Viral-like particles are associated with endosymbiont pathology in Florida corals affected by stony coral tissue loss disease

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first documented in 2014 near the Port of Miami, Florida, and has since spread north and south along Florida’s Coral Reef, killing large numbers of more than 20 species of coral and leading to the functional extinction of at least one species, Dendrogyra cylindrus. SCTLD is assumed to be caused by bacteria based on presence of different molecular assemblages of bacteria in lesioned compared to apparently healthy tissues, its apparent spread among colonies, and cessation of spread of lesions in individual colonies treated with antibiotics. However, light microscopic examination of tissues of corals affected with SCTLD have not shown bacteria associated with tissue death....

Categories: Data; Tags: Flexiviridae, Florida, Stony coral tissue loss disease, Symbiodiniaceae, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), All tags... Wildlife Disease, biota, endosymbionts, pathogenesis, transmission electron microscopy, Fewer tags