Purification of a TDH-related hemolysin produced by a Kanagawa phenomenon-negative clinical isolate of Vibrio parahaemolyticus 06: K46

A hemolysin produced by a clinical isolate of Kanagawa phenomenon-negative Vibrio parahaemolyticus 06: K46 was purified by 55% ammonium sulfate fractionation and successive column chromatographies on DEAE-cellulose, hydroxyapatite, Sepharose 4B and Mono Q. The purified hemolysin was physicochemically and immunologically identical with the Vp-TRH (V. parahaemolyticus thermostable direct hemolysin related hemolysin) recently described in V. parahaemolyticus 03: K6 (Honda et al. Infect. Immun. 56: 961-965, 1988). This indicates that V. parahaemolyticus of Kanagawa-negative clinical isolates possessing not only 03: K6 but also different serotypes such as 06: K46 produce Vp-TRH. Production of Vp-TRH by most clinical isolates of Kanagawa-negative V. parahaemolyticus was also demonstrated. These results suggest the importance of Vp-TRH among clinical isolates of Kanagawa-negative V. parahaemolyticus.