Mita Kaoru, Kawai Narudo, Rueckert Sonja, Sasakura Yasunori
Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shimoda, Shizuoka 415-0025, Japan.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2012 Nov 19;101(3):185-95. doi: 10.3354/dao02534.
An important way to keep transgenic and mutant lines of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, a model system for e.g. genetic functions, in laboratories is via culturing systems. Here we report a disease of C. intestinalis observed in an inland culturing system. The disease, called 'long feces syndrome,' is expressed in affected animals by the following characteristic symptoms of the digestive system: (1) excretion of long and thin feces, (2) pale color of the stomach, and (3) congestion of the digestive tube by digested material. Severely diseased animals usually die within a week after the first symptoms occur, implying a high risk of this disease for ascidian culturing systems. The digestive tubes of the diseased animals are occupied by the gregarine apicomplexan parasite Lankesteria ascidiae, suggesting that large-scale infection by this parasite is the cause of long feces syndrome.
在实验室中，维持作为例如遗传功能模型系统的海鞘（Ciona intestinalis）转基因和突变品系的一种重要方法是通过培养系统。在此，我们报告在内陆培养系统中观察到的一种海鞘疾病。这种疾病被称为“长粪便综合征”，受影响的动物表现出以下消化系统的特征性症状：（1）排出细长的粪便，（2）胃部颜色变淡，以及（3）消化管被消化物质堵塞。病情严重的动物通常在出现最初症状后的一周内死亡，这意味着这种疾病对海鞘培养系统具有很高的风险。患病动物的消化管被顶复门寄生虫兰氏海鞘单孢子虫（Lankesteria ascidiae）占据，这表明该寄生虫的大规模感染是长粪便综合征的病因。
