title: Use of Natural Antimicrobial Peptides and Bacterial Biopolymers for Cultured Pearl Production.
abstract: Cultured pearls are the product of grafting and rearing of Pinctada margaritifera pearl oysters in their natural environment. Nucleus rejections and oyster mortality appear to result from bacterial infections or from an inappropriate grafting practice. To reduce the impact of bacterial infections, synthetic antibiotics have been applied during the grafting practice. However, the use of such antibiotics presents a number of problems associated with their incomplete biodegradability, limited efficacy in some cases, and an increased risk of selecting for antimicrobial resistant bacteria. We investigated the application of a marine antimicrobial peptide, tachyplesin, which is present in the Japanese horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus, in combination with two marine bacterial exopolymers as alternative treatment agents. In field studies, the combination treatment resulted in a significant reduction in graft failures vs. untreated controls. The combination of tachyplesin (73 mg/L) with two bacterial exopolysaccharides (0.5% w/w) acting as filming agents, reduces graft-associated bacterial contamination. The survival data were similar to that reported for antibiotic treatments. These data suggest that non-antibiotic treatments of pearl oysters may provide an effective means of improving oyster survival following grafting procedures.
authors.affiliation: Ifremer, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France. Christelle.Simon.Colin@ifremer.fr.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simon-Colin
authors.affiliation: Ifremer UMR 5244 IHPE, UPVD, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, CC 80, F-34095 Montpellier, France. Denis.Saulnier@ifremer.fr.|Ifremer, UMR 241 EIO, UPF-ILM-IRD, Labex Corail, BP 7004, 98719 Taravao, French Polynesia. Denis.Saulnier@ifremer.fr.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gueguen
authors.affiliation: Ifremer UMR 5244 IHPE, UPVD, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, CC 80, F-34095 Montpellier, France. Evelyne.Bachere@ifremer.fr.
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bachere
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences, Biochemistry Department, Section III, Lebanese University, Tripoli, Lebanon. achraf_kouzayha@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Achraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouzayha
authors.affiliation: Ifremer, UMR 241 EIO, UPF-ILM-IRD, Labex Corail, BP 7004, 98719 Taravao, French Polynesia. Denis.Saulnier@ifremer.fr.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saulnier
authors.affiliation: Ifremer, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France. Nicolas.Gayet@ifremer.fr.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gayet
authors.affiliation: AiMB. 17 Rue d'Ouessant, 29280 Plouzané, France. guezennec.jean@wanadoo.fr.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guezennec
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006737:Horseshoe Crabs / Q000737:chemistry*; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D049911:Pinctada / Q000378:metabolism*; D013534:Survival
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001704:Biopolymers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C057636:tachyplesin peptide, Tachypleus tridentatus
keywords: antimicrobial; exopolysaccharide; pearl oyster; tachyplesin