Abstract
Climate change and ocean warming have a huge impact on microbial communities, leading to an increased prevalence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections in northern America. V. parahaemolyticus is an inhabitant of aquatic environments and is associated with fishes and shellfishes, particularly with oysters. It causes gastrointestinal infection through consumption of contaminated seafood, as well as wound infections or septicemia. Temperature is known to affect virulence and persistence factors in V. parahaemolyticus. In this study, twenty clinical strains isolated form sick patients in Quebec, Canada, were characterized for persistence and virulence factor production at different temperatures to assess the impact of a switch from sea water to the human body on them. Their capacity to produce biofilm, hemolysins, and membrane vesicles as well as their motility and antibiotic resistance at 20 °C and 37 °C were assessed. Our results revealed that while temperature had little effect on vesicle production, it significantly influenced their growth, antimicrobial resistance, biofilm formation, and motility. Additionally, all V. parahaemolyticus strains produced hemolysins at 37 °C but not under environmental conditions.