Haemocytes collected from experimentally infected Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas: Detection of ostreid herpesvirus 1 DNA, RNA, and proteins in relation with inhibition of apoptosis

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Martenot, Claire, Gervais, Ophélie, Chollet, Bruno, Houssin, Maryline, Renault, Tristan
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Génétique et Pathologie des Mollusques Marins (LGPMM), Santé, Génétique et Microbiologie des Mollusques (SGMM), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), LABÉO, Pôle d’analyses et de recherche de Normandie (LABÉO)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Pacific; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03402009; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177448

International audience Recent transcriptomic approaches focused on anti-viral immunity in molluscs lead to the assumption that the innate immune system, such as apoptosis, plays a crucial role against ostreid herpesvirus type 1 (OsHV-1), infecting Pacific cupped oyster, Crassostrea gigas. Apoptosis constitutes a major mechanism of anti-viral response by limiting viral spread and eliminating infected cells. In this way, an OsHV-1 challenge was performed and oysters were monitored at three times post injection to investigate viral infection and host response: 2h (early after viral injection in the adductor muscle), 24h (intermediate time), and 48h (just before first oyster mortality record). Virus infection, associated with high cumulative mortality rates (74% and 100%), was demonstrated in haemocytes by combining several detection techniques such as real-time PCR, real-time RT PCR, immunofluorescence assay, and transmission electron microscopy examination. High viral DNA amounts ranged from 5.46×104 to 3.68×105 DNA copies ng-1 of total DNA, were detected in dead oysters and an increase of viral transcripts was observed from 2, 24, and 48hpi for the five targeted OsHV-1 genes encoding three putative membrane proteins (ORFs 25, 41, and 72), a putative dUTPase (ORF 75), and a putative apoptosis inhibitor (ORF 87). Apoptosis was studied at molecular and cellular levels with an early marker (phosphatidyl-serine externalisation measured by flow cytometry and epifluorescence microscopy) and a later parameter (DNA fragmentation by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay (TUNEL)). The down-regulation of genes encoding proteins involved in the activation of the apoptotic pathway (TNF and caspase 3) and the up-regulation of genes encoding anti-apoptotic proteins (IAP-2, and Bcl-2) suggested an important anti-apoptosis phenomenon in haemocytes from OsHV-1 infected oysters at 24 and 48hpi. Additionally, more phosphatidyl-serines were externalized and more cells with DNA fragmentation were ...