First detection of Ostreid herpesvirus 1 in wild Crassostrea gigas in Argentina

BARBIERI, E.S.; MEDINA, C.D.; VÁZQUEZ, NURIA; FIORITO, C; MARTELLI, A.; WIGDOROVITZ, A.; SCHWINDT, E.; MORGA, B.; RENAULT, T.; PARREÑO, V.; BARÓN, P.

JOURNAL OF INVERTEBRATE PATHOLOGY

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019

0022-2011

Ostreidherpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) is a DNA virus of the genus Ostreavirus (Malacoherpesviridae family, Herpesvirales order). Worldwide, OsHV-1 and itsmicrovariants have been associated with increased mortality of Pacific oysters,Crassostreagigas, however, adultasymptomatic oysters also have shown a high prevalence of viral infection. As aconsequence, surveillance is needed in order to better describe OsHV-1diversity, pathogenicity, clinical signs, and geographical distribution. Inthis work, examination of Crassostrea gigas sampled in October 2017 from the inner zone of the BahíaBlanca Estuary, Argentina, showed that 8 out of 30 specimens (26.7%) presentedmacroscopic lesions in mantle tissues. Histological analysis revealed abnormal presentationof mantle epithelial cells and connective tissues. Conventional and real-timePCR conducted on the oyster samples revealed 70% to be positive forpresence of OsHV-1 DNA. The nucleotide sequence of the amplicon obtained fromone sample using the primer pair IA1/IA2 (targeting ORF 42/43) was 99%identical to OsHV-1 reference as well as µVar strains B and A (KY271630, KY242785.1), sequenced from Franceand Ireland. This finding represents the first report of OsHV-1DNA detection in a wild population of C. gigas in Argentina, in association with gross mantlelesions.