title: Introduction, expansion and coexistence of epidemic Flavobacterium psychrophilum lineages in Chilean fish farms.
abstract: Chile is one of the countries where the development of salmonid farming has been the most successful. The first importation of salmonids in Chile from the northern hemisphere dates back to the late 19th century and the country now ranks as the world second largest producer of farmed salmon. However, the fast increase of infections caused by the bacterium Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a growing concern for this local industry. This pathogen, also recognized as an important problem worldwide, has been first reported in Chile in 1993 and is currently affecting all three cultivated salmonid species: Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss). Here we conducted a MLST (multi-locus sequence typing) analysis of the local genetic diversity of F. psychrophilum to better understand its origin and propagation in the country, and to suggest practices that could contribute to its control in the future. A total of 94 bacterial isolates, collected from the main production zones, were analyzed and compared to those of other origins already available. The data reveal the country-wide distribution of several genotypes closely related to those that are the most prevalent in European and North American fish farms, and overlapping host fish species of the different lineages. This population structure is probably the direct consequence of local fish farming practices that relied until recently on massive import of fish eggs (e.g., 78 million of eggs in 2012) and where mixed-species farms and fish transportation across the country are common.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Patología de Organismos Acuáticos y Biotecnología Acuícola, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Andrés Bello, Quillota 980, Piso 4-Torre C, Viña del Mar, Chile; Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR), O'Higgins 1695, Concepción, Chile. Electronic address: ravendano@unab.cl.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Avendaño-Herrera
authors.affiliation: INRA, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, UR892 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: Armel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Houel
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Patología de Organismos Acuáticos y Biotecnología Acuícola, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Andrés Bello, Quillota 980, Piso 4-Torre C, Viña del Mar, Chile.
authors.forename: Rute
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Irgang
authors.affiliation: INRA, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, UR892 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bernardet
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Aplicadas (CIBA), Diego de Almagro Norte 1013, No. 8, Puerto Montt, Chile; Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad San Sebastián, Lago Panguipulli 1390, Pelluco Alto, Puerto Montt, Chile; INRA, Mathématique Informatique et Génome, UR1077 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Godoy
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad San Sebastián, Lago Panguipulli 1390, Pelluco Alto, Puerto Montt, Chile; INRA, Mathématique Informatique et Génome, UR1077 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nicolas
authors.affiliation: INRA, Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaires, UR892 Jouy-en-Josas, France. Electronic address: eric.duchaud@jouy.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duchaud
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002677:Chile; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D005398:Fisheries; D005417:Flavobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012487:Salmonidae
keywords: Chile; Flavobacterium psychrophilum; MLST; Salmonid fish