Peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in-situ hybridization for identification of Vibrio spp. in aquatic products and environments.

A peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization (PNA-FISH) method was developed for specific detection of the Vibrio genus. In silico analysis by BLAST and ProbeCheck showed that the designed PNA probe targeting the 16S rRNAs was suitable for specific identification of Vibrio. Specificity and sensitivity of the probe Vib-16S-1 were experimentally verified by its reactivity against 18 strains of 9 Vibrio species and 14 non-Vibrio strains of 14 representative species. The PNA-FISH assay was able to identify 47 Vibrio positive samples from selectively enriched cultures of 510 samples of aquatic products and environments, comparable with the results obtained by biochemical identification and real-time PCR. We conclude that PNA-FISH can be an alternative method for rapid identification of Vibrio species in a broad spectrum of seafood or related samples.