Vibrio coralliilyticus strain OCN014 is the Etiological Agent of Acropora White Syndrome at Palmyra Atoll

Date
2014-09-26
Authors
Poscablo, Donna
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Callahan, Sean
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Microbiology
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Corals play an important role in marine ecosystems by providing a habitat for many members of the reef community. Threats such as coral disease have pushed many reefs past the point of recovery and are lost forever. Investigation of coral disease outbreaks at Palmyra Atoll in 2010 and 2011 resulted in the isolation of Vibrio sp. OCN014 from diseased Acropora cytherea. OCN014 was proposed as the pathogen responsible for the disease Acropora white syndrome (AWS), which affects Acropora spp. throughout the atoll. In this study, Koch’s postulates were applied to demonstrate OCN014 as the etiological agent of AWS. OCN014 was determined to be a strain of Vibrio coralliilyticus, a species of bacteria previously shown to cause disease in coral. Under laboratory conditions, infections by OCN014 were found to be temperature dependent, with infections observed at 29 °C and none at 25 °C. The genome of OCN014 was sequenced and compared to a previously published genome of the V. coralliilyticus strain type strain BAA-450, which has also been shown to be temperature sensitive. A genetic system was developed to screen for genes which are differently expressed at 25 and 29 °C to identify potential regulators of OCN014 virulence.
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40 pages
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