The Use of Extracellular Membrane Vesicles for Immunization against Francisellosis in Nile Tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) and Atlantic Cod ( Gadus morhua L.)

• Published in: Vaccines
• Main Authors: Verena Mertes, Alexander Kashulin Bekkelund, Leidy Lagos, Elia Ciani, Duncan Colquhoun, Hanne Haslene-Hox, Håvard Sletta, Henning Sørum, Hanne Cecilie Winther-Larsen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: francisellosis; vaccine; membrane vesicles; fish disease; Atlantic cod; tilapia; Medicine; R; atlantic cod; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9010034; https://doaj.org/article/9d69cb23e77645979008fe1fe7d4866a

Francisellosis in fish is caused by the facultative intracellular Gram-negative bacterial pathogens Francisella noatunensis ssp. noatunensis and Francisella orientalis . The disease is affecting both farmed and wild fish worldwide and no commercial vaccines are currently available. In this study, we tested isolated membrane vesicles (MVs) as possible vaccine candidates based on previous trials in zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) indicating promising vaccine efficacy. Here, the MV vaccine-candidates were tested in their natural hosts, Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua L.) and Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ). Injection of MVs did not display any toxicity or other negative influence on the fish and gene expression analysis indicated an influence on the host immune response. However, unlike in other tested fish species, a protective immunity following vaccine application and immunization period could not be detected in the Atlantic cod or tilapia. Further in vivo studies are required to achieve a better understanding of the development of immunological memory in different fish species.