Humoral Immune Responses to Select Marine Bacteria in Loggerhead Sea Turtles Caretta caretta and Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles Lepidochelys kempii from the Southeastern United States

Abstract

Serum from Kemp's ridley sea turtles Lepidochelys kempii and loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta was collected during summer in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Serum immunoglobulin Y (IgY) recognition of lysate proteins from nine bacterial species and whole bacterium-specific IgY titers to these pathogens were quantified. Serum and purified IgY recognized proteins of all bacteria, with protein recognition for some species being more pronounced than others. Circulating IgY titers against Vibrio vulnificus, V. anguillarum, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, and Brevundimonas vesicularis changed over the years in Kemp's ridley sea turtles, while IgY titers against V. vulnificus, Escherichia coli, V. parahaemolyticus, B. vesicularis, and Mycobacterium marinum were different in loggerhead sea turtles. Serum lysozyme activity was constant for loggerhead sea turtles over the 3 years, while activity in Kemp's ridley sea turtles was lower in 2011 and 2012 than in 2013. Blood packed cell volume, glucose, and serum protein levels were comparable to those of healthy sea turtles in previous studies; therefore, this study provides baseline information on antibody responses in healthy wild sea turtles.

Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Profiles of Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) of the Island of Maio, Cape Verde

“…All identified bacterial species have been previously isolated from both injured and stranded sea turtles, as well as healthy wild animals [8,18,20], except for B. vesicularis, which was isolated for the first time from the oviductal fluid of sea turtles in the present study.…”

Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Profiles of Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta Caretta) of the Island of Maio, Cape Verde

“…All identified bacterial species have been previously isolated from both injured and stranded sea turtles, as well as healthy wild animals [30,[33][34][35], with the exception for Brevundimonas vesicularis, which was isolated for the first time from the oviductal fluid of sea turtles in this study.…”

Quantifying Circulating IgY Antibody Responses against Select Opportunistic Bacterial Pathogens and Correlations with Body Condition Factors in Wild American Alligators, Alligator mississippiensis

“…High bonding 96 well plates (Corning, #9018) were coated for 16 h at 4 °C with 75 µL of a 1 mg mL −1 solution of poly-D-lysine (VWR Scientific) in distilled water, followed by wash steps with phosphate buffered saline containing 0.05% tween-20 (PBS-TW20). To perform ELISAs against whole cells cultures adhered to ELISA plates, cultures were first grown under conditions as previously described [ 33 ]. Optimized suspensions of live bacterium were then prepared and 50 µL of bacterium were added to wells using our lab’s modifications [ 33 , 34 , 35 ] of the original assay [ 36 ], including fixation and blocking steps.…”

“…Primary hybridomas were first screened against purified IgY by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and cells from positive wells were cloned by limiting dilution using our previously described approaches [30,32,33]. Monoclonal hybridomas were grown to confluence, and the supernatants collected by centrifugation, then treated with 0.05% NaN 3 and stored at 4 • C. Isotyping the antibody within hybridoma supernatants was carried out using Pierce Rapid Antibody Isotyping Kits for mouse (Thermo Fisher).…”