In vitro cultured Neoparamoeba perurans causes amoebic gill disease in Atlantic salmon and fulfils Koch's postulates
Amoebic gill disease (AGD) in marine farmed Atlantic salmon is of growing concern worldwide andremains a significant health issue for salmon growers in Australia. Until now the aetiological agent, Neoparamoebaperurans , has not been amenable to in vitro culture and therefore Kochs postulates could n...
| Published in: | International Journal for Parasitology |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2012.04.002 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22549025 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/77808 |
| Summary: | Amoebic gill disease (AGD) in marine farmed Atlantic salmon is of growing concern worldwide andremains a significant health issue for salmon growers in Australia. Until now the aetiological agent, Neoparamoebaperurans , has not been amenable to in vitro culture and therefore Kochs postulates could notbe fulfilled. The inability to culture the amoeba has been a limiting factor in the progression of researchinto AGD and required the maintenance of an on-going laboratory-based infection to supply infectivematerial. Culture methods using malt yeast agar with sea water overlaid and subculturing every 34 dayshave resulted in the establishment of a clonal culture of N. perurans , designated clone 4. Identity of theamoeba was confirmed by PCR. After 70 days in culture clone 4 infected Atlantic salmon, causing AGD,and was re-isolated from the infected fish. Diagnosis was confirmed by histology and the infectious agentidentified by PCR and in situ hybridisation using oligonucleotide primers and probes previously developedand specific to N. perurans . This study has fulfilled Kochs postulates for N. perurans as a causativeagent of AGD and illustrates its free-living and parasitic nature. |
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