19
often improperly understood. Moreover, it seems that little if anything may be done
to aid wild fi sh stocks, except, perhaps, by controlling pollution of the rivers and
seas, assuming that when environmental quality deteriorates this infl uences disease
cycles. In contrast, much effort has been devoted to controlling diseases of farmed
fi sh.
Conclusions
• The list of fi sh pathogens has extended substantially since 1980. Current interest
focuses on the motile aeromonads, enterics, vibrios, fl avobacteria, francisellas
and streptococci-lactococci.
• A question mark hangs over the signifi cance of some organisms to fi sh pathology – are they truly pathogens or chance contaminants?
• There has been considerable improvement in the taxonomy of some groups, for
example vibrios, particularly with the widespread use of sequencing of the 16S
rRNA gene.
• There have been substantive advances in the understanding of pathogenicity
mechanisms as a result of molecular approaches.
• The advent of molecular methods has revolutionised diagnostics, particularly in
terms of accuracy.
• There has been a shift from emphasis on culture-dependent to culture- independent
techniques as molecular methods have become commonplace in laboratories.
• The value of pure laboratory cultures to their counterparts in pathological material may be questioned.
References
Campbell EJM, Scadding JG, Roberts MS (1979) The concept of disease. Br Med J 2:757–762
Kinne O (1980) Diseases of marine animals, vol 1. General aspects, protozoa to gastropoda. Wiley,
Chichester
Koskiniemi S, Sun S, Berg OG, Andersson DI (2012) Selection-driven gene loss in bacteria. PLOS
Genet. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002787
Pennisi E (2002) Evolutionary biology: bacteria share photosynthetic genes. Science (New York)
298:1538–1538
Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA (1980) Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst
Bacteriol 30:225–420
Stevenson LH (1978) A case for bacterial dormancy in aquatic systems. Microb Ecol 4:127–133
Torrella F, Morita RY (1981) Microcultural study of bacterial size changes and microcolony and
ultramicrocolony formation by heterotrophic bacteria in seawater. Appl Environ Microbiol
41:518–527
References
often improperly understood. Moreover, it seems that little if anything may be done
to aid wild fi sh stocks, except, perhaps, by controlling pollution of the rivers and
seas, assuming that when environmental quality deteriorates this infl uences disease
cycles. In contrast, much effort has been devoted to controlling diseases of farmed
fi sh.
Conclusions
• The list of fi sh pathogens has extended substantially since 1980. Current interest
focuses on the motile aeromonads, enterics, vibrios, fl avobacteria, francisellas
and streptococci-lactococci.
• A question mark hangs over the signifi cance of some organisms to fi sh pathology – are they truly pathogens or chance contaminants?
• There has been considerable improvement in the taxonomy of some groups, for
example vibrios, particularly with the widespread use of sequencing of the 16S
rRNA gene.
• There have been substantive advances in the understanding of pathogenicity
mechanisms as a result of molecular approaches.
• The advent of molecular methods has revolutionised diagnostics, particularly in
terms of accuracy.
• There has been a shift from emphasis on culture-dependent to culture- independent
techniques as molecular methods have become commonplace in laboratories.
• The value of pure laboratory cultures to their counterparts in pathological material may be questioned.
References
Campbell EJM, Scadding JG, Roberts MS (1979) The concept of disease. Br Med J 2:757–762
Kinne O (1980) Diseases of marine animals, vol 1. General aspects, protozoa to gastropoda. Wiley,
Chichester
Koskiniemi S, Sun S, Berg OG, Andersson DI (2012) Selection-driven gene loss in bacteria. PLOS
Genet. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002787
Pennisi E (2002) Evolutionary biology: bacteria share photosynthetic genes. Science (New York)
298:1538–1538
Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA (1980) Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst
Bacteriol 30:225–420
Stevenson LH (1978) A case for bacterial dormancy in aquatic systems. Microb Ecol 4:127–133
Torrella F, Morita RY (1981) Microcultural study of bacterial size changes and microcolony and
ultramicrocolony formation by heterotrophic bacteria in seawater. Appl Environ Microbiol
41:518–527
References