Development of a multiplex PCR assay to detect Edwardsiella tarda,Streptococcus parauberis,and Streptococcus iniae in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

A multiplex PCR protocol was established to simultaneously detect major bacterial pathogens in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) including Edwardsiella (E.) tarda, Streptococcus (S.) parauberis, and S. iniae. The PCR assay was able to detect 0.01 ng of E. tarda, 0.1 ng of S. parauberis, and 1 ng of S. iniae genomic DNA. Furthermore, this technique was found to have high specificity when tested with related bacterial species. This method represents a cheaper, faster, and reliable alternative for identifying major bacterial pathogens in olive flounder, the most important farmed fish in Korea.     

Pharmacokinetics of amoxicillin trihydrate in cultured olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

The study was aimed at investigating the pharmacokinetics of amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX) in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) following oral, intramuscular, and intravenous administration, using high‐performance liquid chromatography following. The maximum plasma concentration (C_max), following oral administration of 40 and 80 mg/kg body weight (b.w.), AMOX was 1.14 (T_max, 1.7 h) and 0.76 μg/mL (T_max, 1.6 h), respectively. Intramuscular administration of 30 and 60 mg/kg of AMOX resulted in C_max values of 4 and 4.3 μg/mL, respectively, with the corresponding T_max values of 29 and 38 h. Intravenous administration of 6 mg/kg AMOX resulted in a C_max of 9 μg/mL 2 h after administration. Following oral administration of 40 and 80 mg/kg AMOX, area under the curve (AUC) values were 52.257 and 41.219 μg/mL·h, respectively. Intramuscular 30 and 60 mg/kg doses resulted in AUC values of 370.274 and 453.655 μg/mL·h, respectively, while the AUC following intravenous administration was 86.274 μg/mL·h. AMOX bioavailability was calculated to be 9% and 3.6% following oral administration of 40 and 80 mg/kg, respectively, and the corresponding values following intramuscular administration were 86% and 53%. In conclusion, this study demonstrated high bioavailability of AMOX following oral administration in olive flounder.     

牙鲆致病性迟钝爱德华菌毒力基因的检测及序列分析

为探讨牙鲆致病性迟钝爱德华菌毒力基因携带与分布,以毒力基因为分子靶标研究其致病机理及建立快速检测方法,根据 GenBank 上的基因序列,设计2对引物扩增致病性迟钝爱德华菌毒力基因 fimA和小肠结肠炎耶尔森菌毒力基因 irp2,结果在7个供试牙鲆病例的130株致病性迟钝爱德华菌中,irp2毒力基因的阳性率为46．15％（60／130）,fimA 毒力基因的阳性率为100％,且均与已发表的参考菌株相应序列高度同源,同源性分别为97．32％和97．59％。可见耶尔森菌强毒力岛（HPI）在牙鲆致病性迟钝爱德华菌中广泛分布,但不同病例分离菌株间存在差异;fimA 毒力基因存在于所有的被检致病性迟钝爱德华菌中,可以作为快速检测致病性迟钝爱德华菌的标志物。     

Pharmacokinetics of difloxacin in olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus at two water temperatures

In this study, the pharmacokinetics profiles of difloxacin in the olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) were investigated following intravenous and oral administration (10 mg/kg BW) at 14 and 22 °C water temperatures. Plasma and tissue samples (muscle, liver, and kidney) were analyzed using an HPLC method. The results showed that the plasma concentration–time data for difloxacin were described commendably by two‐compartment open model at the two water temperatures. The absorption half‐life (t_1/2ka) of difloxacin after oral administration were 2.08 and 1.10 h at 14 and 22 °C, respectively; whereas the elimination half‐life (t_1/2β) was 4.41 and 2.38 h, respectively. The muscle concentration of 1.35 ± 0.19 μg/g was observed at 9 h at 14 °C, and 2.11 ± 0.33 μg/g at 6 h at 22 °C, respectively. For liver, the peak concentration of difloxacin 2.43 ± 0.30 μg/g occurred at 6 h at 14 °C, which was lower than the 3.34 ± 0.24 μg/g peak that occurred at 4 h at 22 °C. The calculated bioavailability of difloxacin was 68.07% at 22 °C, which was higher than the 53.43% calculated for 14 °C. After intravenous administration, the t_1/2β were 4.79 and 2.81 h at 14 and 22 °C, respectively. The results indicate that the peak concentrations in muscle and liver at 14 °C are approximately half of those achieved at 22 °C. However, the C_max in kidney at 14 and 22 °C were similar. The V_d values were 1.20 and 1.75 L/kg at 14 and 22 °C, respectively. These data indicated that both temperature and drug administration had significant effects on the elimination of difloxacin, and lower temperature or oral administration resulted in lower elimination.     

