Aquaculture of cobia has gained popularity in the last decade, and this species is now farmed in several countries in Latin America and Asia. Despite recent improvement in production techniques that allowed the expansion of the industry, little is known about the diseases that affect cobia during the larviculture stage. In this article we investigated the cause of mass mortalities occurring 13−20 d post-hatching in 3 cycles of cobia larviculture. Wet mounts from diseased larvae gills revealed the presence of cyst-like basophilic inclusions. DNA from the cysts was extracted and PCR amplified using the 16S rRNA gene universal primers for prokaryotes. The amplified products were sequenced and analyzed using BLAST, finding a similarity of 99% with Endozoicomonas elysicola, a Gram-negative bacterium. Confirmation of E. elysicola was conducted by designing a specific probe for in situ hybridization. Specific primers were also designed for diagnostic purposes. This is the first report of epitheliocystis in cobia larvae and also the first report of E. elysicola as an epitheliocystis-causing agent. KEY WORDS: Epitheliocystis · Endozoicomonas elysicola · Cobia · Gill inflammation Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDis Aquat Org 106: [31][32][33][34][35][36][37] 2013 30%, at least 3 severe episodes of mortalities in larvae have occurred, with final survival in the range of 2 to 10%. Wet-mount analysis and histopathology of gills from diseased fish showed characteristic lesions of epitheliocystis. In this article we present the first description of epitheliocystis causing severe mortalities in cobia larvae. MATERIALS AND METHODS AnimalsCobia larvae were produced and reared at CENI-ACUA's laboratory in Punta Canoas Bolivar, Colombia. Mature breeders were held in captivity at CEINER (Center for Research, Education and Recreation) and fertilized eggs were shipped to CENI-ACUA. Larviculture was performed in circular larval rearing tanks (6−7 t) under flow-through production according to published protocols (Benetti et al. 2008). BackgroundDuring cobia larviculture at CENIACUA, 3 independent cycles presented with sudden events of mortality starting at 13 to 22 dph. The first signs were detected in Outbreak A at 13 dph, in Outbreak B at 22 dph and in Outbreak C at 15 dph. Mortalities started 12 h after the initial symptoms appeared, reaching almost 100% by 7 d. After the first outbreak, screening was initiated on 9 dph animals by wet mount and histopathology of gill tissue in order to detect early pathological signs of the disease. HistologyMoribund larvae from the 3 outbreaks were anesthetized using clove oil and necropsied. Whole larvae were fixed in neutral 10% buffered formalin for 24−48 h, embedded in paraffin, sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin as described by Faulk et al. (2007). Selected sections were also analyzed by Gram-Twort staining (Ollett 1951). Each larva was examined, and the severity of the disease was determined with a grading system based on...

Microbiome components and bacterial isolates related to healthy and epitheliocystis states in aquaculture cycles of cobia fish were studied. We detected well-defined 16S rRNA amplicon gene sequence variants showing differential abundance in healthy or diseased cycles. Isolation trials were performed, and experimental tests were used to determine probiotic potential of the bacterial strains obtained from water, tissues or live food used in this aquaculture model. The taxonomic affiliation of these strains was cross-compared against microbiome components, finding that some of them had close or identical affiliation to the abundant types found in healthy cycles. Strains belonging to the groups already identified as predominant by culture-independent means were screened as potential probiotics based on desirable activities such as antagonism and antibiosis against marine pathogenic bacteria, quorum quenching, bile acid resistance, antibiotic sensitivity and enzymatic activities for improved nutrient digestion. We have also found that in the tracking of microbiome composition across different developmental stages of cobia, healthy cycles exhibited a consistent high relative abundance of a Mesobacillus sp., while in the diseased cycle the emergence of a Vibrio sp. was observed. Our study suggests that epithelocystis in cobia is associated with a displacement of a symbiotic microbiome community linked to the increase frequency of Vibrio species.

Objetivos: Describir las características epidemiológicas de alteraciones cromosómicas y malformaciones congénitas en Cochabamba. Métodos: Se incluyeron 166 pacientes con sospecha de alteración cromosómica, de hospitales de Cochabamba. Se realizó individualmente la anamnesis, exploración física, y prueba de cariotipo en muestra de sangre periférica. Resultados: De los 166 pacientes, 79 (48 %) tenían cariotipo sin alteración, y 87 (52 %) tenían alguna anomalía cromosómica. La alteración más frecuente fue Síndrome de Down (34 %), siguiendo Síndrome de Turner (11 %), Síndrome de Edwards (2 %), trisomía 22 (1 %), Klinefelter (1 %), Deleciones (2 %) o cromosoma marcador 5 (1 %). La distribución de pacientes entre 0 y 1 año con dismorfia congénita fue: 10% de recién nacidos hasta 7 días, 20 % neonatos entre 8 y 28 días, y 70 % de lactantes menores y mayores desde 28 días a un año. Dentro este grupo confirmamos alteración cromosómica en 43 pacientes (62 %) y en 26 (38%) cariotipo sin alteración. La edad promedio de los padres de niños con Sd. de Down, fue mayor a 40 años y para los otros síndromes fue menor a 30 años. Conclusiones: Las cromosomopatías más frecuentes fueron el Sd. de Down, Sd. de Turner y Sd. de Edwards. La mayor parte de los cariotipos fueron con alteración completa o libre en los diferentes Síndromes. La edad de la madre y del padre y el número de abortos parecen ser un factor de riesgo para el Síndrome de Down, y para el Síndrome de Turner.

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