Vibrio penaeicida sp. nov., a Pathogen of Kuruma Prawns (Penaeus japonicus)

Abstract

Six similar strains which were isolated as pathogens of cultured kuruma prawns (Penueus jupunicus) in Japan had characteristics of the genus Vibriu. These organisms were distinguished from previously described Vibrb species by their positive results in tests for gelatinase and lipase activities and their negative reactions in tests for arginine dihydrolase and lysine and ornithine decarboxylase activities, growth in the presence of 6% NaCl and at 35"C, acid production from sucrose, utilization of D-glucuronate and propionate, and luminescence. The G+C contents of the DNAs of these organisms were 46.2 to 47.0 mol%. The levels of DNA relatedness among these six strains were 87 to 99% (as determined by the membrane filter method), while the levels of DNA relatedness between prawn pathogen strain KH-lT (T = type strain) and members of 28 previously described Vibrio species were less than 18%. The name Vibrio pemeicidu sp. nov. is proposed for the prawn-pathogenic strains. The type strain is strain KH-1 (= IF0 15640 = JCM 9123).Penaeus japonicus (kuruma prawns) is one of the most valuable cultured aquatic animal species in Japan. Vibriosis in cultured kuruma prawns has been observed since 1980, and there have been considerable losses in the prawn industry (28). The prawns affected are characterized by the formation of brown spots (nodules) in the lymphoid organs and gills. The causative bacterium was first isolated by Takahashi et al. in 1982 (29) from diseased prawns in Yamaguchi and Kumamoto Prefectures and was classified as a member of the genus Vibrio, but the strains isolated by Takahashi et al. have been lost. Later, we isolated the pathogen which causes vibriosis of kuruma prawns in specimens from various districts in Japan. The pathogen, which we isolated, tentatively designated Mbrio species PJ (ll), was studied to determine its morphological, biochemical, pathological and serological characteristics (12), and we believe that this organism is the same species described by Takahashi et al. (29). The pathogen was also isolated from apparently healthy prawns and water samples obtained from prawn culture ponds (11). In this study we determined the taxonomic position of the prawn pathogen. Below we propose the name Vzbriopenaeicida sp. nov. for this organism. MATERIALS AND METHODSBacterial strains. The six V. penueicidu strains listed in Table 1 were isolated from kuruma prawns obtained in prefectures of western Japan. These strains were isolated and subcultured on ZoBell's 2216e agar plates (1) at 25°C and were maintained in semisolid ZoBell's 2216e medium containing 0.5% agar at 20°C; they were subcultured every 6 months. Untreated aged seawater obtained from the Inland Sea of Japan was used to prepare ZoBell's 2216e medium.The reference strains used in DNA hybridization experiments are listed in Table 1. Ebrio cholerue HUFP 5004 (= NIH 35A3) is not the type strain of V. cholerue but was found to be closely related (level of similarity, 98%) to type strain ATCC 14035 by DNA-DNA hybridization (7).Morphological...

Pseudomonas plecoglossicida sp. nov., the causative agent of bacterial haemorrhagic ascites of ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis.

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Penaeidins, a New Family of Antimicrobial Peptides Isolated from the Shrimp Penaeus vannamei (Decapoda)

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Rapid and sensitive PCR detection of Vibrio penaeicida, the putative etiological agent of Syndrome 93 in New Caledonia

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