Vibrio campbellii
Vibrio campbellii is a Gram-negative, curved rod-shaped, marine bacterium closely related to its sister species, Vibrio harveyi. It is an emerging pathogen in aquatic organisms.
Biology
Quorum sensing allows the bacterium to communicate with autoinducers, a chemical signaling molecule that is secreted. Some strains of V. campellii are known to be not luminescent; these strains are thought to be less virulent than the luminescent strains.Bioluminescence in bacteria is due to the reaction:
FMNH− + H+ + RCHO + → FMN + RCOOH + + hν
and is catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase. A new luciferase was isolated from V. campbellii and is similar to that of the Lux_Vh found in V. harveyi, but is more thermodynamically stable due to the binding of reduced FMN.
The V. campbellii strains PEL22A, BAA-1116, AND4 are known to be mixotrophic or more specifically photoheterotrophic. This is considered a rare phenotype in Vibrio and is thought to be caused by their exploitation of lateral gene transfer during adaptation.