Isolation of potential fungal pathogens in gorgonian corals at the Tropical Eastern Pacific

Barrero-Canosa, J.; Dueñas, Luisa F.; Sánchez, Juan A.

doi:10.1007/s00338-012-0972-2

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Seafans exhibited loss of tissue in a fashion resembling the Caribbean seafan fungal disease aspergillosis (Nagelkerken et al, 1997;Geiser et al, 1998a;Smith, Harvell & Kim, 1998;Alker, Smith & Kim, 2001;Smith & Weil, 2004). Similarly, P. eximia and P. irene were surveyed during 2009 for fungal pathogens in the Pacific coast of Colombia (Choco area) and the pathogenic agent of aspergillosis, Aspergillus sydowi, was isolated in diseased colonies (Barrero-Canosa et al 2013). A similar epizootic disease was observed in Malpelo Island, a pristine oceanic rock escarpment, that affected up to 66% of colonies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite its great isolation and overall conservation state, between 2009 and 2010, up to 66% of colonies were found dead in some rocky reefs around Malpelo. In addition, a fungal disease similar to aspergillosis, commonly affecting Gorgonia in the Caribbean, was recently identified infecting several octocorals specially the seafans Pacifigorgia irene and P. eximia [Barrero-Canosa et al (2013)]. That finding demonstrates the presence of Aspergillus sydowii in the tissue of diseased Pacifigorgia seafans, which comprise the signature of the aspergillosis epizootic (Toledo-Hernández, Zuluaga-Montero, BonesGonzález, Sabat & Bayman, 2008), nearly 30 years after the appearance of the outbreak in the Caribbean.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Octocoral densities and mortalities in Gorgona Island, Colombia, Tropical Eastern Pacific

Sánchez

Ardila

Andrade

et al. 2014

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Octocoral densities and mortalities in Gorgona Island, Colombia, Tropical Eastern Pacific

Sánchez

Ardila

Andrade

et al. 2014

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“…3 cm wide from randomly selected areas were excised using a sterile scalpel. To remove fungi not associated with the octocorals, the selected fragments were surface-sterilized with 70% ethanol for 30 s [25]. For fungal isolations, the selected fragments were transferred onto a peptone glucose agar media (PGA) [34] supplemented with penicillin (100 mg/l).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In marine ecosystems, A . sydowii has been isolated from some gorgonian communities of the Caribbean [11,24], Colombian Pacific coasts [25], and environmental samples of the Australian coastal waters [20]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aspergillus sydowii and Other Potential Fungal Pathogens in Gorgonian Octocorals of the Ecuadorian Pacific

2016

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Emerging fungal diseases are threatening ecosystems and have increased in recent decades. In corals, the prevalence and consequences of these infections have also increased in frequency and severity. Coral reefs are affected by an emerging fungal disease named aspergillosis, caused by Aspergillus sydowii. This disease and its pathogen have been reported along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Colombia. Despite this, an important number of coral reefs worldwide have not been investigated for the presence of this pathogen. In this work, we carried out the surveillance of the main coral reef of the Ecuadorian Pacific with a focus on the two most abundant and cosmopolitan species of this ecosystem, Leptogorgia sp. and Leptogorgia obscura. We collected 59 isolates and obtained the corresponding sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of the ribosomal DNA. These were phylogenetically analyzed using MrBayes, which indicated the presence of two isolates of the coral reef pathogen A. sydowii, as well as 16 additional species that are potentially pathogenic to corals. Although the analyzed gorgonian specimens appeared healthy, the presence of these pathogens, especially of A. sydowii, alert us to the potential risk to the health and future survival of the Pacific Ecuadorian coral ecosystem under the current scenario of increasing threats and stressors to coral reefs, such as habitat alterations by humans and global climate change.

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“…Samples of C. riisei were examined under the microscope for identification using sclerites (Bayer 1961, Sánchez 1994. In addition, we started surveys on reefs in Malpelo Island , 2013) and Cabo Corrientes, Chocó, during 2008-2012. Please see Sánchez et al, 2013 (this volume) for a description of the sites in Gorgona Island, Barrero-Canosa, Dueñas & Sán-chez (2013) for Cabo Corrientes and Sánchez, Gómez, Escobar & Dueñas (2011) for Malpelo Island.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The invasive snowflake coral (Carijoa riisei) in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, Colombia

Sánchez

Ballesteros

2014

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Carijoa riisei (Octocorallia: Cnidaria), a western Atlantic species, has been reported in the Pacific as an invasive species for nearly forty years. C. riisei has been recently observed overgrowing native octocorals at several rocky-coral littorals in the Colombian Tropical Eastern Pacific-(TEP). C. riisei has inhabited these reefs for at least 15 years but the aggressive overgrowth on other octocorals have been noted until recently. Here, we surveyed for the first time the distribution and inter-specific aggression by C. riisei in both coastal and oceanic areas colonized in the Colombian TEP (Malpelo, Gorgona and Cabo Corrientes), including preliminary multiyear surveys during 2007-2013. We observed community-wide octocoral mortalities (including local extinction of some Muricea spp.) and a steady occurrence of competing and overgrowing Pacifigorgia seafans and Leptogorgia seawhips. In Gorgona Island, at two different sites, over 87% (n=77 tagged colonies) of octocorals (Pacifigorgia spp. and Leptogorgia alba) died as a result of C. riisei interaction and/or overgrowth between 2011 and 2013. C. riisei overgrows octocorals with an estimate at linear growth rate of about 1cm m -1 . The aggressive overgrowth of this species in TEP deserves more attention and regular monitoring programs. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl.

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Isolation of potential fungal pathogens in gorgonian corals at the Tropical Eastern Pacific

Cited by 25 publications

References 30 publications

Octocoral densities and mortalities in Gorgona Island, Colombia, Tropical Eastern Pacific

Octocoral densities and mortalities in Gorgona Island, Colombia, Tropical Eastern Pacific

Aspergillus sydowii and Other Potential Fungal Pathogens in Gorgonian Octocorals of the Ecuadorian Pacific

The invasive snowflake coral (Carijoa riisei) in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, Colombia

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