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CURRENT RESEARCH
- The protistan, QPX (quahog parasite unknown) is parasitic in a commerically important species of bivalve (Mercenaria mercenaria, hard clams). I identified the parasite in hard clams in Provincetown, MA in 1995 and have been studying the organism and the disease since. The disease causes significant morbidity and mortality in both cultured stocks and wild clams. Cape Cod is a hot spot for the disease, but it is also seen in NY (Raritan Bay was recently closed to clam fishing), the Atlantic Coast of Virginia and in Rhode Island. My lab is interested in the pathogenesis of the disease, basically the interaction between the clam and the parasite, what conditions allow the disease to occur and where the organism can be found in the environment.
- Shell disease in American lobsters is of major concern to that fishery. My lab has been researching the cause of the most recent outbreak of the disease in coastal waters from eastern Long Island Sound to Massachusetts. I have described the carapace lesions and the apparent cause of the lesions. We are working on in situ staining methods with the goal of specifically identifying the bacteria found at the base of the erosions. My lab is also interested in the hormonal cues that cause proliferation of reparative shell under eroded carapace.
- My lab continues to study the major diseases of the eastern oyster including MSX, SSO and Dermo. Our interests are in defining the life cycle of H. costale, developing better methods of identification of organisms on histological sections and evaluating resistance factors of importance in shellfish, specifically as related to the inflammatory response of the shellfish.
- With Marta Gomez-Chiarri at URI, I am studying the occurrence and pathogenesis of disease caused by Vibrio carchariae in winter flounder (it causes colitis, circumferential necrosis of the colonic wall and results in blind ended intestinal sacs in animals that survive). Either antibody staining or in situ staining work will be used to identify bacteria in the lesions of the flounder.
- With the help of several students, other ongoing projects in the lab concern:
- developing a PCR diagnostic methods of identification of Edwardsiella tarda, the cause of severe and common disease problems in our oyster toadfish.
- the development and use of in situ staining methods for the detection of QPX and Dermo in marine snow.
- studies of diseases identified in both vertebrate and invertebrae animals maintained in the Marine Resources Center at the MBL
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