Communications: Efficacy of Norfloxacin for the Control of Edwardsiella tarda Infection in the Flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

Abstract

Efficacy of norfloxacin was evaluated in laboratory and field studies for control of Edwardsiella tarda infection in the flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. In disc diffusion tests, five E. tarda strains showed high sensitivity to norfloxacin. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of norfloxacin against the five isolates were approximately 0.016–0.031 μg/mL. In laboratory studies in which flounder were challenged with E. tarda, a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in mortality was observed among fish receiving norfloxacin in feed at 100 mg/kg body weight (or more) daily for 3 d compared with mortality among nonmedicated controls. Similar results were achieved when 100 mg norfloxacin/kg body weight was used in field trials.     

Application of a solid-phase fluorescence immunoassay to determine oxytetracycline and tetracycline residues in tissue of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

Parallux, a solid-phase fluorescence immunoassay (SPFIA) developed for antibotics residue detection in milk, was applied for analysis of fish tissue. The recommended therapeutic doses of oxytetracycline (OTC, 100 g/ton water, withdrawal period 30 days) and tetracycline (TC, 150 g/ton water, withdrawal period 30 days) were treated to a group of 35 olive flounders (Paralichthys olivaceus) using dipping administration. Muscle was sampled before and after drug treatment 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 14th day. The concentration of oxytetracycline in muscle, determined by SPFIA, was compared with that of internal standard (100 ppb as oxytetracycline). The S/C ratio of sample inhibition value to cutoff inhibition value was employed as an index to determine the muscle residue in olive flounder. To investigate the recovery rate, and standard solutions were added to muscle samples to give final concentrations in muscle of 0.1 and 0.5 microg/ml. The recovery rates of all spiked samples were >89% of the spiked value. OTC and TC were detected in muscle of fishes treated until the 3rd day of withdrawal period. The present study showed that the SPFIA can be easily adopted in predicting tissue residues for OTC and TC in farmed fishes.     

The efficacy of amoxicillin sodium against streptococcosis in cultured olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus and its pharmacokinetics

The efficacy of amoxicillin sodium for controlling field and experimental Streptococcus iniae and S. parauberis infections in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) was evaluated after a single intramuscular administration. Furthermore, the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against 21 Streptococcus strains were determined. In addition, the pharmacokinetics and residue depletion in olive flounder were investigated. Single intramuscular doses of amoxicillin sodium at 20, 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg b.w. fish significantly reduced cumulative mortality rates to 18.8–31.3% (P < 0.05) for S. iniae and to 5.0–15.0% (P < 0.01) for S. parauberis, whereas the S. iniae‐ and S. parauberis‐infected positive control groups showed cumulative mortality rates of 68.8% and 60.0%, respectively. In a S. parauberis outbreak, amoxicillin sodium reduced the cumulative mortality rate to 7.5% and 4.8% at 20 and 40 mg/kg b.w. fish, respectively, whereas that of the untreated control group was 35.2%. Peak plasma concentrations (C_max) following a single intramuscular dose of 40 and 80 mg/kg b.w. fish were 62.64 (T_max, 1.59 h) and 87.61 (T_max, 3.02 h) μg/mL, respectively, with large AUC_0?t/MIC and C_max/MIC ratios, and sufficient T > MIC (time for maintaining plasma drug concentration greater than MICs) for S. iniae and S. parauberis. The estimated withdrawal period of amoxicillin sodium from muscle of olive flounder was about 8 days at 40 mg/kg b.w. fish (at 22 ± 1 °C). These results demonstrated a single intramuscular administration of amoxicillin sodium to be effective against streptococcosis in olive flounder.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of LPS-binding protein/bactericidal permeability-increasing protein (LBP/BPI) from olive flounder,Paralichthys olivaceus

A lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein/bactericidal permeability-increasing protein (LBP/BPI) homolog was isolated from peripheral blood leukocytes cDNA library of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. The isolated LBP/BPI cDNA is 2806 bp in length with a 1419 bp open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a protein of 472 amino acid residues. The LPS-binding domain is well conserved in the N-terminal barrel, showing high sequence identities with other teleost LBP/BPI as well as those of mammals. RT-PCR analysis revealed that mRNA expression of LBP/BPI was significantly elevated in all tested tissues (liver, gill, intestine, head kidney, and spleen) after intraperitoneal injection of the gram-negative bacterium Edwardsiella tarda or the gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus iniae. This expression pattern profile corresponded to that of acute inflammatory cytokines, suggesting that it plays a role in the innate immune response, in particular, the acute phase response.     

Isolation and characterization of Streptococcus sp. from diseased flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in Jeju Island

Streptococcus sp. is gram-positive coccus that causes streptococcal infections in fish due to intensification of aquaculture and caused significant economic losses in fish farm industry. A streptococcal infection occurred from cultured diseased olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in May, 2005 at a fish farm in Jeju Island, Korea. The diseased flounder exhibited bilateral exophthalmic eyes and rotten gills; water temperature was 16~18℃ when samples were collected. Of the 22 fish samples collected, 3 samples were identified as Lactococcus garvieae and 18 samples were identified as Streptococcus parauberis by culture-based, biochemical test. Serological methods such as slide agglutination, hemolysis and antimicrobial susceptibility test were also used as well as multiplex PCR-based method to simultaneously detect and confirm the pathogens involved in the infection. S. parauberis and L. garvieae have a target region of 700 and 1100 bp., respectively. One fish sample was not identified because of the difference in the different biochemical and serological tests and was negative in PCR assay. In the present study, it showed that S. parauberis was the dominant species that caused streptococcosis in the cultured diseased flounder.     

Identification and purification of a novel adhesion-associated protein in a new strain of Lactobacillus, L15, from flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

Adhesion is a crucial and prerequisite step for Lactobacillus colonization in the digestive tract which subsequently confers its probiotic effects on the host. The aim of this report was to identify and purify a novel adhesion-associated protein which mediates the adherence of a new strain of Lactobacillus, L15, to intestinal mucus from flounder. It was shown that surface proteins were involved in the adhesion of L15 to flounder mucus. The adhesion efficiencies of this strain were significantly decreased from 16.0% to 5.8% after extraction of L15 with 5 M LiCl and were further inhibited to 3.6% by blocking with an L15 cell extract containing surface proteins. The adhesion-associated protein in the cell extract was visualized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and was identified by Western blotting with sulfo-N-hydroxysuccinimide-biotin (B-NHS)-labeled crude mucus as a 61.8 kDa protein. The identical protein could be purified from L15 whole cell proteins by affinity chromatography using Sepharose, covalently coupled with crude mucus. It was demonstrated that the adhesion-associated protein was a new adhesive protein. Its characteristics and similarities with other known adhesive proteins need further investigation.     

沙门氏菌的基因工程减毒以及在DNA疫苗载体中的应用

沙门氏菌是最常见的人畜共患的重要病原菌,引起人和动物肠热症、胃肠炎、败血症等,呈全球性分布.通过基因工程技术对沙门氏菌进行减毒,感染宿主细胞后可在体内长期存活并诱导产生保护性免疫反应.同时,沙门氏菌是一种侵袭性胞内菌,减毒沙门氏菌运载编码有外源基因的真核表达质粒可在体细胞内进行持续表达,诱导产生特异性的体液和细胞免疫应答.因此,减毒沙门氏菌既可作为针对同源抗原的活疫苗,也可作为诱导针对其他病原微生物产生保护性反应DNA疫苗的载体[1].本文综述了沙门氏菌的基因工程减毒以及在DNA疫苗载体中应用方面的最新进展.     

