These bacteria are very similar, they're close
cousins," said Claudia Häse, an OSU associate
professor and expert in microbial pathogenesis. "V.coralliilyticus was believed to primarily infect warm
water corals and contributes to coral bleaching
around the world. It shares some gene sequences
with V. tubiashii, but when we finally were able to
compare the entire genomes, it became apparent
that most of what we're dealing with in the Pacific
Northwest is V. coralliilyticus.