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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Leetown, West Virginia » Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #305700
Title: Integration of selective breeding and vaccination to improve disease resistance in aquaculture: Application to control bacterial cold water disease

Author
item Wiens, Gregory - Greg
item Leeds, Timothy - Tim

Submitted to: United States Animal Health Association Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2014
Publication Date: 7/14/2014
Citation: Wiens, G.D., Leeds, T.D. 2014. Integration of selective breeding and vaccination to improve disease resistance in aquaculture: Application to control bacterial cold water disease. In: Proceedings of One Hundred and Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the United States Animal Health Association, October 17 - October 23, 2013, San Diego, California. p. 448-453.

Interpretive Summary: This manuscript summarizes the last five years of research progress to develop a rainbow trout line with increased resistance against bacterial cold water disease. Breeding progress, farm evaluation, strain characterization and efforts to measure vaccine induced protection are reviewed.

Technical Abstract: Bacterial cold water disease (BCWD) is a frequent cause of elevated mortality in rainbow trout and the development of effective control strategies is a priority within the U.S. A goal of the NCCCWA breeding program is to produce germplasm with superior growth and survival following exposure to infectious disease. Since 2005, the NCCCWA has implemented a selective breeding program designed to increase survival following BCWD exposure. We have created a resistant line in addition to two reference lines in order to quantify breeding progress and investigate the effects of selection. During the past 5 years of research, we tested the hypothesis that selective breeding for BCWD resistance may protect early life stages prior to and through typical vaccination size. In this review, we summarize breeding progress, on-farm evaluation, pathogen strain diversity and whether vaccination of selectively bred lines can confer additive protection.