title: Haemocyte persistence after grafting for pearl production in Pinctada margaritifera (Linnaeus, 1758).
abstract: The grafting process used for pearl production in pearl oysters triggers a significant haemocyte response which has an influence on the quality of pearls formed. One hundred and ten selected healthy adult Pinctada margaritifera were grafted for pearl production. Beginning two days after grafting, oysters were sacrificed regularly until the 48th day and the pearl-sacs of sampled oysters were sectioned for histological analysis. The level of haemocytes present in the pearl-sacs decreased overtime with the samples from day 2 showing the highest levels. Haemocyte levels also varied between samples from a particular day. The exact cause(s) of varying levels of haemocyte accumulation during pearl-sac development in P. margaritifera is not known. However, it is reasonable to assume that haemocyte production is positively related to the degree of damage caused to host oyster tissues during the grafting procedure. While haemocytes have an important wound healing role in pearl oysters, excessive haemocyte presence may be detrimental to maximizing pearl quality.
authors.affiliation: Pearl Oyster Research Group and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia. Electronic address: pranesh.kishore@my.jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Pranesh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kishore
authors.affiliation: Pearl Oyster Research Group and Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Southgate
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D049911:Pinctada / Q000276:immunology*
keywords: Haemocyte; Pearl oyster; Pearl quality; Pearl-sac; Pinctada margaritifera