2002/06/19 by Kathryn Patterson Sutherland, James W. Porter, Kim B. Ritchie +5 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Aquaculture disease management and microbiota #Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.092260099
openalex publication_date 2002/06/19 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Populations of the shallow-water Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, are being decimated by white pox disease, with losses of living cover in the Florida Keys typically in excess of 70%. The rate of tissue loss is rapid, averaging 2.5 cm2 x day(-1), and is greatest during periods of seasonally elevated temperature. In Florida, the spread of white pox fits the contagion model, with nearest neighbors most susceptible to infection. In this report, we identify a common fecal enterobacterium, Serratia marcescens, as the causal agent of white pox. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a bacterial species associated with the human gut has been shown to be a marine invertebrate pathogen.