Molecular detection and characterisation of herpesviruses in asymptomatic Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) from European aquaculture

In Germany, around 150,000 kg of mostly Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii), were produced in 2021. Sudden mortalities affected negative control Russian sturgeon in experimental infection of several European aquacultured fish species with tilapia lake virus (TiLV). An investigation sought the causative agent. In most of the sturgeon, a specific herpesvirus was detected which also occurred in the carp, crucian carp and tench subjects, but not in Nile tilapia. This herpesvirus was latent in the sturgeon population but became productive to cause the outbreak after three weeks of experimentation.

Material and Methods

Different European aquacultured fishes were experimented upon. Chosen PCRs, nested PCRs and re-amplifications were carried out to identify the causative agent of the mortality event. Sequence analysis of the obtained PCR fragment and in-situ hybridisation (ISH) using tissue sections of the experimental fishes were performed.

Results

The PCRs used for detection of Acipenser herpesvirus (AciHV)-1 and -2 were always negative. An additional PCR assay with lesser specificity for AciHV found 118 of 123 sturgeon samples and some samples of cohabited cyprinids positive. The similarity of all isolates was 99.7%. The PCR results were confirmed by ISH using probes based on the same sequence, which detected identical viral sequences in both sturgeon and cyprinid samples. These findings revealed that a sterlet sequence previously deposited in the NCBI database had been incorrectly classified.

Conclusion

It seems that different herpesviruses and/or a new subspecies of AciHV are widespread in European farmed sturgeon populations, which, at least for aquacultured fish, opens up the possibility of vaccination against the disease which they cause. Additionally, a more specific diagnostic PCR has to be established.

Lingua:: Inglese

Frequenza di pubblicazione:: 4 volte all'anno
Argomenti della rivista:: Scienze biologiche, Biologia molecolare, Microbiologia e virologia, Scienze della vita, altro, Medicina, Medicina veterinaria

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Molecular detection and characterisation of herpesviruses in asymptomatic Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) from European aquaculture

Sven Michael Bergmann

Matthias Todte

Lea Jäger

Fermin Georgio Lorenzen-Schmidt

Yeonwha Jin

Sandro Klafack

Matthias Lenk

Dewi Syahidah

Bernadetta Rina Hastilestari

Tanjung Penetaseputro

Jean-Christophe Avare

Jeeyoun Hwang

Jolanta Kiełpińska

Pubblicato online: 21 mag 2025

Pagine: 169 - 175

Ricevuto: 06 nov 2024

Accettato: 06 mag 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2025-0028

Parole chiaveAcipenseridae, virus detection, hybridisation, virus diseases

© 2025 Sven Michael Bergmann et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Introduction

Material and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Parole chiave
Acipenseridae, virus detection, hybridisation, virus diseases