Detection of tilapia lake virus (TiLV) infection by PCR in farmed and wild Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from Lake Victoria

Tilapia lake virus disease (TiLVD) has emerged to be an important viral disease of farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) having the potential to impede expansion of aquaculture production. There is a need for rapid diagnostic tools to identify infected fish to limit the spread in individual farms. We report the first detection of TiLV infection by PCR in farmed and wild Nile tilapia from Lake Victoria. There was no difference in prevalence between farmed and wild fish samples (p = .65), and of the 442 samples examined from 191 fish, 28 were positive for TiLV by PCR. In terms of tissue distribution, the head kidney (7.69%, N = 65) and spleen (10.99%, N = 191), samples had the highest prevalence (p < .0028) followed by heart samples (3.45%, N = 29). Conversely, the prevalence was low in the liver (0.71%, N = 140) and absent in brain samples (0.0%, N = 17), which have previously been shown to be target organs during acute infections. Phylogenetic analysis showed homology between our sequences and those from recent outbreaks in Israel and Thailand. Given that these findings were based on nucleic acid detection by PCR, future studies should seek to isolate the virus from fish in Lake Victoria and show its ability to cause disease and virulence in susceptible fish.     

Fishing down and fishing hard: ecological change in the Nile perch of Lake Nabugabo, Uganda

Abstract –  Fishing is a potent ecological force. In Lake Victoria, East Africa, Nile perch , Lates niloticus contributes to a multi-million dollar fishing industry but is threatened by over-exploitation. We quantified spatial and temporal trends in the distribution, diet and size of Nile perch in Lake Nabugabo, Uganda, a satellite of Lake Victoria. From 1995 to 2007, we detected a decline in catch per unit effort of Nile perch, a shift in their distribution and diet, and a decrease in their body size. A greater proportion of Nile perch were found near wetland ecotones than in the 1990s. This may reflect intensive size-selective fishing in open waters, and encroachment of Vossia cuspidata , an emergent macrophyte that has expanded across the lakeshore. Results highlight the strength of fishing in inducing phenotypic changes in target stocks as well as large-scale changes to the aquatic community and are of value in understanding changes in Lake Victoria.     

Effect of dietary cyanobacteria on growth and accumulation of microcystins in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

A 12-week growth trial was conducted in a flow-through system to investigate the chronic toxic effect of dietary intake of cyanobacteria on growth, feed utilization and microcystins accumulation in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) (initial body weight: 5.6 g). Six isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets were formulated to include different contents of cyanobacteria with the dietary microcystins increasing from 0 to 5460.06 ng/g diet. The results showed that dietary intake of cyanobacteria could increase the growth of tilapia while there are no impacts on feed conversion efficiency or mortality. Feeding rate was higher for the diets containing highest cyanobacteria. Microcystins were mostly accumulated in fish liver. The relationship between microcystins contents in muscle, liver, spleen and dietary intake could be described by quadratic equations.Microcystins content in the muscle of Nile tilapia in present study exceeded the upper limit of the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of microcystins suggested by the WHO (0.04 μg/kg body weight/d). It is suggested that Nile tilapia fed on toxic cyanobacteria is not suitable for human food.     

吉富罗非鱼sIgM基因多克隆抗体的制备及组织定位分析

为研究sIgM在吉富罗非鱼体内的组织分布及其在亚细胞水平上的定位,本实验利用纯化的SIGM融合蛋白,按照常规方法免疫新西兰大白兔,制备了兔抗吉富罗非鱼SIGM多克隆抗体;并对吉富罗非鱼肠、脾脏及鳃组织进行了免疫组织化学分析以及胶体金免疫电镜分析。结果显示,ELISA检测所获得的抗血清效价为1∶256 000,该血清能与SIGM融合蛋白发生特异性免疫反应。在肠和鳃组织中,阳性信号存在于富含黏液细胞的上皮细胞层表面,在杯状细胞和黏液细胞中则不存在;在脾脏组织中,阳性信号存在于特定的细胞中。免疫电镜结果显示SIGM主要存在于肠上皮细胞膜附近,并且在肠组织上皮细胞膜表面的微绒毛处含量较多;在鳃上皮组织中,SIGM主要存在于包围鳃丝和鳃小片的上皮细胞及部分红细胞内;而在脾脏组织淋巴细胞内部高尔基体的分泌小泡处存在大量的胶体金颗粒。研究表明,sIgM在鱼体黏膜免疫中具有重要作用,这为探讨鱼类sIgM的特性及功能奠定了基础,并丰富了鱼类黏膜免疫的研究内容。     

