coral pathogens identified for white syndrome (ws) epizootics in the indo-pacific珊瑚病原体识别白综合征(ws)传染病之一在印度-太平洋地区.pdfVIP

Coral Pathogens Identified for White Syndrome (WS) Epizootics in the Indo-Pacific 1,2 1 3 2 Meir Sussman *, Bette L. Willis , Steven Victor , David G. Bourne 1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, 2 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), PMB3, Townsville MC, Townsville, Australia, 3 Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC), Koror, Republic of Palau Abstract Background: White Syndrome (WS), a general term for scleractinian coral diseases with acute signs of advancing tissue lesions often resulting in total colony mortality, has been reported from numerous locations throughout the Indo-Pacific, constituting a growing threat to coral reef ecosystems. Methodology/Principal Findings: Bacterial isolates were obtained from corals displaying disease signs at three WS outbreak sites: Nikko Bay in the Republic of Palau, Nelly Bay in the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Majuro Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and used in laboratory-based infection trials to satisfy Henle-Koch’s postulates, Evan’s rules and Hill’s criteria for establishing causality. Infected colonies produced similar signs to those observed in the field following exposure to bacterial concentrations of 1 6106 cells ml21. Phylogenetic 16S rRNA gene analysis demonstrated that all six pathogens identified in this study were members of the c-Proteobacteria family Vibrionacae, each with greater than 98% sequence identity with the previously characterized coral bleaching pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus. Screening for proteolytic activity of more than 150 coral derived bacterial isolates by a biochemical assay and specific primers for a Vibrio