The occurrence of orange/pinkish colored lesions in the adductor muscle of Yesso scallops Patinopecten yessoensis has been known for many years in Japan; however, determination of the causative agent has not been adequately investigated. Histological examination of affected scallops in southern Hokkaido typically revealed intense host responses: hemocyte infiltration, an abundance of necrotic hemocytes, lysis of muscle fibers and in some instances melanin deposits when the lesions occurred adjacent to the shell. Microbiota analysis showed that Francisella halioticida was dominant in the lesions, and in situ hybridization using F. halioticida specific probes also confirmed the presence of this bacterium within the lesions. A F. halioticida specific PCR assay detected this bacterium in the majority of scallop lesions tested. Subsequently, three bacterial isolates were obtained from scallop lesions on modified Eugon agar supplemented with antibiotics, and these bacterial isolates were found to be F. halioticida by 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequences. These results suggest that infection with F. halioticida is the most likely cause of the adductor muscle lesions observed in Yesso scallops. Field surveys conducted in 2017 of scallops cultured in southern Hokkaido showed that the presence of adductor muscle lesions putatively caused by F. halioticida was significantly related to mortalities and poor growth of scallops.

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Francisella halioticida, the causative agent of francisellosis of the giant abalone Haliotis gigantea, has also been isolated from Yesso scallops Mizuhopecten yessoensis, which presented with orange/pinkish lesions in the adductor muscle and experienced high mortality. However, it is not clear whether the F. halioticida isolated from the giant abalone and Yesso scallops are phenotypically and genetically identical to each other. The present study revealed that isolates from the giant abalone and Yesso scallops were phenotypically different, with slower growth in modified eugon broth and a lack of prolyl aminopeptidase and phenylalanine aminopeptidase in Yesso scallop isolates. Additionally, we found that 3 of 8 housekeeping genes were different between them. Based on these phenotypic and genetic differences, we propose that F. halioticida isolated from Yesso scallops in Japan be designated as the ‘J-scallop type’ to distinguish it from strains from abalone (‘abalone type’). Whole-genome sequencing analysis of a strain belonging to the J-scallop type showed that the overall similarity between the J-scallop and abalone type strains was estimated to be 99.84%. In accordance with a lack of prolyl aminopeptidase activity, in general, all of the J-scallop type strains examined have a 1 bp deletion in the responsible gene encoding prolyl aminopeptidase. This deletion was confirmed in all F. halioticida in diseased Yesso scallops examined, suggesting that in Japan, francisellosis of Yesso scallops is caused by a novel type of F. halioticida and not by the abalone type.

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