title: Real-time PCR assay for Aquimarina macrocephali subsp. homaria and its distribution in shell disease lesions of Homarus americanus, Milne-Edwards, 1837, and environmental samples.
abstract: Epizootic shell disease (ESD) is causing major losses to the lobster fishery in southern New England. Potential pathogens have been identified in lesion communities, but there are currently no efficient means of detecting and quantifying their presence. A qPCR assay was developed for a key potential pathogen, Aquimarina macrocephali subsp. homaria found to be ubiquitous in ESD lesions but not the unaffected integument. Application of the assay to various samples demonstrated that A. macrocephali subsp. homaria is ubiquitous and abundant in lobster lesions, commonly associated with healthy surfaces of crabs and is scarce in water and sediment samples from southern New England suggesting the affinity of this microorganism to the Arthropod integument. The qPCR assay developed here can be applied in future in vivo and in vitro studies to better understand the ecology and role of A. macrocephali subsp.homaria. in shell disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, United States.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, United States.
authors.forename: Suchandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hazra
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Marine Biology, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, United States.
authors.forename: Roxanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smolowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, United States. Electronic address: ayc6160@louisiana.edu.
authors.forename: Andrei Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Chistoserdov
mesh_terms: D060105:Animal Shells / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D041965:Flavobacteriaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008121:Nephropidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012758:Shellfish / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: American lobster; Epizootic shell disease; qPCR assay