Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality

Mandas, Daniela; Salati, Fulvio; Polinas, Marta; Sanna, Marina Antonella; Zobba, Rosanna; Burrai, Giovanni Pietro; Alberti, Alberto; Antuofermo, Elisabetta

doi:10.3390/pathogens9060492

Open AccessArticle

Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality

by

Daniela Mandas

¹,

Fulvio Salati

¹,

Marta Polinas

²,

Marina Antonella Sanna

²,

Rosanna Zobba

^2,3,

Giovanni Pietro Burrai

^2,3

,

Alberto Alberti

^2,3,*

and

Elisabetta Antuofermo

^2,3,*

¹

Fish Diseases and Aquaculture Center, IZS of Oristano, 09170 Oristano, Italy

²

Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy

³

Mediterranean Center for Disease Control (MCDC), University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Pathogens 2020, 9(6), 492; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9060492

Submission received: 26 May 2020 / Revised: 15 June 2020 / Accepted: 18 June 2020 / Published: 20 June 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spontaneous Diseases of Mollusks)

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Abstract

Consumer preference for healthy and sustainable food products has been steadily increasing in recent years. Bivalve mollusks satisfy these characteristics and have captured ever-increasing market shares. However, the expansion of molluscan culture in worldwide and global trade have favored the spread of pathogens around the world. Combined with environmental changes and intensive production systems this has contributed to the occurrence of mass mortality episodes, thus posing a threat to the production of different species, including the Pacific oyster Crassotrea gigas. In the San Teodoro lagoon, one of the most devoted lagoons to extensive Pacific oyster aquaculture in Sardinia, a mortality outbreak was observed with an estimated 80% final loss of animal production. A study combining cultural, biomolecular and histopathological methods was conducted: (1) to investigate the presence of different Vibrio species and OsHV-1 in selected oyster tissues (digestive gland, gills, and mantle); (2) to quantify Vibrio aestuarianus and to evaluate the severity of hemocyte infiltration in infected tissues; (3) to produce post-amplification data and evaluating ToxR gene as a target for phylogenetic analyses. Results provide new insights into V. aestuarianus infection related to oyster mortality outbreaks and pave the way to the development of tools for oyster management.

Keywords: Crassostrea gigas; aquaculture; real time PCR; histology; Sardinia; bacteria; mass mortality

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MDPI and ACS Style

Mandas, D.; Salati, F.; Polinas, M.; Sanna, M.A.; Zobba, R.; Burrai, G.P.; Alberti, A.; Antuofermo, E. Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality. Pathogens 2020, 9, 492. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9060492

AMA Style

Mandas D, Salati F, Polinas M, Sanna MA, Zobba R, Burrai GP, Alberti A, Antuofermo E. Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality. Pathogens. 2020; 9(6):492. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9060492

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mandas, Daniela, Fulvio Salati, Marta Polinas, Marina Antonella Sanna, Rosanna Zobba, Giovanni Pietro Burrai, Alberto Alberti, and Elisabetta Antuofermo. 2020. "Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality" Pathogens 9, no. 6: 492. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9060492

APA Style

Mandas, D., Salati, F., Polinas, M., Sanna, M. A., Zobba, R., Burrai, G. P., Alberti, A., & Antuofermo, E. (2020). Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality. Pathogens, 9(6), 492. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9060492

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Histopathological and Molecular Study of Pacific Oyster Tissues Provides Insights into V. aestuarianus Infection Related to Oyster Mortality

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