Authors
Rodriguez, S., Rey-Varela, D., Blanco-Hortas, A., Martinez, C., Martinez, P., Travers, M.-A., Dubert, J., Barja, J. L.
Abstract
Vibrio europaeus is an important pathogen in shellfish aquaculture, yet its genomic diversity and adaptive potential remain poorly understood. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of the V. europaeus pangenome, integrating genomic data from all strains available to the date sequenced specifically for this study. Those were isolated from different aquaculture facilities (shellfish hatcheries) associated to mass mollusks mortalities from different geographical locations, years and host species. Our findings revealed an open pangenome with the 61% of the genes associated to the accessory genome that contributes to environmental and host adaptations. Phylogenomic analyses of the core-genome (39% of the pangenome size) allowed to evaluate the evolutionary history and intraspecific diversity of V. europaeus and revealed that Spanish strains displayed a much lower genetic variability than French, Chilean or American strains, probably due to a monophyletic radiation event. Functional annotation of core and accessory genes revealed the key virulence factors of the species while it also disclosed that those are located mainly into the core genes. The high number of anti-phage defense systems encoded in the accessory genome explained almost all the variability of the species. The results provide important insights into the evolutionary history and ecological versatility of V. europaeus, with potential implications for diagnostics, epidemiological surveillance, and disease management strategies in aquaculture.
Preprint server:
bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 05 Nov 2025.
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