You are here:
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. JOURNAL OF SHELLFISH RESEARCH 19(2):827-834, (2000).
Description:
A colorimetric microbicidal assay was adapted, optimized and applied in experiments to characterize the in vitro 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 reduce viable P. marinus cells by 25-90%, depending on the P. marinus isolate. Variability in killing was most likely due to differences in susceptibility among the seven cultured isolates of P. marinus, which ranged in origin from Long Island Sound (CT) to Laguna Madre (TX). Hemocytes form oysters collected monthly from Escambia Bay, Florida, exhibited a killing capacity that ranged from 21-90% (average 57%) throughout a year-long period, with highest killing measured during October-December. Application of this technique demonstrated the in vitro capacity of hemocytes to kill cultured P. marinus, but does not necessarily reflect their ability under natural conditions where the disease is widespread.