title: Isolation and characterization of strains of Flavobacterium columnare from Brazil.
abstract: Flavobacterium columnare is an important pathogen of freshwater fish, implicated in skin and gill disease, often causing high mortality. An outbreak of skin disease in fingerling and adult Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), cultivated in a recirculation system, was investigated. Four strains were isolated and characterized by biochemical reactions, enzyme production, fatty acid profile and analysis of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region. All strains were identified as F. columnare. Experimental infection assays with one of these strains (BZ-5-02) were conducted and pathogenicity (by intramuscular route) was demonstrated in Nile tilapia and channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque). This is the first report of characterization of Brazilian strains of F. columnare.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Diseases of Aquatic Animals, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil. henrique@ufla.br
authors.forename: H C P
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Klesius
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Shoemaker
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: M T D
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Peixoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D023681:Cichlids; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D017931:DNA Primers; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D045826:Flavobacteriaceae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005417:Flavobacterium / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D005227:Fatty Acids