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High-Density Cultivation of the Marine Ciliate Uronema marinum (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea) in Axenic Medium

Publication date: 22.10.2015

Acta Protozoologica, 2015, Volume 54, Issue 4, pp. 325 - 330

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.15.027.3541

Authors

,
Weibo Zheng
Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
All publications →
,
Feng Gao
Laboratory of Protozoology, KLM, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
All publications →
Alan Warren
Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK
All publications →

Titles

High-Density Cultivation of the Marine Ciliate Uronema marinum (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea) in Axenic Medium

Abstract

Uronema marinum is a cosmopolitan marine ciliate. It is a facultative parasite and the main causative agent of outbreaks of scuticociliatosis in aquaculture fish. This study reports a method for the axenic cultivation of U. marinum in high densities in an artificial medium comprising proteose peptone, glucose and yeast extract powder as its basic components. The absence of bacteria in the cultures was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy of DAPI-stained samples and the failure to recover bacterial SSU-rDNA using standard PCR methods. Using this axenic medium, a maximum cell density of 420,000 ciliate cells/ml was achieved, which is significantly higher than in cultures using living bacteria as food or in other axenic media reported previously. This method for high-density axenic cultivation of U. marinum should facilitate future research on this economically important facultative fish parasite.

References

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Information

Information: Acta Protozoologica, 2015, Volume 54, Issue 4, pp. 325 - 330

Article type: Original article

Authors

Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China

Laboratory of Protozoology, KLM, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK

Published at: 22.10.2015

Article status: Open

Licence: None

Percentage share of authors:

Weibo Zheng (Author) - 33%
Feng Gao (Author) - 33%
Alan Warren (Author) - 34%

Article corrections:

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Publication languages:

English