title: Experimental infection of European flat oyster Ostrea edulis with ostreid herpesvirus 1 microvar (OsHV-1μvar): Mortality, viral load and detection of viral transcripts by in situ hybridization.
abstract: Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) infections have been reported in several bivalve species. Mortality of Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas spat has increased considerably in Europe since 2008 linked to the spread of a variant of OsHV-1 called μvar. In the present study we demonstrated that O. edulis juveniles can be infected by OsHV-1μvar when administered as an intramuscular injection. Mortality in the oysters injected with OsHV-1μvar was first detected 4 days after injection and reached 25% mortality at day 10. Moreover, the high viral load observed and the detection of viral transcripts by in situ hybridization in several tissues of dying oysters suggested that OsHV-1μvar was the cause of mortality in the O. edulis juveniles. This is therefore the first study to provide evidence about the pathogenicity of OsHV-1μvar in a species that does not belong to the Crassostrea genus. Additionally, we present a novel method to detect OsHV-1 transcripts in infected individuals' using in situ hybridization.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), Centro Agua del Pino, Junta de Andalucía, Ctra. El Rompido-Punta Umbría, km 4, 21459 Cartaya, Spain. Electronic address: monserratls@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Monserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López Sanmartín
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências do Mar (CCMAR), Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Deborah M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Power
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética de la Universidad de Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de la Herrán
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), Centro Agua del Pino, Junta de Andalucía, Ctra. El Rompido-Punta Umbría, km 4, 21459 Cartaya, Spain.
authors.forename: José I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Navas
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências do Mar (CCMAR), Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal; Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Divisão de Aquicultura e Valorização, Estação Experimental de Moluscicultura de Tavira, Av. 5 de Outubro, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal.
authors.forename: Frederico M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Batista
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D049895:Ostrea / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: ISH; Microvar; OsHV-1; Ostrea edulis; Ostreid herpesvirus 1; RNA