794), respectively. Also, this study was supported by Chung-Ang University Graduate Research Scholarship in 2015.

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Correspondence to Sun-Young Lee.

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Yoon, JH., Bae, YM. & Lee, SY. Effects of varying concentrations of sodium chloride and acidic conditions on the behavior of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus cold-starved in artificial sea water microcosms. Food Sci Biotechnol 26, 829–839 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-017-0105-3

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