Pathogenicity of Fungi Colonizing Some Hard Corals and Invertebrates from the Northern Egyptian Red Sea Coast | ||||
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries | ||||
Article 4, Volume 21, Issue 2, April 2017, Page 47-61 PDF (579.25 K) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/ejabf.2017.3532 | ||||
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Authors | ||||
El-Morsy, E. M.1; Ibrahim, H. A. H2; Amal Zaki Farhat* 1; Mohsien, M. T.1; Abu El-Regal, M3 | ||||
1Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, Egypt | ||||
2Natinoal Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria Branch, Alexandria, Egypt | ||||
3Marine Science Department, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port said, Egypt | ||||
Abstract | ||||
Fungi colonizing hard coral species collected from Hurghada, Red Sea were isolated and identified to the species level. A total of 47 fungal isolates (37 isolates from hard corals and 10 isolates from other invertebrates) were collected. Twelve of them are belonging to 4 genera; Aspergillus, Penicillium, Nigrospora and Botrydiploida. Aspergillus and Penicillium were represented by 5 species each whereas, Nigrospora and Botrydiploida were represented by one species each. Pathogenicity of 12 fungal species on Galaxea fascicularis and Stylophora pistillata corals revealed that that the degree of pathogenicity depend up on the fungal species, hard coral species and the duration of exposure to spores. Colonies of G. fascicularis were more susceptible to fungal infection than S. pistillata where they were infected in the first week by spores of four fungi compared to one fungal species for S. pistillata. G. Fascicularis was infected by Aspergillus niger, and A. parasiticus where black spots appeared on some parts of the colonies and the skeleton started to decay. In general A. flavus, A. fumigatus, Botryoldiploida sp., P. crustosum, and P. echinulatum had no effect on coral colonies. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Marine fungi; Hard coral; pathogenicity; Red Sea | ||||
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