Detection of ostreid herpesvirus-1 in plankton and seawater samples at an estuary scale

• Published in: Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
• Main Authors: Liu, Olivia, Paul-Pont, Ika, Rubio, Ana, Dhand, Navneet, Whittington, Richard J.
• Other Authors: The University of Sydney, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Hornsby shire council
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: ACL; Crassostrea gigas; Seawater; Disease; dna; oyster crassostrea-gigas; mortality; river estuary; panorama; CNRS; virus; husbandry practices; ostreid-herpesvirus-1 oshv-1; pacific oysters; Plankton; microvariant; Detection; new-south-wales; Ostreid herpesvirus-1; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Pacific; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02987364; https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03445

WOS:000531794600001 Ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) is known to associate with particles in seawater, leading to infection and disease in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. The estuarine environment is highly complex and changeable, and this needs to be considered when collecting environmental samples for pathogen detection. The aims of this study were to (1) compare different aspects of collecting natural seawater and plankton samples for detection of OsHV-1 DNA and (2) determine whether detection of OsHV-1 DNA in such environmental samples has merit for disease risk prediction. The results of one experiment suggest that sampling on the outgoing tide may improve the detection of OsHV-1 DNA in seawater and plankton tow samples (odds ratio 2.71). This statistical comparison was not possible in 2 other experiments. The method (plankton tow or beta bottle) and depth of collection (range: 250-1250 mm) had no effect on the likelihood of detection of OsHV-1. OsHV-1 DNA was found at low concentrations in plankton tow and seawater samples, and only when outbreaks of mortality associated with OsHV-1 were observed in nearby experimental or farmed populations of C. gigas. This suggests that single point in time environmental samples of seawater or plankton are not sufficient to rule out the presence of OsHV-1 in an estuary. The association of OsHV-1 with particles in seawater needs to be better understood in order to determine whether more selective and sensitive methods can be devised to detect it, before environmental samples can be reliably used in disease risk prediction.