First Characterization of Bacterial Pathogen, Vibrio alginolyticus, for Porites andrewsi White Syndrome in the South China Sea

Abstract

BackgroundWhite syndrome, a term for scleractinian coral disease with progressive tissue loss, is known to cause depressed growth and increased morality of coral reefs in the major oceans around the world, and the occurrence of this disease has been frequently reported in the past few decades. Investigations during April to September in both 2010 and 2011 identified widespread Porites andrewsi White syndrome (PAWS) in Xisha Archipelago, South China Sea. However, the causes and etiology of PAWS have been unknown.Methodology/Principal FindingsA transmission experiment was performed on P . andrewsi in the Qilianyu Subgroup (QLY). The results showed that there was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference between test and control groups after 28 days if the invalid replicates were excluded. Rates of tissue loss ranged from 0.90-10.76 cm2 d-1 with a mean of 5.40 ± 3.34 cm2 d-1 (mean ± SD). Bacterial strains were isolated from the PAWS corals at the disease outbreak sites in QLY of the Xisha Archipelago, South China Sea, and included in laboratory-based infection trials to satisfy Koch’s postulates for establishing causality. Following exposure to bacterial concentrations of 105 cells mL-1, the infected colonies exhibited similar signs to those observed in the field. Using phylogenetic 16S rRNA gene analysis, classical phenotypic trait comparison, Biolog automatic identification system, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and MALDI Biotyper method, two pathogenic strains were identified as Vibrio alginolyticus . Conclusion/SignificanceThis is the first report of V . alginolyticus as a pathogenic agent of PAWS in the South China Sea. Our results point out an urgent need to develop sensitive detection methods for V . alginolyticus virulence strains and robust diagnostics for coral disease caused by this and Vibrio pathogenic bacterium in the South China Sea.

Selection and characterization of ssDNA aptamers specifically recognizing pathogenic Vibrio alginolyticus

“…Vibrio alginolyticus mainly inhabits oceans and estuaries (Liu et al, 2014). As an opportunistic pathogen, V. alginolyticus causes high mortality and great losses to mariculture, such as fish (Balebona et al, 1998), shrimps (George, John, Iyappan, & Jeyaseelan, 2005), shellfish (Liu, Chen, & Lee, 2001) and coral reef (Xie et al, 2013). V. alginolyticus also infects mammal including humans that contact with seafood, which causes chronic diarrhoea, wound infection and otitis (Liu et al, 2014).…”

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Vibrio alginolyticus by Loop‐Mediated Isothermal Amplification Combined with a Lateral Flow Dipstick Targeted to the rpoX Gene

“…Vibrio alginolyticus is considered an important opportunistic bacterial pathogen in various marine animals, such as Gilthead Seabream Sparus aurata (Balebona et al 1998), black tiger shrimp (Lee et al 1996;Selvin and Lipton 2003), cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, Sepia apama, and Sepia pharaonis (Sangster and Smolowitz 2003), and recently coral Porites andrewsi (Zhenyu et al 2013). Therefore, a rapid, accurate, and sensitive assay for the detection of V. alginolyticus is required.…”

Potentiometric Aptasensing of Vibrio alginolyticus Based on DNA Nanostructure-Modified Magnetic Beads

“…However, they suffer from such problems as time-consuming procedures, false-positive signals, low sensitivity, and poor specificity [6]. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, especially for the multiplex PCR, has been developed for the detection of bacteria with good specificity and high sensitivity [7,8,9,10]. However, this technique needs complex pretreatment procedures and expensive instruments.…”