Pink-line syndrome
Abstract
Pink-line syndrome (PLS) was first observed in 1996 affecting the scleractinian coral Porites lutea at Kavaratti of the Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea. The ability of the two fungi isolates and P. valderianum to cause PLS was tested by inoculating healthy coral polyps with pure cultures of the P. valderianum and fungi isolated from the diseased corals. The PLS pathogen P. valderianum was found as a dense cyanobacterial mat over the infected colonies with a hyaline nonsporulating fungus and the dark melanized Curvularia lunata fungus was frequently co-isolated from the PLS-affected tissue. The pathogenesis observed in Porites spp. affected by PLS with histological evaluations, particularly atrophy of the surface body wall epidermis and calicodermis, and the reduction in the number of zooxanthellae, indicate impairment to the corals critical physiological functions, in particular heterotrophy, autotrophy, and calcification
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