title: Candidatus Renichlamydia lutjani, a Gram-negative bacterium in internal organs of blue-striped snapper Lutjanus kasmira from Hawaii.
abstract: The blue-striped snapper Lutjanus kasmira (Perciformes, Lutjanidae) are cosmopolitan in the Indo-Pacific but were introduced into Oahu, Hawaii, USA, in the 1950s and have since colonized most of the archipelago. Studies of microparasites in blue-striped snappers from Hawaii revealed chlamydia-like organisms (CLO) infecting the spleen and kidney, characterized by intracellular basophilic granular inclusions containing Gram-negative and Gimenez-positive bacteria similar in appearance to epitheliocysts when seen under light microscopy. We provide molecular evidence that CLO are a new member of Chlamydiae, i.e. Candidatus Renichlamydia lutjani, that represents the first reported case of chlamydial infection in organs other than the gill in fishes.
authors.affiliation: CHLAREAS Chlamydia Research Association, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France. corsaro@voila.fr
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corsaro
authors.forename: Thierry M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Work
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology; D010473:Perciformes; D010802:Phylogeny