TY - JOUR

T1 - Parallel studies confirm Francisella halioticida causes mortality in Yesso scallops Patinopecten yessoensis

AU - Kawahara, Miku

AU - Meyer, Gary R

AU - Lowe, Geoffrey J

AU - Kim, Eliah

AU - Polinski, Mark P

AU - Yoshinaga, Tomoyoshi

AU - Itoh, Naoki

PY - 2019/8/8

Y1 - 2019/8/8

N2 - Francisella halioticida is a marine bacterium originally described as the causative agent of mass mortality among giant abalone Haliotis gigantea. Recent field studies in Canada and Japan have suggested that this bacterium is also the cause of adductor muscle lesions and high mortality of Yesso scallops Patinopecten yessoensis, although a causal relationship has not been established. In the present study, the pathogenicity of F. halioticida in Yesso scallops was assessed in both Canada and Japan using bacteria isolated from diseased Yesso scallops in each respective country. Independent laboratory experiments revealed that scallops challenged with F. halioticida via bath exposure resulted in high mortality and histological lesions characterized by massive haemocyte infiltration. The presence of F. halioticida was confirmed using PCR, and F. halioticida was re-isolated from a portion of dead and surviving specimens. These results fulfill Koch's classic criteria for establishing disease causation and provide conclusive evidence that F. halioticida causes adductor muscle lesions and high mortality in Yesso scallops.

AB - Francisella halioticida is a marine bacterium originally described as the causative agent of mass mortality among giant abalone Haliotis gigantea. Recent field studies in Canada and Japan have suggested that this bacterium is also the cause of adductor muscle lesions and high mortality of Yesso scallops Patinopecten yessoensis, although a causal relationship has not been established. In the present study, the pathogenicity of F. halioticida in Yesso scallops was assessed in both Canada and Japan using bacteria isolated from diseased Yesso scallops in each respective country. Independent laboratory experiments revealed that scallops challenged with F. halioticida via bath exposure resulted in high mortality and histological lesions characterized by massive haemocyte infiltration. The presence of F. halioticida was confirmed using PCR, and F. halioticida was re-isolated from a portion of dead and surviving specimens. These results fulfill Koch's classic criteria for establishing disease causation and provide conclusive evidence that F. halioticida causes adductor muscle lesions and high mortality in Yesso scallops.

KW - Animals

KW - Canada

KW - Francisella

KW - Japan

KW - Pectinidae

KW - Phylogeny

U2 - 10.3354/dao03383

DO - 10.3354/dao03383

M3 - Article

C2 - 31392965

VL - 135

SP - 127

EP - 134

JO - Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

JF - Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

SN - 0177-5103

IS - 2

ER -