Antimicrobial susceptibility and enrofloxacin resistance of streptococcal bacteria from farmed Nile tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus 1758) in Thailand

This study examined the antimicrobial susceptibility and mutation(s) in quinolone resistance‐determining regions (QRDRs) in streptococcal pathogens isolated from farmed Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in Thailand. Surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility in tilapia streptococcal pathogens reveals that Streptococcus agalactiae (n = 97) and Streptococcus iniae (n = 3) from diseased tilapia were susceptible to amoxicillin, florfenicol, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and sulfadimethoxine/ormetoprim, however, only 78 isolates were susceptible to enrofloxacin. Twenty‐two enrofloxacin‐resistant S. agalactiae isolates were further examined for mutations in the QRDRs of gyrA, gyrB, parC and parE genes. Twenty isolates had single base pair changed in the gyrA sequence, C‐242‐T. Point mutations in gyrB, GC‐1135, 1136‐AA and T‐1466‐G, were identified in one isolate. All resistant isolates harboured a mutation in the parC gene, C‐236‐A, while no mutations were observed in the parE gene. The study represented mutations of gyrA and parC genes as marked modification of the enrofloxacin‐resistant S. agalactiae from farmed tilapia. This study is a primary report of the QRDRs mutations associated with fluoroquinolone resistance from streptococcal pathogen in the cultured fish. The phenotypic and genotypic characterization of enrofloxacin resistance S. agalactiae evident in this study has led to an improved regulation of antimicrobial use in Thai aquaculture.     

Phenotypic and genetic parameters for body measurements, reproductive traits and gut length of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) selected for growth in low-input earthen ponds

In this study we present estimates of phenotypic and genetic parameters for body size measurements, reproductive traits, and gut length for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) selected for growth in fertilized earthen ponds for two generations. Throughout the experiment, ponds were fertilized daily with 50 kg dry matter, (dm)/ha chicken manure. No supplementary feeds were added. For the analysis, 6429 fully pedigreed experimental fish from G0, G1 and G2 were used. Generations were discrete and therefore parameters were estimated separately for each year. Heritability estimates for body measurements ranged from 0.4-0.6 for standard length to 0.69-0.79 for head length. Phenotypic correlations between body weight and body measurements ranged from 0.64 to 0.89. Genetic correlations were close to unity. The heritability estimate for maturity at harvest (corrected for sex) was 0.13. Heritabilities for carcass traits were estimated from G₁ only and were 0.16 for gutted weight and 0.06 for dressing percentage. Phenotypic correlation between body weight and gutted weight was 0.84 and the genetic correlation was 0.20. Heritability estimate for gut length was 0.22. We also estimated a high genetic correlation between gut length index and standard length (0.78) but a low genetic correlation between gut length index and body weight (0.22 ± 0.28). These results suggest that selection for growth on an herbivorous diet could result in a correlated response in gut length.     

Heritability estimates and response to selection for growth of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in low-input earthen ponds

This study presents results of two generations of selection (G₁ and G₂) for growth of Nile tilapia. The selection environment consisted of earthen ponds which were fertilized daily with 50 kg dry matter (dm)/ha chicken manure. No supplementary feeds were provided. In total, 6429 fully pedigreed experimental fish were included in the analysis. Survival till harvest was highly variable ranging from 35% to 77% and was affected by initial weight, pond, and age effects. Body weight at harvest (BW) increased from a mean of 67.4 g in the grandparental (unselected) population (G₀) to 129.5 g in G₂ was affected by initial weight, pond, sex and age effects. Generations were discrete and therefore genetic parameters were estimated separately for each year. Heritability estimates for BW ranged from 0.38 to 0.60, and the heritability for survival ranged from 0.03 to 0.14. The estimated selection response was 23.4 g (34.7%) between G₀ and G₁ and 13.0 g (14.9%) between G₁ and G₂. These results demonstrate the feasibility of selection for growth of Nile tilapia in low-input environments.     

