title: Propagation of the marine dinoflagellate Amyloodinium ocellatum under germ-free conditions.
abstract: Germ-free infections of Amyloodinium ocellatum were produced on both living fish and in organ cultures. Exposing gnotobiotic guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to 125 dinospores in multiwell tissue culture plates produced nonlethal infections that could be serially propagated. Exposure to 250 or more parasites killed the fish during the first infection cycle, but if the dead fish were incubated in a cell culture medium/seawater mixture, the parasites could survive and reproduce for up to 2 wk in these organ cultures. Organ cultures containing only seawater or those containing bacteria did not support the prolonged survival of Amyloodinium.
authors: Department of Companion Animal and Special Species Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606.
authors: E J
authors: EJ
authors: Noga
authors: C E
authors: CE
authors: Bower
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D003470:Culture Media; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000254:growth & development*; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D011036:Poecilia; D012623:Seawater
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media