Vibrio alginolyticus infection in the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and 16S rDNA sequencing.

A gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium identified as Vibrio alginolyticus was isolated from diseased Litopenaeus vannamei (also called Penaeus vannamei) in Taiwanese culture ponds. The diseased shrimp displayed poor growth, anorexia, inactivity, reddish pleural borders of antennae, uropods and telson, opaque and whitish musculature, and mortality. In histological preparations, melanized hemocytic granulomas were observed in the connective tissue around hemal sinuses together with hemocytic aggregation in necrotic musculature. Six isolates of Vibrio were collected from diseased shrimp at 3 farms, and these were evaluated for characteristics including morphology, physiology, biochemistry and sensitivity to antibiotics. The results indicated that the isolates belonged to a single species that grew in 1 to 8% NaCl, at 10 to 40 degrees C and on TCBS (thiosulfatecitrate-bile sucrose) agar, and that gave positive catalase, O/F (Oxidation/Fermentation), lysine decarboxylase, gelatinase and cytochrome-oxidase tests. Identification of CH003 (1 of 6 isolates) was confirmed by PCR assay for V. alginolyticus (expected amplicon 1486 bp). The 16S rDNA sequence (GenBank accession number AY373027) gave 99.9% sequence identity to V. alginolyticus (GenBank accession number X74690). The calculated 96 h LD50 dose of the isolated strain was 3.0 x 10(5) colony forming units (CFU) shrimp(-1) (6.6 x 10(4) CFU g(-1)).