Laboratory Replication of Ostreid Herpes Virus (OsHV-1) Using Pacific Oyster Tissue Explants

TL;DR

Researchers developed a lab method to study a deadly virus in Pacific oysters using tissue samples, which could help control outbreaks in aquaculture.

Contribution

A new tissue explant model for studying OsHV-1 replication in Pacific oysters is introduced, enabling controlled infection experiments.

Findings

Tissue explants successfully replicated OsHV-1, confirmed by quantitative PCR and electron microscopy.

Oyster source significantly influenced infection outcomes in explants.

The explant model allows control over confounding factors not possible in whole-animal studies.

Abstract

Pacific oysters (Crassostrea or Magallana gigas) are one of the most economically important aquaculture species globally. Over the past two decades, ostreid herpesvirus (OsHV-1) has become a major pathogen of cultured Pacific oysters, resulting in widespread mortality with a global distribution. Experimental use of OsHV-1 is challenging for many reasons, including both complexity of host–pathogen dynamics and a lack of functioning model systems. The goal of this study was to improve the tools available for working with OsHV-1 in both whole animals and in tissue explants established from oysters maintained in controlled laboratory conditions. Tissue explants were taken from oysters originating from two different sources that have different levels of mortality in experimental OsHV-1 infections and were exposed to OsHV-1. A whole-animal infection experiment was run concurrently as a comparison. Quantitative PCR and electron microscopy were used to confirm that the explants were capable of replicating OsHV-1. Furthermore, the quantitative PCR results suggest that the source of the oysters was significant in determining the outcome of infection in the explants, supporting the validity of the explant model for OsHV-1 infection. This tissue explant approach for studying OsHV-1 allows for the control of confounding factors in the disease outcome that is not possible in whole-animal experiments, providing a new tool for the study of OsHV-1 in Pacific oysters.

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