Establishing bacterial infectivity models in striped Catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (Sauvage) with Edwardsiella ictaluri

A bacterial infectivity challenge model of Edwardsiella ictaluri in striped catfish was developed. All experiments were conducted using a bacterial isolate of E. ictaluri that had been recovered during a natural outbreak of bacillary necrosis of Pangasianodon (BNP) in farmed striped catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in Vietnam. Time of immersion in 10⁷ CFU.ml⁻¹ had a significant effect on mortality. The immersion bacterial dose of 10⁷ CFU/ml for 30 s resulted in a cumulative percentage mortality of 63%. Three to four days post-bacterial challenge, fish showed gross clinical signs of natural BNP and E. ictaluri was recovered and identified from these fish. Moreover, a cohabitation challenge was evaluated as an alternative challenge method, although the mortalities among the infected fish were lower at around 15%–40%. This study confirmed the horizontal transmission of E. ictaluri in striped catfish and elucidated that cohabitation challenge could be used in reproducing the disease under controlled conditions.     

鱼类组蛋白核苷酸的多态性及其在杀鱼爱德华氏菌感染中的作用

组蛋白是染色体核小体的重要组分,在调控染色质结构、基因转录、个体发育等不同生物学过程中起着重要作用。为了研究鱼类组蛋白基因是否存在核苷酸的多态性以及组蛋白核苷酸多态性是否会影响鱼类的抗病力,本实验以斑马鱼和草鱼为研究对象,通过PCR扩增克隆了组蛋白H2A的全长开放阅读框;利用过表达技术、菌落平板计数、感染存活分析以及荧光定量PCR技术,研究了斑马鱼和草鱼组蛋白H2A核苷酸多态性不同变异体在杀鱼爱德华氏菌感染中的作用。在本研究中,实验发现鱼类组蛋白H2A存在着丰富的核苷酸多态性。序列分析结果显示斑马鱼和草鱼组蛋白H2A核苷酸多态性的变异体核苷酸序列相似性为90%～100%;而两两H2A核苷酸多态性变异体氨基酸序列之间最多只有3个位点存在差异。通过体内和体外抗菌实验可知,斑马鱼和草鱼组蛋白H2A核苷酸的多态性显著影响H2A的抗菌活性。此外,筛选出的抗菌组蛋白H2A核苷酸多态性的变异体在斑马鱼体内的过表达,不仅具有免疫增强的作用,还能显著增强斑马鱼对杀鱼爱德华氏菌感染的抗病力。本研究为筛选具有抗病作用的组蛋白H2A免疫保护原奠定了重要基础。     

Emergence of Edwardsiella piscicida in Farmed Channel ♀, Ictalurus punctatus × Blue ♂, Ictalurus furcatus,Hybrid Catfish Cultured in Mississippi

There is a trend toward the increased incidence and prevalence of Edwardsiella piscicida septicemia in US catfish aquaculture, particularly in channel ♀, Ictalurus punctatus, × blue ♂, I. furcatus, hybrid catfish. From 2013 to 2017, a total of 3242 disease case submissions were made to the Aquatic Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ARDL) at the Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center in Stoneville, MS. Of these, 1400 (43.2%) were hybrids. E. piscicida was suspected in 138 (4.3%) of cases, the majority of which (89.1%) were from hybrid catfish. A molecular survey of these isolates confirmed the majority (92.0%) to be E. piscicida. Furthermore, cases of E. piscicida from hybrids submitted to the ARDL and the Aquatic Diagnostic Laboratory of the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Starkville, MS, were documented for gross lesions and histological analysis. Grossly, E. piscicida presents with small dermal ulcerations, a raised fluid‐filled cranial midline lesion that is frequently ulcerated, hemorrhage in the gills, exophthalmia, and abdominal distension. Internally, lesions include splenomegaly, straw‐colored ascites, renomegaly, and occasionally hemorrhagic intestines. Histopathological examination is in agreement with gross observations, and infected fish repeatedly demonstrate a mononuclear meningoencephalitis, hemorrhagic branchitis, splenitis, ulcerative dermatitis, granulomatous interstitial nephritis, and hepatitis coupled with a hemorrhagic enteritis.     

