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Studies On The Oyster Pathogen Perkinsus Marinus (Apicomplexa): Interactions With Host Defenses Of Crassostrea Virginica And Crassostrea Gigas, And In Vitro Propagation, Jerome F. La Peyre

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The disease caused by the protozoan Perkinsus marinus has been a major source of mortality in the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Variations in susceptibility to P. marinus infection among eastern oysters collected from the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico, as well as between eastern and Pacific (Crassostrea gigas) oysters were determined. Since oyster host defense may play a role in determining susceptibility to pathogen infection, cellular and humoral defense activities of the oyster and their interactions with P. marinus were investigated. Procedures also had to be established to isolate, purify, and propagate in vitro, P. marinus. Eastern oysters from …