Growth, immune function, and disease and stress resistance of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed graded levels of bovine lactoferrin

Juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were fed nutritionally complete, practical basal diets supplemented with bovine lactoferrin (Lf) at 0, 200, 400, 800, or 1600 mg/kg diet to apparent satiation twice daily for 8 weeks. After the feeding trial, the effect of dietary Lf on growth performance, immune function, and resistance to Streptococcus iniae challenge and low-water stress was determined. Dietary Lf did not affect growth performance (weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency ratio, or survival) or haematological parameters (haemoglobin, white and red blood cell counts, or haematocrit) (P > 0.05). Crowding stress produced significant increases in plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate, and osmolality from baseline values (P ≤ 0.001), but dietary Lf did not affect plasma glucose, osmolality, or cortisol concentrations (P > 0.05). The level of Lf in diet had a significant impact on survival following S. iniae challenge with fish fed the 800 mg/kg Lf diet having significantly higher survival than control fish (P ≤ 0.05). There was not a corresponding increase in activity of non-specific or specific immune parameters (plasma lysozyme and spontaneous haemolytic complement activities or agglutination antibody titer against S. iniae) with addition of Lf to diets (P > 0.05), but plasma iron decreased and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) increased significantly with increasing concentration of Lf in diet (P ≤ 0.05). The ability of Lf to sequester iron, an essential nutrient required for the growth of bacteria, is regarded as one of its key antibacterial properties. The increased survival with increasing dietary concentration of Lf seemed to correspond with a decrease in plasma iron concentration and not enhancement of non-specific or specific immune functions.     

Additive genetic and heterotic effects in a 4 × 4 complete diallel cross‐population of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus,Linnaeus, 1758) reared in different water temperature environments in Northern Vietnam

This study aims to estimate the strain additive genetic and heterotic effects on growth and survival in a 4 × 4 complete diallel cross‐population of Nile tilapia. Mass spawning was practised in replicate hapas to simultaneously produce progeny of all crosses for performance testing in three environments (in ponds at 20–30°C, in tanks at 15–20°C and in tanks at 20–25°C). A total of 6735 individually tagged fish were tested over a grow‐out period of 278 days. Statistical analyses were carried out on 5097 body trait records available at harvest. Across the test environments, the NOVIT4 strain exhibited the highest additive genetic values for both growth and survival (19% and 33% above the pure strain mean respectively). The heterosis effect was low and not different from zero for both traits. The ranking of strains with respect to their additive genetic values generally did not change between tank environments (15–20 vs. 20–25°C). The correlations of the additive genetic performance between tank environments were also high (0.84), suggesting that strain by water temperature interaction was likely not biologically important. By contrast, the differences in both performance and survival between pond and tank environments were statistically significant, indicating that this effect should be accounted for in future breeding programmes. The large additive genetic effect among strains coupled with the non‐significant heterotic effects in our study suggest that future breeding programme in this population of Nile tilapia should be based on a wise choice of strain or by exploiting the additive genetic variation through selective breeding.     

大口黑鲈生长性状相关标记的聚合效果分析

为摸清生态基养殖池塘系统的能量流动规律,以放置生态基的大口黑鲈 (Micropterus salmoides) 池塘为研究对象,采用原位实验方法,研究了生态基对大口黑鲈池塘养殖系统的水质及能量收支的影响。实验期间,生态基可显著降低池塘水体中氨氮、硝态氮、总氮及总磷含量(P<0.05),但对亚硝态氮、磷酸盐、底泥总氮和总磷含量无显著影响(P>0.05);饵料投入是系统能量输入的主要来源,分别占对照组和实验组总输入能的53.26%和55.02%,其次为浮游生物生产,两组分别为45.92%和44.22%;浮游生物呼吸是能量输出的主要途径,分别占对照组和实验组总输出能的60.01%和56.68%,其次为养殖生物收获,两组分别为28.78%和31.99%;生态基实验组生物净产出能、光合能转化效率、饲料能转化效率及总能量转化效率均显著高于对照组(P<0.05),而单位净产量耗饲料能和单位净产量耗总能则显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。结果表明,在大口黑鲈池塘放置生态基能改善池塘环境,有效提高系统产出量及能量利用效率。