Prevention of soft tunic syndrome in edible ascidian Halocynthia roretzi

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H05251
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: Ehime University
• Principal Investigator: Kitamura Shin-Ichi 愛媛大学, 沿岸環境科学研究センター, 准教授 (40448379)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 広瀬 裕一 琉球大学, 理学部, 教授 (30241772) ; 柳田 哲矢 山口大学, 共同獣医学部, 准教授 (40431837) ; 仲山 慶 愛媛大学, 沿岸環境科学研究センター, 講師 (80380286)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: マボヤ / 被嚢軟化症 / 診断法 / 集団遺伝学的解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Soft tunic syndrome is an infectious disease of ascidian in Japan and Korea. Azumiobodo hoyamushi, a kinetoplastid flagellate, is the causative agent of the disease. In this study, we developed a diagnosis method of the disease using microscopy. The microscopic observation could detect the flagellate from asymptomatic ascidians as well as diseased samples although the detection sensitivity was lower than that of PCR. The method is fully useful for simple diagnosis in the field. Also, we analyzed a haplotype network in 11 Japanese and Korean isolates using nucleotide sequence of Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase gene to investigate transmission route of the parasite. There are six haplotype diversities, and they were largely divided into two groups. One is Japanese group, and the other is Korean group and group formed by isolates from both countries. The results suggested existence of Japanese population and the population transmitted from Korea to Japan.

Free Research Field

魚病学