The capsular proteins the bacteria express however, are capable of producing an immune response contributing to shock syndrome.Exotoxin: V. vulnificus produces a number of extracellular toxins such as metalloprotease VvpE, cytolysin/hemolysin VvhA, and the multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in-toxins (MARTX) toxin. While the VvhA and MARTX toxin are factors in the bacterias virulence, in vivo studies in mice suggest that the MARTX toxin is more responsible for bacterial dissemination from the intestine to produce sepsis.Iron: Growth of V. vulnificus is dependent on the amount of iron that is accessible to the bacteria. The observed association of the infection with liver disease (associated with increased serum iron) might be due to the capability of more virulent strains to capture iron bound to transferrin. Strains
The most harmful strains of V. vulnificus documented have been observed in three different forms. The first is in an anti-phagocytic polysaccharide capsule that protects the bacteria. By encapsulating the bacteria, phagocytosis and opsonization are not able to occur, thus allowing the bacteria to continue throughout the organism it is in. The second way that V. vulnificus has been most harmful is with some of the toxins that it creates. These toxins are not part of the infection that V. vulnificus causes but instead they are part of a secondary infection in the GI tract that most certainly will lead to systemic infection. Lastly, V. vulnificus has been seen to cause more harm in patients who have higher levels of iron. Treatment
Vibrio vulnificus wound infections have a mortality rate around 25%.
It was subsequently given the name Beneckea vulnifica, and finally Vibrio vulnificus by Farmer in 1979.Increasing seasonal temperatures and decreasing coastal salinity levels seem to favor a greater concentration of  Vibrio within filter-feeding shellfish of the US Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico, especially oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Scientists have frequently demonstrated the presence of V. vulnificus in the gut of oysters and other shellfish and in the intestines of fish that inhabit oyster reefs. The vast majority of people who develop sepsis from V. vulnificus became ill after they ate raw oysters; most of these cases have been men.In 2005, health officials clearly identified strains of V. vulnificus infections among evacuees from New Orleans due to the flooding there caused by Hurricane Katrina.In 2015 in Florida, eight cases of V. vulnificus infection with two resulting in death were reported. Natural transformation
Natural transformation is a bacterial adaptation for DNA transfer between individual cells. V. vulnificus was found to become naturally transformable during growth on chitin in the form of crab shells. The ability to now carry out transformation experiments in the laboratory should facilitate molecular genetic analysis of this opportunistic pathogen. References
External links
Large and detailed article on V. vulnificus at Todars Online Textbook of Bacteriology
CNN video on vibrio vulnificus
Type strain of Vibrio vulnificus at BacDive -  the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase