Occurrence of six virulence-associated genes in Arcobacter species isolated from various sources in Shiraz, Southern Iran

• We examined the occurrence of six virulence-associated genes among emergent Arcobacter species.
• All A. butzleri isolates carried all six genes.
• Emergent Arcobacter species can be potential pathogenic properties for humans.

In humans, arcobacters are associated with watery diarrhea and septicemia. Although, recently, more cases of diarrhea have been caused by Arcobacter species, very little is known about its pathogenesis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of six putative Arcobacter virulence genes (cadF, ciaB, cj1349, mviN, pldA, and tlyA), in a set of 113 Arcobacter butzleri, 40 Arcobacter cryaerophilus, and 15 Arcobacter skirrowii isolates that were recovered from various origins. The isolates were confirmed on the basis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of genus and species specific PCR for determining three species. For confirmed isolates, PCR was carried out for the presence of virulence genes using specific primers. All A. butzleri isolates carried all six genes. For A. cryaerophilus and A. skirrowii, the cadF gene was detected just in 55 and 53.3%, ciaB in 97.5 and 86.6%, cj1349 in 45 and 60%, mviN in 90 and 80%, pldA in 32.5 and 13.3%, and tlyA in 37.5 and 40%, respectively. For A. cryaerophilus and A. skirrowii, the genes ciaB and mviN were significantly more prevalent than other virulence markers (P ≤ 0.05). The findings revealed that many of the important Arcobacter strains (86%) have these putative virulence genes which can be potential pathogenic properties for humans.