The mt cox1 and cob sequences were PCR-amplified from both genomic and cDNA templates using universal and Perkinsusspecific primers designed in this ( Table 2 ) and previous studies [12] , [23] , [24] . PCR was performed with 30 cycles of 95uC for 15 sec, 50-58uC for 30 sec, and 72uC for 40 sec. PCR products were sequenced either directly or after cloning into a T-vector, with 5-10 clones randomly chosen for sequencing. To obtain the ends of the mt genes, we designed Perkinsus-specific primers for both P. marinus and P. chesapeaki (Table 2 ) based on the mt cox1 and the partial cob sequences obtained from the newly released P. marinus genome shotgun sequence.