Vibrio

"Vibrio, (genus Vibrio), any of a group of comma-shaped bacteria in the family Vibrionaceae. Vibrios are aquatic microorganisms, some species of which cause serious diseases in humans and other animals.

Vibrios are microbiologically characterized as gram-negative, highly motile, facultative anaerobes (not requiring oxygen), with one to three whiplike flagella at one end. Their cells are curved rods 0.5 μm (micrometre; 1 μm = 10-6 metre) across and 1.5 to 3.0 μm long, single or strung together in S-shapes or spirals.

Three species of vibrio are of significance to humans: V. cholerae is the cause of cholera, and V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus both act as agents of acute enteritis, or bacterial diarrhea. V. anguillarum is found in diseased eels and other fishes." (Britannica 2019)

Sources

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Vibrio." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 11, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/science/vibrio.

Related Content

Article

Interview with Prof. Rita Colwell

Interview with Prof. Rita Colwell

Photo of Prof. Rita Colwell
Prof. Rita Colwell’s career has been dedicated to providing safe water to rural communities, with a focus on cholera, after studying marine microbiology. Through her work, she and her team developed a model that employs satellite sensing to monitor the environmental factors associated with cholera. Prof. Colwell is also Director of the National Science Foundation and is a proponent of an educated society and increasing the number of women and minorities in STEM. For her, the most exciting aspect of her current work is assisting countries such as Yemen in predicting the risk of cholera outbreaks, however she believes one challenge that remains is the poor understanding of how effective the use of satellite sensos are for predicting the risk of such water borne diseases.
Read More

Interview with Prof. Rita Colwell

Interview with Prof. Rita Colwell

Photo of Prof. Rita Colwell
Prof. Rita Colwell’s career has been dedicated to providing safe water to rural communities, with a focus on cholera, after studying marine microbiology. Through her work, she and her team developed a model that employs satellite sensing to monitor the environmental factors associated with cholera. Prof. Colwell is also Director of the National Science Foundation and is a proponent of an educated society and increasing the number of women and minorities in STEM. For her, the most exciting aspect of her current work is assisting countries such as Yemen in predicting the risk of cholera outbreaks, however she believes one challenge that remains is the poor understanding of how effective the use of satellite sensos are for predicting the risk of such water borne diseases.
Read More

Person

Colwell