Association of a bacteriophage with virulence in <i>Vibrio harveyi</i>

Abstract

(First paragraph) The virulence of Vibrio harveyi, which is a serious pathogen of penaeids (Karunasagar, Pai, Malathi &amp;amp; Karunasagar 1994; Pizzuto &amp;amp; Hirst 1995; Alvarez, Austin, Alvarez &amp;amp; Reyes 1998) and finfish (Kraxberger-Beatty, McGarey, Grier &amp;amp; Lim 1990; Ishimaru &amp;amp; Muroga 1997), has been associated with possession of double haemolysin genes (Zhang, Meaden &amp;amp; Austin 2001). The study seeks to investigate a possible relationship between virulence and the previously described bacteriophage of V. harveyi (Oakey &amp;amp; Owens 2000). The bacteriophage, which has been determined to have an icosahedral head and rigid tail and to contain double stranded linear DNA, has been presumptively assigned to the genus Myovirus (Oakey &amp;amp; Owens 2000).