Department of Marine Science, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Ranieri - 60131, Ancona, Italy. Acquario di Genova, Area Porto Antico, Ponte Spinola - 16128 Genova, Italy. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Ranieri - 60131, Ancona, Italy.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2010 Feb;2(1):120-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1758-2229.2009.00114.x. Epub 2009 Dec 21.
We investigated bacterial assemblages associated with corals displaying symptoms of the 'White Syndrome' (WS), a general term used for indicating the appearance of bands, spots or patches of tissue loss, which is devastating wide areas of tropical ecosystems worldwide. We collected WS-diseased (n = 15) and healthy (n = 15) corals from the natural reef (Indonesia, Indian Ocean) and from four large public aquaria. By using culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques, we found that a large fraction (73%) of the investigated WS events was associated with the presence of a high bacterial abundance and, specifically, of Vibrio spp. Vibrio harveyi, a pathogen of many marine organisms and recently involved in coral Yellow Band disease, was the most represented species, being recovered from five out of 15 diseased corals. In experimental infection assays, two V. harveyi strains, isolated from diseased corals, were inoculated on a total of 62 healthy colonies of Pocillopora damicornis. WS signs appeared in 57 corals, confirming the ability of V. harveyi strains to induce the disease. We conclude that V. harveyi is one of the coral pathogens involved in the appearance of WS. However, not all of the investigated WSs were associated to V. harveyi detection, nor to other Vibrio species (such as V. coralliilyticus), which supports the hypothesis that WS is not caused exclusively by Vibrio spp., but rather can have a multifactorial aetiology, or can represent a group of diseases caused by a variety of agents. Further investigations to identify specific virulence traits will contribute to the understanding of the role of V. harveyi in WS pathogenesis.
我们研究了与表现出“白综合征”（WS）症状的珊瑚相关的细菌组合，WS 是一个通用术语，用于表示组织损失的带、斑或斑块的出现，这在全球范围内破坏了热带生态系统的广泛区域。我们从天然珊瑚礁（印度尼西亚，印度洋）和四个大型公共水族馆收集了 WS 患病（n=15）和健康（n=15）的珊瑚。通过使用依赖培养和非依赖培养的技术，我们发现，很大一部分（73%）的调查 WS 事件与高细菌丰度有关，特别是与 Vibrio spp. 有关。Vibrio harveyi 是许多海洋生物的病原体，最近与珊瑚黄带病有关，是最具代表性的物种，从 15 个患病珊瑚中回收了 5 个。在实验感染试验中，从患病珊瑚中分离出的两种 V. harveyi 菌株接种在总共 62 株健康的 P. damicornis 上。WS 症状出现在 57 株珊瑚中，证实了 V. harveyi 菌株诱导疾病的能力。我们得出结论，V. harveyi 是参与 WS 出现的珊瑚病原体之一。然而，并非所有调查的 WS 都与 V. harveyi 的检测有关，也与其他 Vibrio 物种（如 V. coralliilyticus）无关，这支持了 WS 不是由 Vibrio spp. 引起的假设，而是可能具有多因素病因，或者可以代表由多种病原体引起的一组疾病。进一步的调查以确定特定的毒力特征将有助于了解 V. harveyi 在 WS 发病机制中的作用。
