• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.109-109
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• 2002

Detection of protozoan parasites Perkinsus sp. and P. atlanticus was developed in this study using a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to diagnose the presence of those organisms that causes extensive mortalities of marine shellfishes. The PCR was conducted together with fluid thioglycollate medium (FTM) method and 2 M NaOH lysis method. For the test, Manila clams, Ruditapes philippinarum, were collected from four coastal locations in Korea including Wando Island, Gimnyeong, Sungsan and Sogwipo in Jeju. In addition, trophozites of Perkinsus sp. cultivated in vitro and the granular ark clam, Tegillarca granosa, taken from Gangjin on the south coast of Korea, were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. Expected DNA bands were detected in the samples from Wando Island, Sungsan and the in vitro cultured Perkinsus sp. when the probes specific for the genus Perkinsus and P. atlanticus were used. The samples were also positively diagnosed by the FTM and 2 M NaOH methods. In contrast, the Manila clams from Gimnyeong and Sogwipo, and the granular arks clams from Gangjin showed no detectable signs of infection with the PCR, the FTM method and the 2 M NaOH lysis method. On the other hand, being amplified by p. atlanticus specific primer, it is suggested that the protozoan parasite Perkinsus sp. found in the Korean Manila clam is P. atlanticus. Finally the PCR- based assay developed in the present study can be used in detection of Perkinsus infection and discrimination of Peykinsus species in quarantine stations or laboratories due to the high sensitivity and specificity as well as its rapid detection.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.227-237
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• 1997

Five species of intertidal clams including Ruditapes philippinarum, Tegillarca granosa, Solen strictus, Heteromacoma irus, and Coecella chinensis were tested for the presence of the protozoan parasite, Perkinsus sp. using fluid thioglycollate medium (FTM) fortified with antibiotics and histological techniques. Each individual clam was placed in a test tube filled with 10ml FTM, placed in totally dark place, and incubated over a week. After incubation the clam tissues were stained with Lugol's iodine solution and examined under a light microscope to find out any hypnospores of Perkensus sp. in the tissues. Cross-sections of the clams were also embedded in paraffin, sliced to 3um, and stained with Harry's hematoxylene and Picro eosine to observe the presence of tomont or trophozoites. Perkinsus sp. were found in the presence of tomont or trophozoites. Perkinsus sp. were found in the tissues of R. philippinarum collected from Kangjin and Wando, along the south coast of Korea. However, Perkinsus sp. was not found in four other species of clams nor R. philippinaurm collected from Kimnyong and Waido in Cheju. A size-dependent Perkinsus sp. infection was found in R. philippinarum collected rom Kangjin and Wando the clams smaller than 15mm in shell width do not exhibit and Perkinsus sp. while other clams greater than 20mm in shell width exhibit almost 100% infection. To determine the number of Perkinsus sp. in the clams, FTM cultured clam tissues were digested with 2M NaOH solution and the number of hypnospores in the tube were counted. The number of hypnospores counted from the tissues indicated that each Manila clam contains 100,000 to 3,500,000 Perkinsus cells or 20,000 to 1,000,000 cells per gram tissue wet weight. The results of cell counts also suggests that such a high occurrence of Perkinsus sp. in the clam may cause mortality, as already reported from other studies of Perkinsus spp.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.579-592
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• 2020

This study was designed to assess the water quality and phytoplankton community including chlorophyll a in blood cockle (Tegillarca granosa) farms in May, August and November of 2017 in the northwestern Yeoja Bay, Korea. As a result, the seasonal characteristics of water types by water temperature and salinity were clear. Nutrients were abundant in silicate throughout the season, but phosphate was scarce in spring and summer, and nitrogen sources were scarce in autumn. The species composition of phytoplankton community was a very simple distribution, and the standing crop was also very low. The annual dominant species is dominated by the diatoms, with Skeletonema costatum-ls, Nitzschia longissima in spring, Pleurrosigma normanii, Coscinodiscus gigas in summer, and N. longissima, Pseudonitschia pungens, Chaetoceros curvisetus, Eucampia zodiacus in autumn. In summer the results were different from other coastal waters of Korea. The principal component analysis(PCA) and correlation analysis showed that the characteristics of water quality and biological environments differed according to the season. Furthermore, it was determined by the supply of materials through fresh water on land, seawater congestion caused by the refueling of surface sediments with lower depth, and the balance of biological production and mineralization of organic matters in blood cockle farms.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.299-309
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• 2019

This study was designed to assess the quality and quantity of food resources such as the chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), the particulate organic carbon (POC) and the particulate organic nitrogen (PON), on blood cocke (Tegillarca granosa Linnaeus) farms from May to November 2017 in the northwestern area of Yeoja Bay, Korea. The values of Chl-a, POC and PON were $1.69-7.68{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ (average: $3.48{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ in the surface), 0.88-2.58 mM (average: 1.97 mM) and 0.17-0.90 mM (average: 0.54 mM), respectively, and these values were higher in the spring and summer and lower in the autumn. Furthermore, Chl-a and POC had higher values on the bottom layer than those vales on the surface, while PON had higher values on the surface than those values on the bottom. The POC/PON ratio and POC/Chl-a ratio were 1.56-7.88 (average: 3.71 on the surface of the water) and 216-967 (average: 700 on the bottom of the water), respectively, with most of the carbon sources being sediment-accumulated particle organic matter, and the contribution by phytoplankton was assessed as being low. These results show that the food source of the blood cockle farms in the northwest area of Yeoja Bay seems to be abundant in quantity, but this is considered to be very poor in quality.