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
Kingdom:
Bacteria
Phylum:
Proteobacteria
Class:
Alphaproteobacteria
Order:
Rhizobiales
Family:
Aurantimonadaceae
Genus:
Aurantimonas
Species:
A. coralicida

Denner et al. 2003
Binomial name
Aurantimonas coralicida

Description

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

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

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

History

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 Rhizobiales and was classified under the newly created genus Aurantimonas as Aurantimonas coralicida.[1]

References
  1. 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
  • Yossi Loya; Rosenberg, Eugene (2004). Coral Health and Disease. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3-540-20772-4.


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