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Genetic Diversity of Vibrio cholerae O1 in Argentina and Emergence of a New Variant

Departamento de Bacteriología, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas, ANLIS "Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán," Ministerio de Salud, 1281 Capital Federal,¹ Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155, 1211 Buenos Aires, Argentina²

Received 14 June 2002/ Returned for modification 5 August 2002/ Accepted 1 October 2002

The genetic diversity of Vibrio cholerae O1 strains from Argentina was estimated by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Twenty-nine isolates carrying the virulence genes ctxA, zot, ace, and tcpA appeared to represent a single clone by both typing methods; while 11 strains lacking these virulence genes exhibited several heterogeneous RAPD and PFGE patterns. Among the last group, a set of isolates from the province Tucumán showed a single RAPD pattern and four closely related PFGE profiles. These strains, isolated from patients with diarrhea, did not produce the major V. cholerae O1 virulence determinants, yet cell supernatants of these isolates caused a heat-labile cytotoxic effect on Vero and Y-1 cells and elicited significant variations on the water flux and short-circuit current in human small intestine mounted in an Ussing chamber. All these effects were completely abolished by incubation with a specific antiserum against El Tor hemolysin, suggesting that this virulence factor was responsible for the toxic activity on both the epithelial cells and the small intestine specimens and may hence be involved in the development of diarrhea. We propose "Tucumán variant" as the designation for this new cluster of cholera toxin-negative V. cholerae O1 strains.

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