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The specificity of symbiosis: Pony fish and luminescent bacteria

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Abstract

Luminescent bacteria isolated from light organs of seven different species (3 genera) of fishes of the family Leiognathidae were subjected to taxonomic analysis. Of the 733 isolated all but seven were identified as Photobacterium leiognathi; the others are considered to be either chance contaminants of the sampling procedure or transients within the organ. In most fish, the luminous organ appeared to contain a single predominating strain of P. leiognathi with small numbers of one to three other strains of the same species, differing by only one or two characters.

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Reichelt, J.L., Nealson, K. & Hastings, J.W. The specificity of symbiosis: Pony fish and luminescent bacteria. Arch. Microbiol. 112, 157–161 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429329

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429329

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