Moutardier G et al. (2015), Lime Juice and Vinegar Injections as a Cheap an...

ECB-ART-44233

PLoS One 2015 Jan 01;109:e0137605. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137605.

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Lime Juice and Vinegar Injections as a Cheap and Natural Alternative to Control COTS Outbreaks.

Moutardier G , Gereva S , Mills SC , Adjeroud M , Beldade R , Ham J , Kaku R , Dumas P .

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Outbreaks of the corallivorous crown-of-thorns seastar Acanthaster planci (COTS) represent one of the greatest disturbances to coral reef ecosystems in the Indo-Pacific, affecting not only coral reefs but also the coastal communities which rely on their resources. While injection approaches are increasingly used in an attempt to control COTS densities, most of them display severe drawbacks including logistical challenges, high residual environmental impacts or low cost-effectiveness. We tested a new alternative control method based upon acidic injections of cheap, 100% natural products. We investigated the lethal doses, intra- and inter-specific disease transmission and immune responses of COTS when injected with fresh lime juice (extracted from local Citrus arantifolia) and white spirit vinegar. High COTS mortality was achieved with small volumes: 10-20 ml per seastar induced death in 89%/97% of injected specimens after an average 34.3 h/29.8 h for lime juice and vinegar respectively. Highest efficiency was reached for both solutions with double shots of (2 × 10 ml) in two different areas on the body: 100% mortality occurred within 12-24 h, which is similar or faster compared with other current injection methods. Multiple immune measures suggested that death was very likely caused by pH stress from the acidic solutions rather than a bacterial infection. Contagion to either conspecifics or a variety of other reef species was not observed, even at COTS densities 15 times higher than the highest naturally reported. 10 to 20 l lime juice/vinegar could kill up to a thousand COTS at a cost of less than 0.05 USD per specimen; no permits or special handling procedures are required. We conclude that injections of lime juice and vinegar offer great advantages when compared to current best practises and constitute a cheap and natural option for all reefs affected by COTS.

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Genes referenced: LOC115919910 LOC115925116

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	Fig 1. Mortality rates for COTS subjected to different injection treatments.Means ± SE for lime juice (light grey) and vinegar (dark grey).
	Fig 2. Time to death for COTS subjected to different injection treatments.Means ± SE for lime juice (light grey) and vinegar (dark grey).
	Fig 3. Temporal evolution of the mortality rate for COTS injected with 2×10 ml of lime juice.Aquaria (light grey; means ± SE) vs. in situ (dark grey) trials.
	Fig 4. Results of three immune measures before (light grey) and after (dark grey) injection treatments.Means (±SE) for a neutral red leakage into cytosol of the cell (standardised optical density) as a measure of lysosomal membrane integrity of amoebocytes, b reactive oxygen species production (standardised optical density) as a measure of respiratory burst and c peroxidase activity (standardised optical density).