Virulence and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR of Vibrio alginolyticus strains isolated from Tunisian cultured gilthead sea bream and sea bass outbreaks.

Vibrio alginolyticus was isolated from the internal organs of diseased gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) cultured in two fish farms located on the Tunisian Mediterranean coast, from 2003 to 2005. After phenotypic characterisation, a selection of 34 isolates from gilthead sea bream and sea bass were molecularly typed by repetitive intergenic consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR) showing a high polymorphism among the isolated strains (19 genotypes). Most of the isolates were resistant to atleast two antimicrobial agents. All the tested strains were resistant to ampicillin. However, 91.17% were resistant to nitrofurantoin and 35.29% to tetracycline. Several strains isolated from diseased gilthead sea bream and sea bass were tested for virulence in both fish species by intraperitoneal injection. The selected isolates (n=7) were pathogenic for gilthead sea bream and sea bass. LD(50) values ranged from 5.01 x 10(4) to 6.20 x 10(7)CFU/fish. This is the first report on characterisation and virulence of V. alginolyticus for sea bass and sea bream in Tunisia.