Aurantimonas coralicida

Aurantimonas coralicida is a gram-negative bacterium, and a causative agent of white plague in Caribbean corals. It is rod-shaped, with polar flagella.[1]

Aurantimonas coralicida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Pseudomonadota
Class: Alphaproteobacteria
Order: Hyphomicrobiales
Family: Aurantimonadaceae
Genus: Aurantimonas
Species:
A. coralicida
Binomial name
Aurantimonas coralicida
Denner et al. 2003

Description

edit

An obligate aerobe, A. coralicida obtains its nourishment chemoheterotrophically. It tests positive for oxidase and catalase, and contains carotenoid pigments, possibly to protect against solar radiation.[1]

Role in Disease

edit

A. coralicida is believed to be the causative agent of white plague, a disease of some corals.[1] This was first described in 1995 in an epizootic in reefs in the Florida Keys. 17 of 43 coral species in the area were infected, and up to 38% of infected corals died.[1]

Genetics

edit

The type strain of A. coralicida is WP1T(=CIP 107386T =DSM 14790T), which was the original strain isolated.[1]

History

edit

A coralicida was originally isolated as the cause of white plague in coral in the Caribbean in 1998.[1] In 2003, the 16S rRNA sequence of the bacterium was compared to other known sequences to determine its taxonomic relationship to other bacteria. It was found to be a previously undescribed member of the order Hyphomicrobiales and was classified under the newly created genus Aurantimonas as Aurantimonas coralicida.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Denner, E. B. M. (2003). "Aurantimonas coralicida gen. nov., sp. nov., the causative agent of white plague type II on Caribbean scleractinian corals". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 53 (4): 1115–1122. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02359-0. ISSN 1466-5026. PMID 12892136.

Further reading

edit
  • Yossi Loya; Rosenberg, Eugene (2004). Coral Health and Disease. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3-540-20772-4.
edit