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IN VITRO KILLING OF PERKINSUS MARINUS BY HEMOCYTES OF OYSTERS CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA
Citation:
Volety, A. K. AND W S. Fisher. IN VITRO KILLING OF PERKINSUS MARINUS BY HEMOCYTES OF OYSTERS CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA. Presented at 92nd annual meeting of the National Shellfisheries Assoc, Seattle, WA, March 19-23, 2000.
Description:
Presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the National Shellfisheries Association, 19-23 March 2000, Seattle, WA.
A colorimetric microbicidal assay was adapted, optimized and used in experiments to characterize the capacity of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) hemocytes to kill cultured isolates of Perkinsus marinus, a protozoan parasite causing a highly destructive disease of oysters in U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal waters. In vitro challenges showed that hemocytes from two geographically distinct oyster stocks (Florida and Rhode Island) were able to decrease viable P. marinus cells by 45-52%. Variability in killing was most likely due to differences in susceptibility among the seven cultured isolates, which ranged in origin from Long Island Sound (CT) to Laguna Madre (TX). Hemocytes from oysters collected in Escambia Bay, FL, exhibited a relatively consistent killing capacity throughout a year-long period, averaging 57% across all months monitored with a range of 21-90%. Application of this technique demonstrated the in vitro capacity of hemocytes to kill P. marinus, but does not necessarily reflect their ability under natural conditions where the disease is widespread.