Atmospheric methane levels increased over geological formations in Northern Siberia following a heat wave in 2020, suggesting that permafrost thaw releases methane from reservoirs.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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Communicated by Eugene P. Odum, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (received for review December 12, 2001)
Abstract
Populations of the shallow-water Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, are being decimated by white pox disease, with losses of living cover in the Florida Keys typically in excess of 70%. The rate of tissue loss is rapid, averaging 2.5 cm2⋅day−1, and is greatest during periods of seasonally elevated temperature. In Florida, the spread of white pox fits the contagion model, with nearest neighbors most susceptible to infection. In this report, we identify a common fecal enterobacterium, Serratia marcescens, as the causal agent of white pox. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a bacterial species associated with the human gut has been shown to be a marine invertebrate pathogen.
Footnotes
- Received December 12, 2001.
- Accepted May 1, 2002.
- Copyright © 2002, The National Academy of Sciences
The etiology of white pox, a lethal disease of the Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata
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