Abstract
The freshwater bryozoan Fredericella sultana (Blumenbach) is the most common invertebrate host of the myxozoan parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, the causative agent of proliferative kidney disease in salmonid fish. Culture media play an important role in hatching of statoblasts and maintaining clean bryozoan colonies for Malacosporea research. We developed a novel culture medium, Bryozoan Medium C (BMC), for the cultivation and maintenance of F. sultana under laboratory conditions. Statoblasts of F. sultana were successfully hatched to produce transparent-walled, specific pathogen-free (SPF) colonies that were maintained >12 months in BMC at pH 6.65. Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae was successfully transmitted from infected brown trout, Salmo trutta L., to newly hatched F. sultana colonies in BMC, then from the infected bryozoan to SPF brown trout. This study demonstrated the utility of BMC (pH 6.65) for hatching statoblasts, long-term cultivation of clean and transparent bryozoan colonies and maintenance of the Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae life cycle in the laboratory for molecular genetic research and other studies such as host–parasiteinteraction.
Highlights
Members of the Phylum Bryozoa are generally small, sessile invertebrates that live on submerged surfaces, with most freshwater bryozoans grouped in the class Phylactolaemata (Wood et al 1998)
Medium Bryozoan Medium C (BMC) at pH 6.65 produced the best hatching result: 8–10 statoblasts/plate (33%) hatched (Fig. 1) after 2 weeks of incubation
Reliable cultivation and maintenance of F. sultana is regarded as an essential basis for establishment of the T. bryosalmonae life cycle in the laboratory
Summary
Members of the Phylum Bryozoa are generally small, sessile invertebrates that live on submerged surfaces, with most freshwater bryozoans grouped in the class Phylactolaemata (Wood et al 1998). Bryozoans feed by filtering water for organic particles, small microorganisms such as diatoms and other unicellular algae that they capture with ciliated tentacles (Wood et al 1998). Through two routes: colony fragmentation or statoblast formation. Bryozoans of the class Phylactolaemata can form encapsulated, seed-like statoblasts, which remain dormant and can withstand drying and freezing; when conditions are favourable, the statoblasts germinate to form a new colony (Wood & Okamura 2005)
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