Publication

2001-04

English

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2001/publication-705.pdf (0.34 Mo)

2001 Society for General Microbiology

Arzul Isabelle, Renault Tristan, Lipart Cécile, Davison Andrew

IFREMER, Lab Genet & Pathol, F-17390 La Tremblade, France.
MRC, Virol Unit, Glasgow G11 5JR, Lanark, Scotland.

Journal of General Virology (0022-1317) (Society for General Microbiology), 2001-04 , Vol. 82 , N. 4 , P. 865-870

37

Biology

Bivalve, Crassostrea gigas, Herpesvirus, Japanese oyster, Transmission

Since 1991, numerous herpesvirus infections associated with high mortality have been reported around the world in various marine bivalve species. In order to determine whether these infections are due to ostreid herpesvirus-l (OsHV1), a previously characterized pathogen of the Japanese oyster (Crassostrea gigas), PCR analysis was carried out on 30 samples of larvae collected from four bivalve species (C. gigas, Ostrea edulis, Ruditapes decussatus and Ruditapes philippinarum), most exhibiting mortality prior to collection. All samples were shown to be infected by OsHV1. Viral genomes in three samples of C. gigas and three of R. philippinarum that originated from the same hatchery were unusual in bearing a deletion of at least 2.8 kbp in an inverted repeat region. The results demonstrate that OsHV1 is capable of infecting several bivalve species, and this raises the possibility that interspecies transmission may be promoted by intensive rearing in modern hatcheries.