Vertical transmission of Renibacterium salmoninarum in cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)

Journal of Fish Diseases
By: , and 

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Abstract

Vertical transmission of Renibacterium salmoninarum has been well-documented in anadromous salmonids but not in hatchery-reared inland trout. We assessed whether the bacterium is vertically transmitted in cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) from a Colorado, USA hatchery, and assessed the rate of transmission from male and female brood fish. Adult brood fish were killed, tested for R. salmoninarum in kidney, liver, spleen, ovarian fluid, blood and mucus samples, then stripped of gametes to create 32 families with four infection treatments (MNFN, MNFP, MPFN, MPFP; M: male, F: female, P: positive, N: negative). Progeny from each treatment was sampled at 6 and 12 months to test for the presence of R. salmoninarum with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Our study indicated that vertical transmission was high and occurred among 60% of families across all infection treatments. However, the average proportion of infected progeny from individual families was low, ranging from 1% (MNFP, MPFN and MPFP treatments) up to 21% (MPFP treatment). Hatcheries rearing inland salmonids would be well suited to limit vertical transmission through practices such as lethal culling because any amount of transmission can perpetuate the infection throughout fish on a hatchery.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Vertical transmission of Renibacterium salmoninarum in cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii)
Series title Journal of Fish Diseases
DOI 10.1111/jfd.13745
Volume 46
Issue 4
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Wiley
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Seattle
Description 11 p.
First page 309
Last page 319
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