# Analyzing pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus-oyster interactions to prevent human disease

> **NIH NIH R03** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2021 · $80,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP) is a leading cause of seafood-borne gastroenteritis on a
pandemic scale. In the United States, it is a CDC-reportable emerging human pathogen with increasing annual
morbidity and mortality rates. Diseases caused by pathogenic VP strains have important implications for global
food safety and sustainability in relation to human health. Most commonly, human disease prevention has
focused on the detection and reduction of VP in food sources. Despite this, human VP infection rates are still
rising. Little is known about how VP interacts with its marine animal hosts. A better understanding of this
relationship has the potential to lead to the development of methods to either prevent bacterial-animal host
association and/or enhance bacterial removal from the host prior to human consumption, thereby mitigating the
occurrence of human disease. We propose to use oysters, a natural host of VP and a common route of
transmission to humans, as an animal model system to understand when and how VP interacts with them. It is
hypothesized that A) VP will localize to specific tissues in the oyster and B) specific genes will be critical for the
ability of VP to colonize oysters. The proposed work is strengthened by our collaborative research team, which
is comprised of four scientists with expertise in molecular bacteriology, shellfish aquaculture, animal pathology
and bioinformatics methods. The novel information gained from this research will lead to a more reliable
laboratory-based oyster model system that will lay the foundation for future work to establish the roles
environmental factors, including the resident microbiome, host genetics and specific bacterial gene products
play in VP-oyster interactions. The refined oyster model will be applicable not only for VP but for other
pathogenic Vibrio species, leading to improved methods to prevent human food-borne disease acquisition.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10102174
- **Project number:** 5R03AI137617-02
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Ann M Stevens
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $80,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-03-01 → 2024-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10102174

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10102174, Analyzing pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus-oyster interactions to prevent human disease (5R03AI137617-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10102174. Licensed CC0.

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