Occurrence of multiple antibiotic resistance and genotypic characterization in Edwardsiella tarda isolated from cage‐cultured hybrid red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) in the Ping River,Northern Thailand

Edwardsiella tarda is a pathogen that causes edwardsiellosis in aquatic animals. The emergence of multiple antibiotic‐resistant strains makes antibiotic treatment difficult. This study aimed to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility patterns and the genotypic characterization of E. tarda isolated from cage‐cultured red tilapia in Thailand. A total of 30 isolates were identified as E. tarda using biochemical and molecular analysis. The disc diffusion method for testing antibiotic susceptibility showed all the isolates were resistant to colistin sulphate and oxolinic acid. High levels of resistance to amoxicillin, ampicillin, ceftazidime, oxytetracycline and sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim were observed as well. The multiple antibiotic resistance index ranged from 0.25 to 0.92, indicating that these isolates had been exposed to high risk sources of contamination where antibiotics were commonly used. All the isolates carried the bla_TEM gene based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The tetA and sul3 genes were detected in 90% (27/30) and 26.7% (8/30) of the isolates respectively. Nine different genetic groups of isolates were obtained using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction (ERIC‐PCR). A correlation between genetic types and multiple antibiotic‐resistant patterns was found. These results highlight the potential risks of multiple antibiotic‐resistant isolates for humans and the environment.     

迟缓爱德华菌人工感染斑马鱼的致病性及组织病理学变化

用迟缓爱德华菌真鲷分离株(E.t-CD)对斑马鱼进行人工感染试验,观察其发病、死亡以及相关病理学变化。结果表明,该菌对斑马鱼的半数致死浓度(LD50)为2.69×102 cfu/尾;感染发病鱼呈现岀血、溃疡、腹水、败血等症状;病理组织学检查以肝脏水肿变性,肝细胞萎缩、坏死、脱落;脾脏散在增生性结节、充血、水肿、淋巴细胞大量缺失等病变为主。结果表明,斑马鱼可作为研究迟缓爱德华菌致病性的动物模型。     

黄颡鱼鲇爱德华氏菌的分离鉴定及其致病性研究

从患头顶溃疡症的黄颡鱼(Pelteobagrus fulvidraco)内脏组织中分离出致病力强的菌株JZ086,对该菌进行了形态学、生理生化特性的测定,并进行了Biolog全自动微生物分析系统及16S rDNA序列鉴定。结果显示:人工感染实验证实该菌为黄颡鱼的病原菌,其半数致死量(LD50)为1.7×105CFU。Biolog全自动微生物分析系统鉴定结果显示该菌为鲇爱德华氏菌(Edwardsiella ictaluri)。16S rDNA序列分析显示该菌与鲇爱德华氏菌的亲缘关系最近,同源性高达99%;系统进化树中与鲇爱德华氏菌(AB050826)自然聚为一支,二者遗传距离约为0.002。鉴定结果确认JZ086为鲇爱德华氏菌。药物敏感性试验结果显示,该菌对所测试的15种药物都敏感,其中对氨苄西林、环丙沙星、左氧氟沙星、妥布霉素等尤其敏感。     

Surface-exposed expression of Edwardsiella tarda EseB in live attenuated Vibrio anguillarum based on novel surface display systems

Live, attenuated Vibrio anguillarum strains can serve as vectors for the delivery of heterologous antigens for development of multivalent recombinant vaccines. Based on the outer membrane anchoring elements of V. anguillarum , we have previously constructed several efficient surface display systems Lpp-Omporf1, Lpp-OmpU, Lpp-Omp26La, Wza-Omporf1, Wza-OmpU and Wza-Omp26La. In this study, with these constructed surface display systems, a putative antigen protein EseB from pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda was successfully expressed on the surface of an attenuated V. anguillarum strain to get multivalent vaccine candidates. Further immune protection evaluation in zebra fish ( Danio rerio ) demonstrated that the V. anguillarum EseB-display strain AV/pW-26La-B could trigger full protection against V. anguillarum infection and early protection against E. tarda infection in the immunized fish. These results suggest that surface display of heterologous protective antigens in attenuated V. anguillarum could be used as a tool to develop potential V. anguillarum vector vaccine.     

Edwardsiella tarda infection in Korean catfish,Silurus asotus,in a Korean fish farm

Mass mortality of Korean catfish, Silurus asotus, occurred in a culture farm situated in Jeollabukdo Province, Korea. The cumulative mortality rates reached up to 5% of the total fish in the farm per day. In clinical signs, the affected fish showed abdominal distension, vent protrusion, enteritis, liver congestion and abscess‐like lesions in enlarged spleen and kidney. Histopathologically, in the liver, hepatocytes lost fat and underwent atrophy or necrosis. The spleen showed necrotized splenocytes and a haemorrhagic pulp. In the kidney, glomerular destruction, degeneration of renal tubular epithelial cell and haemorrhage were observed. However, necrotic muscular lesions were not observed. A pure bacterial isolate was obtained from the liver, spleen and kidney lesions of affected fish. Experimental infection of normal catfish with the isolate resulted in the development of clinical signs similar to those seen on the farm. The isolates were identified as Edwardsiella tarda through biochemical tests (99.4%) and analysis of bacterial genes (16S rDNA) sequences (98%). The bacteria possessed two virulent genes: sodB and katB genes. These results suggest that E. tarda can act as a pathogen of farmed catfish. This is the first report showing that E. tarda caused mortality in cultured Korean catfish.