Mortalities accompanied with symptoms similar to vibriosis were observed in farmed greater amberjack
Seriola dumerili immunized with a commercial
Vibrio anguillarum vaccine (serotype J-O-3). The symptoms of infection included exfoliation of the head epithelium, ragged caudal fin, accumulated ascites, and ophthalmitis. Bacteria isolated from infected fish were positive in species-specific PCR assays for
V. harveyi. A phylogenic analysis based on
topA (DNA topoisomerase I) and
mreB (rod shape-determining protein mreB) concatenated gene sequence provided further confirmation of the isolated bacteria as
V. harveyi. Experimental infection revealed that the isolate was pathogenic to greater amberjack. In a vaccine trial, mortality of fish immunized with formalin-killed cells (FKC) of the isolate was significantly lower than that of control fish, suggesting that FKC of the isolate prevents greater amberjack from
V. harveyi infection.
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