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CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BACTERIUM SUSPECTED IN THE INCIDENCE OF WHITE BAND DISEASE
Citation:
Santavy, D L., E. C. Peters, J. Kozlowski, AND S S. Wilkinson. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BACTERIUM SUSPECTED IN THE INCIDENCE OF WHITE BAND DISEASE. Presented at 1995 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC, May 21 - 25, 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation
Description:
The common staghorn coral, Acropora cervicomis, has been critically impacted in the U.S. Virgin Islands by a condition described as white band disease, a malady accompanied by the presence of abundant finely granular ovoid basophilic bodies within degenerating tissues of this stony reef coral. The overall objective of this study was to investigate these bodies as presumptive bacteria as diagnosed by histopathological examination. Histological and ultrastructural studies were used to determine the relationship of the bacteria to the disease process and degenerating tissue. Molecular phylogeny of the bacteria was determined by PCR amplification and by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene of the bacteria contained within the ovoid bodies. The Gram-negative bacterial aggregates occur throughout the tissues lining the gastrovascular canals in staghorn coral. A kingdom-specific fluorescent probe for Eubacteria confirmed the diagnosis of an aggregate of bacteria within the ovoid bodies. Some samples infected with putative white band disease, collected from several locations at several times over the course of a year, did not contain these bacterial aggregates. In colonies which possessed the bacteria, a significantly greater number were found in colonies having degenerating tissue. Results from molecular phylogenetic studies relate this bacterium to the gamma-group of proteobacteria.