Abstract
Infection with parasitic copepod salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis, represents one of the most important limitations to sustainable Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) farming today in the North Atlantic region. The parasite exerts negative impact on health, growth and welfare of farmed fish as well as impact on wild salmonid populations. It is therefore central to ensure continuous low level of salmon lice with the least possible handling of the salmon and drug use. To address this, vaccination is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly control approach. In this study, efficacy of a vaccine candidate, containing a peptide derived from ribosomal protein P0, was validated post infestation with L. salmonis, at the lab-scale. The sampling results showed good potential of the vaccine candidate when administered intraperitoneally in the host, in reducing the ectoparasite load, through reduction of adult female lice counts and fecundity and with greater presumptive effect in F1 lice generation. The sampling results correlated well with the differential modulation of pro-inflammatory, Th1, Th2 and T regulatory mediators at the transcript level at different lice stages. Overall, the results supports approximately 56% efficacy when administered by intraperitoneal injection. However, additional validation is necessary under large-scale laboratory trial for further application under field conditions.
Highlights
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) is the most important economical species in aquaculture with a production value of 14.7 billion US dollars in 2014 [1] with Norway, Chile and Scotland being the top three salmon producers
We focused on, a single caligid copepod species L. salmonis, which predominates in the North Atlantic, causing year-round infestations of Atlantic salmon housed in marine cages, with concomitant ramifications for fish health in both farmed and wild salmonids as well as for aquaculture economics and sustainability [3]
There were no great differences between the total lice counts per fish on the immunized and control fish regardless of louse life stages, statistically fewer adult female lice (40% reduction), and fewer number of female lice with eggs (42.5% reduction) per fish were present on group 2 immunized fish compared to control
Summary
The purpose of this study was to investigate if the candidate vaccine is able to provide protection, either in terms of reduced lice count or reduced fecundity or both
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