饲料维生素C含量对半滑舌鳎抵抗迟缓爱德华氏菌感染的影响

本试验旨在研究维生素C对半滑舌鳎在感染迟缓爱德华氏菌后红细胞抗氧化能力及葡萄糖-6-磷酸脱氢酶(G-6-PD)活性的影响。在基础饲料中添加L-抗坏血酸-2-磷酸酯(作为维生素C添加剂),制成维生素C含量分别为0.2(对照)、104.8、209.6、313.8、521.6、837.3 mg/kg的6种试验饲料。将健康的半滑舌鳎[平均体重(99.12±1.58)g]分别喂食上述6种饲料84 d后,感染迟缓爱德华氏菌,试验期为14 d。结果显示:试验鱼的终末体重、特定生长率、增重率均以209.6 mg/kg组最高。随着饲料中维生素C含量的升高,半滑舌鳎血浆维生素C含量及红细胞血红蛋白(Hb)含量和G-6-PD活性均呈上升趋势,且除104.8 mg/kg组红细胞G-6-PD活性外各添加组均显著高于对照组(P0.05)。饲料维生素C含量为209.6 mg/kg时,红细胞超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性显著高于对照组(P0.05),而后随着维生素C含量继续升高,红细胞SOD和CAT活性呈下降趋势。对照组红细胞丙二醛(MDA)含量和红细胞膜一氧化氮(NO)含量显著高于各添加组(P0.05)。以上结果表明,维生素C能有效降低感染迟缓爱德华氏菌半滑舌鳎的红细胞氧化损伤程度;经过折线模型分析,推荐饲料中维生素C含量为257.04~341.36 mg/kg。     

马耳它布氏杆菌bp26基因缺失株的构建及鉴定

为了建立马耳他布氏杆菌M5-90株弱毒疫苗株与野生株的鉴别诊断,本研究以bp26基因作为重组靶位点,以M5-90为亲本,利用bp26基因ORF外侧序列作为同源序列,将卡那霉素抗性基因(Kan')整合到细菌基因组中,双交叉重组阳性菌株,经SDS-PAGE和western blot试验表明迁移率约为29 ku的BP26蛋白在亲本菌中表达并可被鼠抗BP26高免血清识别,而突变株M5-90-26反应结果为阴性,表明BP26蛋白在突变疫苗株M5-90-26中未表达.M5-90-26具备从血清学角度区分M5-90-26免疫与野生型布氏杆菌感染,对布氏杆菌病防制、监测及净化具有重要的意义.     

Effect of Edwardsiella tarda immunization on systemic immune response,mucosal immune response and protection in catla (Catla catla)

The effect of immunization on systemic and cutaneous mucosal immune responses of fish and their possible relation with protection has not been fully assessed. In this study, healthy catla (Catla catla) were immunized against Edwardsiella tarda using two antigenic preparations namely, whole cell bacterin (B) and bacterin mixed with Freund’s complete adjuvant in a 1:1 (v/v) ratio (B+A) followed by a booster dose after 3 weeks of first injection. Different systemic and cutaneous mucosal immune responses were measured at weekly interval upto 8th week post vaccination (pv). Fish were challenged 8 weeks pv with live E. tarda to study vaccine induced protection. The result showed that although there were strong systemic as well as mucosal immune responses, particularly after booster dose, the challenge produced low to moderate protection in terms of relative percent survival (RPS). The maximum RPS (50 %) was recorded in the adjuvanted bacterin group after 8 weeks pv. Low to moderate protection after challenge, which may be attributed to the intracellular nature of E. tarda and/or use of crude antigenic preparation, accounts for new strategy to be developed for immunization programme against such intracellular pathogen. The results collectively suggest possible involvement of systemic as well as mucosal immune responses in inducing protective immunity in catla.     

Potential use of a transposon Tn916-generated mutant of Aeromonas hydrophila J-1 defective in some exoproducts as a live attenuated vaccine

Aeromonas hydrophila is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that causes disease in a wide range of hosts due to its multifactorial virulence. Here we describe the application of transposon insertion mutagenesis approach to obtain an exoenzyme mutant of A. hydrophila strain J-1. Immunization of swordtail fish (Xiphophorus helleri Heckel) with the highly attenuated mutant provided protection (survival of 27 out of 35 fish, compared to survival of only 13 out of 35 control fish) in the fish given the highest immunization dose (10(7) CFU) against intraperitoneal challenge with the wild J-1 strain. Immunization with doses of 10(5) or 10(3) did not provide significant protection.