Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (Pdp)

Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida is a Gram-negative, non-motile, fermentative, facultatively anaerobic bacillus that infects a wide variety of marine fish, causing photobacteriosis (formerly fish pasteurellosis), a systemic and often lethal disease in aquaculture and wild stocks. It secretes multiple extracellular virulence factors, notably the apoptosis-inducing AIP56 toxin, encoded on one of its large plasmids. It is an obligate halophile, thriving in marine environments with 1.5–2% NaCl and at optimal temperatures near 25°C. P. damselae subsp. piscicida is an important economic pathogen in fish farming worldwide and is not typically considered a therapeutic target for drugs beyond general antimicrobial agents.

Other names

PdpPasteurella piscicida (outdated name)Photobacterium piscicida (older literature)

Not applicable for drugs; for pathogenesis, the bacterium uses virulence factors including capsular polysaccharides and AIP56 toxin to evade host immune response and induce apoptosis in fish immune cells