Comparative analysis of the hemolysin genes of Vibrio cholerae non-01, V. mimicus, and V. hollisae that are similar to the tdh gene of V. parahaemolyticus

The genes encoding the hemolysins similar to the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh gene) of Vibrio parahaemolyticus were cloned from chromosomes of V. mimicus and V. hollisae. These cloned hemolysin genes and previously cloned tdh genes of V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae non-01 were compared by physical mapping and by hybridization with oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes. The nucleotide sequences in the coding regions of all the cloned hemolysin genes were very homologous and had only minor variations but the sequences flanking the homolysin genes were dissimilar, indicating that the hemolysin genes have a common ancestor and suggesting that they may have been transferred between Vibrio species as a descrete genetic unit.