Environmental marine pathogen isolation using mesocosm culture of sharpsnout seabream: striking genomic and morphological features of novel Endozoicomonas sp.

ABSTRACT: Aquaculture is a burgeoning industry, requiring diversification into new farmed species, which are often at risk from infectious disease. We used a mesocosm technique to investigate the susceptibility of sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo) larvae to potential environmental pathogens in seawater compared to control borehole water. Fish exposed to seawater succumbed to epitheliocystis from 21 days post hatching, causing mortality in a quarter of the hosts. The pathogen responsible was not chlamydial, as is often found in epitheliocystis, but a novel species of the γ-proteobacterial genus Endozoicomonas. Detailed characterisation of this pathogen within the infectious lesions using high resolution fluorescent and electron microscopy showed densely packed rod shaped bacteria. A draft genom

SUBMITTER: Katharios P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4671022 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature