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The kinetics of adhesion of Listonella anguillarum cells to skin, intestinal and gill mucus suspensions of gilt-head seabream was studied. A Langmuir adsorption isotherm was calculated, and the results obtained indicated that this microorganism showed a saturation kinetics. The pretreatment of the mucus suspensions with a surface extract obtained from L. anguillarum cells promoted a very important inhibition of the number of adhered bacteria to the different mucus suspensions. The potential role of surface structures on the adhesion of L. anguillarum to mucus of gilt-head seabream is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aetiological agents of the abdominal swelling affecting farmed larvae of gilt-head seabream, Sparus aurata L., were studied. Four Vibrio strains were isolated from larvae of S. aurata affected by this disease, and all strains reproduced the disease in healthy larvae under controlled infection experiments, producing a significant increase of the mortality rates compared to the control (non-inoculated larvae). Several enzymatic properties, which can act as virulence factors, were demonstrated both in the extracellular products (ECPs) and in live cells of the strains tested. Histopathological examinations of the infected fish larvae revealed important changes of the anterior intestine and liver characterized by a marked hyperthrophy of the intestinal epithelium and hepatocytes, and by a separation of the mucosal and submucosal layers in the digestive tube. These histological alterations were associated with the constant presence of cocobacillar bacteria in the anterior intestine and in the liver. However, the precise pathogenic mechanisms of the strains tested have not been completely elucidated yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]