IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL VIBRIO-VULNIFICUS ISOLATES WITH A DNA PROBE FOR THE CYTOTOXIN-HEMOLYSIN GENE

We screened 44 lactose-positive Vibrio strains isolated from the marine environment for homology with a 32-kilobase DNA fragment encoding the Vibrio vulnificus cytotoxin-hemolysin gene. All 29 marine isolates identified as V. vulnificus on the basis of numerical taxonomy and DNA-DNA hybridization studies hybridized with the cytotoxin gene probe, as did all V. vulnificus reference strains. Homologous gene sequences were identified in no other lactose-positive marine vibrio isolates nor in 10 other Vibrio species.