The aim of the present study was to analyze the intraspecific genetic variability within Vibrio alginolyticus isolated strains from different Tunisian aquatic biotopes by using two PCR–based techniques. Seventy eight strains including nine Vibrio reference strains and sixty nine V. alginolyticus isolated strains from seawater, sediment, fish (diseased Gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata and Sea bass, Dicentrachus labrax), and from mollusks (Crassostrea gigas, Mytilis edulis) were analyzed by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR). In this study, all strains were typable y in both techniques tested and 62 genotypes were generated by ERIC-PCR and 58 genotypes by REP-PCR. In conclusion, these two methods can be used as a rapid and easy protocol to access the genetic relatedness between environmental V. alginolyticus strains.

Key words: Vibrio alginolyticus, genetic diversity, repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR).