28th ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP April 21-25, 2003 Genetic Analysis Of Renibacterium salmoninarum Strains Of The Great Lakes Mohamed Faisal College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 Bacterial Kidney Disease is a chronic granulomatous disease of salmonids caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum.  BKD is endemic in the Great Lakes basin and has caused severe losses in the late 1980s.  Over the last two years, a comprehensive epidemiological survey has been conducted on seven salmonid fish species collected from Lake Michigan, three weirs, and six hatcheries in Michigan.  Findings suggest that BKD continues to cause kidney damage and mortalities in juvenile and adult brook and brown trout.  Over 200 strains of Renibacterium salmoninarum, isolated from Michigan, were remarkably uniform in their biochemical and serological reactions. Both PCR amplification and length polymorphism analysis of the tRNA inetrgenic spacer regions (tDNA-ILPs) demonstrated the presence of great genetic diversity among Michigan R. salmoninarum strains.  While some R. salmoninarum genotypes were universal in their host and geographic range, most genotypes were host specific.  The implication of these studies on the current control efforts will be discussed. Return to 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page