3 new publications related to VIVALDI activities released in 2018

Since the beginning of the year 2018, Spanish, English and Italian researchers involved in VIVALDI have published 3 articles emphasising some first scientific results notably obtained thanks to our project.

Manuscript: A literature review as an aid to identify strategies for mitigating ostreid herpesvirus 1 in Crassostrea gigas hatchery and nursery systems. (Rodgers C., Arzul I., Carrasco N. and Furones Noza D.) 

Published in Reviews in Aquaculture, 2018, doi: 10.1111/raq.12246

VIVALDI partner involved: IRTA

An understanding of husbandry strategies and any associated risk factors is important for designing management control measures that can reduce mortality in Pacific oysters, caused by OsHV-1. The type of culture facility can inform on the potential pathways that could lead to the entry of a pathogen and its survival. Animal features (e.g. age, physiological state, selective breeding programmes), husbandry procedures (e.g. stocking density), the pathogen itself (e.g. pathogenicity, virulence) and environmental effects (e.g. temperature) represent other relevant interconnected factors. Control mechanisms for hatchery or nursery areas are related to movement restrictions, water treatment, virus inactivation, the production calendar and practical farm management decisions. This comprehensive literature review compiles information related to such approaches and also includes the different existing guidelines suggested for control of OsHV-1.

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Manuscript: Molecular characterization of an Endozoicomonas-like organism causing infection in king scallop Pecten maximus L. (Irene Cano, Ronny van Aerle, Stuart Ross, David W. Verner-Jeffreys, Richard K. Paley, Georgina Rimmer, David Ryder, Patrick Hooper, David Stone, and Stephen W. Feist)

Published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2017, doi:10.1128/AEM.00952-17

VIVALDI partner involved: CEFAS

One of the fastest growing fisheries in the UK is the king scallop Pecten maximus L., also currently rated as the 2nd most valuable. Mass mortality events in scallops have been reported world-wide, often with the causative agent(s) remaining uncharacterized. This publication characterises an intracellular bacteria infecting gill scallop, resembling rickettsia-like organisms, which could be related to these mass mortality events.

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Manuscript: Identification of a newly described OsHV-1 μvar from the North Adriatic Sea (Italy) (Miriam Abbadi, Gianpiero Zamperin, Michele Gastaldelli, Francesco Pascoli, Umberto Rosani, Adelaide Milani, Alessia Schivo, Emanuele Rossetti, Edoardo Turolla, Lorenzo Gennari, Anna Toffan, Giuseppe Arcangeli and Paola Venier)

Published in Journal of General Virology, 2018, DOI 10.1099/jgv.0.001042

VIVALDI partner involved: UNIPD

The surveillance activities for abnormal bivalve mortality events in Italy include the diagnosis of OsHV-1 in symptomatic oysters. As little is known about the genetic determinants of OsHV-1 virulence, comparing complete OsHV-1 genomes supports a better understanding of the virus pathogenicity and provides new insights into virus–host interactions.