Fungi in healthy and diseased sea fans (Gorgonia ventalina): is Aspergillus sydowii always the pathogen?

Toledo-Hernández, Carlos; Zuluaga-Montero, Anabella; Bones-González, A.; Rodríguez, José Ángel García; Sabat, Alberto M.; Bayman, Paul

doi:10.1007/s00338-008-0387-2

Cited by 86 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…5). Finding the same taxa in both diseased and healthy plants also suggests that they are part of the normal mycota associated with adult V. vinifera plants (Frias-Lopez et al 2002;Toledo-Hernández et al 2008). If the group of generally accepted, esca-associated fungi were indeed latent pathogens, the emergence of symptoms of the disease would be the consequence of a shift in species abundance in favor of pathogenic species, leading to the typical discoloration of the leaves associated with esca (Surico et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What if esca disease of grapevine were not a fungal disease?

et al. 2012

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Esca disease, which attacks the wood of grapevine, has become increasingly devastating during the past three decades and represents today a major concern in all wine-producing countries. This disease is attributed to a group of systematically diverse fungi that are considered to be latent pathogens, however, this has not been conclusively established. This study presents the first in-depth comparison between the mycota of healthy and diseased plants taken from the same vineyard to determine which fungi become invasive when foliar symptoms of esca appear. An unprecedented high fungal diversity, 158 species, is here reported exclusively from grapevine wood in a single Swiss vineyard plot. An identical mycota inhabits wood of healthy and diseased adult plants and presumed esca pathogens were widespread and occurred in similar frequencies in both plant types. Pioneer esca-associated fungi are not transmitted from adult to nursery plants through the grafting process. Consequently the presumed esca-associated fungal pathogens are most likely saprobes decaying already senescent or dead wood resulting from intensive pruning, frost or other mecanical injuries as grafting. The cause of esca disease therefore remains elusive and requires well executive scientific study. These results question the assumed pathogenicity of fungi in other diseases of plants or animals where identical mycota are retrieved from both diseased and healthy individuals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What if esca disease of grapevine were not a fungal disease?

et al. 2012

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“…Corals are sensitive to pollution and thermal stress (Harvell et al, 2007), making them susceptible to infection, exemplified by a severe epizootic of sea fan corals (Gorgonia ventalina) in the Caribbean, caused by the opportunistic fungus Aspergillus sydowii (Smith et al, 1996;Geiser et al, 1998;Hernández et al, 2008). This pathogen can infect at least eight different species of octocorals (Smith and Weil, 2004), the dominant coral group on many Caribbean reefs, and has caused high rates of mortality throughout the region (Nagelkerken et al, 1997, Kim andHarvell, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

The opportunistic coral pathogen Aspergillus sydowii contains dddP and makes dimethyl sulfide from dimethylsulfoniopropionate

et al. 2009

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The ascomycete Aspergillus sydowii is associated with a serious epizootic of sea fan corals in the Caribbean. Corals are rich in the compatible solute, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), produced by their symbionts, the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium. As other Aspergillus species can catabolize DMSP, liberating dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in the process, we tested A. sydowii strains, obtained from diseased corals and other environments, for this Ddd þ phenotype. All the strains, irrespective of their geographical or environmental origins, made DMS from DMSP, and all of them contained homologs (487% identical) of the dddP gene, which encodes an enzyme that releases DMS from DMSP and which occurs in other Ddd þ fungi and in some marine bacteria. The dddP gene was likely acquired by the Aspergillus fungi by inter-domain horizontal gene transfer from a-proteobacteria.

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“…Their data suggest that A. sydowii is the causative agent of aspergillosis in the gorgonian soft corals, Gorginia flaballum and Gorgonia ventalina . However, Toledo-Hernández et al (2008) stated that they doubted that A. sydowii is the only fungus that can cause aspergillosis in G. ventalina because it is not always present in diseased corals. Soler-Hurtado et al (2016) found A. sydowii and other potential fungal pathogens in gorgonian octocorals of Ecuador (see below).…”

Section: Fungal Diseases Of Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The roles of endolithic fungi in bioerosion and disease in marine ecosystems. II. Potential facultatively parasitic anamorphic ascomycetes can cause disease in corals and molluscs

et al. 2017

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Anamorphic ascomycetes have been implicated as causative agents of diseases in tissues and skeletons of hard corals, in tissues of soft corals (sea fans) and in tissues and shells of molluscs. Opportunist marine fungal pathogens, such as Aspergillus sydowii, are important components of marine mycoplankton and are ubiquitous in the open oceans, intertidal zones and marine sediments. These fungi can cause infection in or at least can be associated with animals which live in these ecosystems. A. sydowii can produce toxins which inhibit photosynthesis in and the growth of coral zooxanthellae. The prevalence of many documented infections has increased in frequency and severity in recent decades with the changing impacts of physical and chemical factors, such as temperature, acidity and eutrophication. Changes in these factors are thought to cause significant loss of biodiversity in marine ecosystems on a global scale in general, and especially in coral reefs and shallow bays.

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Fungi in healthy and diseased sea fans (Gorgonia ventalina): is Aspergillus sydowii always the pathogen?

Cited by 86 publications

References 26 publications

What if esca disease of grapevine were not a fungal disease?

What if esca disease of grapevine were not a fungal disease?

The opportunistic coral pathogen Aspergillus sydowii contains dddP and makes dimethyl sulfide from dimethylsulfoniopropionate

The roles of endolithic fungi in bioerosion and disease in marine ecosystems. II. Potential facultatively parasitic anamorphic ascomycetes can cause disease in corals and molluscs

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