Agar culture of Piscirickettsia salmonis, a serious pathogen of farmed salmonid and marine fish

• Published in: FEMS microbiology letters Vol. 278; no. 1; pp. 43 - 47
• Main Authors: Mikalsen, Jarle, Skjærvik, Olaf, Wiik-Nielsen, Jannicke, Wasmuth, Marit A, Colquhoun, Duncan J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2008; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Agar; Animals; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; broth; Cell culture; culture; Culture media; Culture Media - chemistry; Disease Outbreaks; extracellular; Fish; Fish Diseases - epidemiology; Fish Diseases - microbiology; Fish farms; Fisheries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Growth, nutrition, cell differenciation; in vitro; Marine fish; Microbiology; Pathogens; Piscirickettsia - drug effects; Piscirickettsia - genetics; Piscirickettsia - growth & development; Piscirickettsia - isolation & purification; Piscirickettsia salmonis; Piscirickettsiaceae Infections - epidemiology; Piscirickettsiaceae Infections - microbiology; Salmo salar; Salmo salar - microbiology; Salmon; Virulence; broth; extracellular; agar; culture; Growth; Piscirickettsia salmonis; Extracellular; In vitro; Agarose; Marine environment; Phenotype; Pathogenic; Pisciculture; Aquaculture; Gram negative bacteria
• ISSN: 0378-1097; 1574-6968
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2007.00977.x

Piscirickettsia salmonis, a serious bacterial pathogen of farmed marine fish, previously considered culturable only in eukaryotic cell-culture systems, was grown for the first time on agar and broth containing enhanced levels of cysteine, thus greatly increasing the potential for isolation, in vitro culture and study of this organism. Virulence towards Atlantic salmon following passage on agar media was retained in a controlled laboratory trial. Of the studied temperatures, optimal growth on agar was observed at 22 °C.