Isolation and identification of Photobacterium phosphoreum from an unexpected niche: Migrating salmon

Authors: K.J. Budsberg, C.F. Wimpee, and J.F. Braddock
Pub. no.: RP-03-04
Year: 2003
Price: Single copies free.

Luminous bacteria were isolated from migrating salmon in the Yukon River, Alaska, and identified as Photobacterium phosphoreum. While previous studies suggest that the luminous P. phosphoreum is an exclusively marine bacterium, the bacteria in this study are from salmon that migrated 1,228 km from the marine environment to Rampart, Alaska. When salmon migrate into freshwater, luminous bacteria on the fish are protected by the salmon's slime until the fish are caught. DNA isolates from the bacteria were used in the identification. For full text see http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/69/11/6938. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 69:6938-6942.