Potential for a live red seabream iridovirus (RSIV) vaccine in rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus at a low rearing temperature

Abstract

Serious economic losses have occurred in fingerlings and market-sized rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus in Korea due to red seabream iridovirus (RSIV) infection. We demonstrated previously that viral multiplication in fish is downregulated by maintaining fish at far from optimum temperatures at the onset of disease. We applied this concept to develop a live RSIV vaccine in rock bream. Mortalities in rock bream that were inoculated with RSIV and reared at 21–30°C were ≥90%, whereas no mortality was observed in fish that received an RSIV inoculation and were reared at ≤18°C. RSIV kinetics revealed that RSIV multiplied rapidly in fish reared at 24.3±1.3°C, and achieved the critical level for rock bream (approximately 109.0 genomes/mg) within 28 days. In contrast, the RSIV genome was detected on day 10 in fish that received an RSIV inoculation at 15.5°C, and peaked on day 28 at 105.91±0.54 genomes/mg, then decreasing gradually, and were then maintained under the detection level beginning on day 84 after RSIV inoculation. Furthermore, the fish surviving the RSIV infection at low rearing temperature were strongly protected from re-challenge with homologous RSIV; the threshold level of RSIV for rock bream to mount a protective immune response was ≤105.4 genomes/mg. Cohabitation experiments revealed that the spread of RSIV from rock bream vaccinated with a live RSIV could be low if it is limited to fish in the late stage (≥84 days of elapse) after vaccination. Thus, it was concluded that when rock bream are reared at ≤18°C and inoculated with RSIV, the survivors can mount a protective immune response against RSIV, suggesting a positive effect of a live RSIV vaccine for rock bream.