fa تحقيقي Original Paper <div><strong>ABSTRACT</strong><br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Background and Objective: </strong><em>Vibrio </em>is a genus of bacteria that are widely distributed in aquatic environments. The genus includes several important pathogens that endanger farm animals and humans who ingest seafood or water contaminated with the bacteria. Virulence of <em>Vibrio </em>spp. is regulated by <em>ctxAB</em> and <em>tcpA </em>genes. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of <em>Vibrio </em><em>spp</em>., and <em>tcpA</em> and <em>ctxB</em> virulence genes in isolates from surface water and salt water samples collected from Golestan Province, Iran.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Methods: </strong>Overall, 115 water samples were collected from the Caspian Sea coast, lagoons and rivers in the Golestan Province. The samples were filtered by membrane filtration method, and enriched in alkaline peptone water with 1% NaCl. The isolates were grown on TCBS agar, and identified by biochemical tests. Presence of the <em>tcpA </em>and <em>ctxB </em>virulence genes was investigated by polymerase chain reaction.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Results: </strong>In this study, <em>Vibrio alginolyticus</em> was the predominant species (38%) isolated from the seawater and surface water samples, followed by <em>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</em> (23%), <em>Vibrio harvei</em> (15%), <em>Vibrio fluvialis</em> (14%) and <em>Vibrio damsela</em> (10%). The virulence genes were not detected in any of the isolates found in the study.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Conclusion: </strong>This study indicates that <em>V. alginolyticus</em> is the most prevalent <em>Vibrio </em>spp. in surface water and seawater samples collected from the Golestan Province, Iran.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Keywords</strong>: Environmental <em>Vibrio, </em>Surface water<em>, </em><em>ctx B</em> gene, <em>tcpA</em> gene.</div> Environmental Vibrio, Surface water, ctx B gene, tcpA gene. 25 29 http://mlj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-474&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Mehdi Movaghari 100319475328460012553 100319475328460012553 No Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran Shaghayegh Anvari 100319475328460012554 100319475328460012554 Yes Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran Aylar Jamali 100319475328460012555 100319475328460012555 No Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran Mahin Yazdani 100319475328460012556 100319475328460012556 No Laboratory Sciences Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran