Abstract
Vibrio coralliilyticus is an important coral pathogen demonstrated to cause disease outbreaks worldwide. This study investigated the feasibility of applying bacteriophage therapy to treat the coral pathogen V. coralliilyticus. A specific bacteriophage for V. coralliilyticus strain P1 (LMG23696), referred to here as bacteriophage YC, was isolated from the seawater above corals at Nelly Bay, Magnetic Island, central Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the same location where the bacterium was first isolated. Bacteriophage YC was shown to be a lytic phage belonging to the Myoviridae family, with a rapid replication rate, high burst size, and high affinity to its host. By infecting its host bacterium, bacteriophage YC was able to prevent bacterial-induced photosystem inhibition in pure cultures of Symbiodinium, the photosymbiont partner of coral and a target for virulence factors produced by the bacterial pathogen. Phage therapy experiments using coral juveniles in microtiter plates as a model system revealed that bacteriophage YC was able to prevent V. coralliilyticus-induced photoinactivation and tissue lysis. These results demonstrate that bacteriophage YC has the potential to treat coral disease outbreaks caused by the bacterial pathogen V. coralliilyticus, making it a good candidate for phage therapy treatment of coral disease.
Highlights
Coral reefs are highly diverse and dynamic ecosystems, often compared with tropical rainforests in their biological complexity (Reaka-Kudla 1997)
Coral disease outbreaks pose a serious risk to reef ecosystems through the destruction of reef-building corals
Robust and tangible reef management practices need to be developed to prevent coral disease outbreaks and preserve reefs currently subjected to increased anthropogenic stress and high prevalence of disease
Summary
Coral reefs are highly diverse and dynamic ecosystems, often compared with tropical rainforests in their biological complexity (Reaka-Kudla 1997). Assessments over recent decades have documented dramatic deterioration in coral reef health with 1–2% annual declines of coral cover over broad areas of the Indo-Pacific and greater than 50% cover coral loss of in some regions (Bruno and Selig 2007). Factors contributing to these declines include poor water quality associated with increased sedimentation and nutrients from disturbed coastlines, over exploitation of key marine species, destructive fishing, and pollution (Hughes et al 2003). The ecological consequences of widespread disease outbreaks include lowered coral reproduction and growth rates, altered community structures, and decreased abundance of other reef-associated organisms (Loya et al 2001)
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