Diversity and molecular epidemiology of Ostreid herpesvirus 1 in farmed Crassostrea gigas in Australia: Geographic clusters and implications for “microvariants” in global mortality events

• Published in: Virus Research
• Main Authors: Trancart, Suzanne, Tweedie, Alison, Liu, Olivia, Paul-Pont, Ika, Hick, Paul, Houssin, Maryline, Whittington, Richard
• Other Authors: LABÉO, Pôle d’analyses et de recherche de Normandie (LABÉO), Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney -The University of Sydney, The University of Sydney, Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), The University of Sidney
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Australia; Crassostrea gigas; Ostreid herpesvirus; diversity; phylogeny; polymorphism; variant; [SDV.BA.MVSA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Veterinary medicine and animal Health; Pacific; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03842646; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2022.198994

International audience Since 2010, mass mortality events known as Pacific oyster mortality syndrome (POMS) have occurred in Crassostrea gigas in Australia associated with Ostreid herpesvirus 1. The virus was thought to be an OsHV-1 µVar or "microvariant", i.e. one of the dominant variants associated with POMS in Europe, but there are few data to characterize the genotype in Australia. Consequently, the genetic identity and diversity of the virus was determined to understand the epidemiology of the disease in Australia. Samples were analysed from diseased C. gigas over five summer seasons between 2011 and 2016 in POMS-affected estuaries: Georges River in New South Wales (NSW), Hawkesbury River (NSW) and Pitt Water in Tasmania. Sequencing was attempted for six genomic regions. Numerous variants were identified among these regions (n = 100 isolates) while twelve variants were identified from concatenated nucleotide sequences (n = 61 isolates). Nucleotide diversity of the seven genotypes of C region among Australian isolates (Pi 0.99 × 10-3) was the lowest globally. All Australian isolates grouped in a cluster distinct from other OsHV-1 isolates worldwide. This is the first report that Australian outbreaks of POMS were associated with OsHV-1 distinct from OsHV-1 reference genotype, µVar and other microvariants from other countries. The findings illustrate that microvariants are not the only variants of OsHV-1 associated with mass mortality events in C. gigas. In addition, there was mutually exclusive spatial clustering of viral genomic and amino acid sequence variants within estuaries, and a possible association between genotype/amino acid sequence and the prevalence and severity of POMS, as this differed between these estuaries. The sequencing findings supported prior epidemiological evidence for environmental reservoirs of OsHV-1 for POMS outbreaks in Australia.