Pathology of Flavobacterium sp. KG3 in Experimentally Challenged Ornamental Goldfish Carassius auratus (L.)

Year 2018, Volume: 77 Issue: 2, 76 - 80, 02.12.2018

Sudeshna Sarker Thangapalam Jawahar Abraham Sayani Banerjee Harresh Adikesavalu

Abstract

DOI: 10.26650/EurJBiol.2018.0012

Objective: This study investigated the
pathogenicity and pathology of the gill rot-associated bacterium Flavobacterium
sp. KG3 in experimentally challenged Carassius auratus.

Material and Methods: The pathogenicity of
Flavobacterium sp. KG3 was assessed by intraperitoneal injection (i/p) and
abrasion-bath treatment followed by histopathology.

Results: Flavobacterium sp. KG3 challenge
caused extensive damages to the gills and internal organs of C. auratus,
resulting in cellular and tissue-level alterations. The i/p challenge resulted
in significant mortalities, with an LD50 value of 2.5 × 105 CFU/fish. The abrasion-bath
challenge resulted in 60% mortality at 6.0 × 106 cells/mL in 5 days. The kidney
of the challenged C. auratus exhibited extensive haaemorrhages, polymorphic and
constricted nephritic tubules, fibrosis, glomerulopathy, degeneration of
nephritic tubular epithelium, disruption of blood vessels, cellular and nuclear
hypertrophy, granuloma formation, necrosis of haaematopoietic area, vacuolation
in haaematopoietic tissue, widening of lumen, and thickening of the luminal
lining.

Conclusion: Like other recognized bacterial
pathogens, Flavobacterium sp. KG3 was moderately virulent to C. auratus and can
produce systemic pathology in the gills, muscle, spleen, and kidney.

Keywords

Carassius auratus, Flavobacterium sp., Flavobacterial infection, virulence, histopathology

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