TITLE:
Identification of Bacterial Fish Pathogens in Brazil by Direct Colony PCR and 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing
AUTHORS:
F. A. Sebastião, L. R. Furlan, D. T. Hashimoto, F. Pilarski
KEYWORDS:
Direct Colony PCR, 16S rRNA Sequencing, Bacterial Fish Pathogens
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.5 No.6,
June
16,
2015
ABSTRACT: Intensive fish farming systems
in Brazil have increased the disease incidence, mainly of bacterial origin, due
to higher stocking density, high organic matter levels and poor quality of the aquatic
environment that causes high mortality rates during outbreaks. The identification
of pathogenic species using a fast and reliable method of diagnosis is essential
for successful epidemiological studies and disease control. The present study evaluated
the use of direct colony PCR in combination
with 16S rRNA gene sequencing to diagnose fish bacterial diseases, with the goal
of reducing the costs and time necessary for bacterial identification. The method
was successful for all 178 isolates tested and produced bands with the same intensity
as the standard PCR performed using pure DNA. In conclusion, the genetics
methods allowed detecting the most common and important pathogens in
Aquaculture, including 12 species of occurrence in Brazilian fish farms. The
results of the present study constitute an advance in the available diagnostic methods
for bacterial pathogens in fish farms.