Dermo presence in Lower Laguna Madre Oysters

• In Event: Poster Presentation and Judging for: Biomedical; Cell & Molecular Biology; Chemistry & Biochemistry; Marine Science; Systematics & Evolutionary Biology.
  In Poster Session: Marine Science Poster Session

Abstract

Oysters and clams play an important role in the shellfish industry in Texas and the industry is worth 148 billion dollars worldwide. The oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and clams (Donax texasianus, and Chione elevata) of the Lower Laguna Madre are filter feeders. Their value is important to both the ecosystem and also as possible candidate organisms for mariculture; thus it is important to understand the diseases that affect these bivalves. Oysters are often plagued by a disease known as known as Dermo, caused by Perkinsus marinus which has been found in the Lower Laguna Madre. Dermo is prevalent in warm waters. Natural infections are caused by parasites released from dead disintegrating oysters or by scavenger feeding on dead oysters. When oysters become infected, they can die anywhere up to three years after initial exposure and infection. We recently started looking at clams and discovered that Dermo affects them as well. Dermo diagnosis was done by culturing anal-rectal tissue in Rays Fluid Thioglycollate Media (RFTM). Oyster and clam samples, from the Lower Laguna Madre (LLM) were taken back to our laboratory and cultured in RFTM and stained for Dermo detection. Our hypothesis consisted of two main points; 1. Dermo is in the LLM, 2. Dermo affects other bivalves in the LLM. We plan to identify the Perkinsus species via PCR using published Perkinsus genera and species primers. We’ll report on our findings and suggest future direction of research.

Author

• Daniel Gonzalez, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley