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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Orono, Maine » National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #405868
Research Project: Genetic Improvement of North American Atlantic Salmon and the Eastern Oyster for Aquaculture Production

Location: National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center

Title: Heart inflammation is affected by the host stain of Atlantic salmon during piscine orthoreovirs infection

Author
item Polinski, Mark
item GARVER, KYLE - Department Of Fisheries And Oceans Canada

Submitted to: Western Fish Disease Workshop
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/15/2023
Publication Date: 6/15/2023
Citation: Polinski, M.P., Garver, K. 2023. Heart inflammation is affected by the host stain of Atlantic salmon during piscine orthoreovirs infection. Western Fish Disease Workshop. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-022-03409-y.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-022-03409-y

Interpretive Summary: A disease known as Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) is a significant disease affecting Atlantic salmon production in Norway, but has had limited impact to Atlantic salmon production in North America. The causative agent of the disease, piscine orthoreovirus, occurs in both locations, thus begging the question as to what other factors are involved in creating this disease. In this study we identified that the different strains of Atlantic salmon being cultured in respective locations affects the severity of disease outcome. This work provides at least one potential mechanism (i.e., genetic manipulation) for reducing HSMI disease severity across global aquaculture.

Technical Abstract: The disease known as Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) is a significant disease affecting Atlantic salmon production in Norway, but has had limited impact to Atlantic salmon production in North America. The causative agent of HSMI is piscine orthoreovirus genotype 1 (PRV-1), where one of two virus subgenotype present in Norway (PRV-1b) appears to be slightly more virulent than the sole subgenotype of North America (PRV-1a) and thus is believed to partially explain the disease prevalence discrepancy reported for the two regions. In this study, we challenged 3 stocks of Atlantic salmon each with three different virus isolates (two PRV-1a; one PRV-1b) in isolation within the same facility and environmental parameters. We identified that the 3 different strains of Atlantic salmon being cultured had more of an impact on heart inflammation severity in this study than did the viral isolate used. This work highlights at least one potential mechanism (genetic variation of the host) for reducing HSMI disease severity and highlights that the host, pathogen and environment must be considered in concert for predicting HSMI and that the presence of PRV alone is not sufficient to reliably predict disease.