Chemiluminescent responses of striped bass, <i>Morone saxatilis</i> (Walbaum), phagocytes to strains of <i>Yersinia ruckeri</i>

Abstract

Abstract. Seventeen strains of Yersinia ruckeri were examined for plasmid DNA by means of agarose gel electrophoresis of partially cleared lysates. All 10 serotype I strains examined contained a 70 Megadalton (Mdal) plasmid, whereas only one of the 7 serotype II strains examined contained a plasmid of about 2–3 Mdal. Yersinia ruckeri exhibited distinctive colonial morphology and serological reactivities which suggested a possible correlation with plasmid content. The luminol‐enhanced Chemiluminescent (CL) responses of striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum), phagocytes to different strains of Y. ruckeri were also studied. Some variability was observed; however, the greatest phagocyte CL responses were elicited by serotype II strains without the plasmid while serotype I strains harbouring the plasmid consistently elicited weak CL responses from phagocytes.