Coral pathogens identified for White Syndrome (WS) epizootics in the Indo-Pacific.

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 fo

SUBMITTER: Sussman M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2409975 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature