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Development
of diagnostic and management techniques to select cod broodstocks and hatchery
stocks free from nodavirus
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Recent
outbreaks of cod nodavirus in Atlantic Canada and New Hampshire have caused catastrophic mortality at the
hatchery and nursery stages and forewarns that
nodavirus is a serious threat to the future development of cod aquaculture. Two of the most pressing matters concerning
nodavirus infections in Atlantic cod are the development of specific and
sensitive viral detection techniques, and methods for effectively disinfecting
eggs to prevent vertical transmission of the virus. We have already begun to develop a Real-time
PCR assay for the detection of cod nodavirus in cod broodstocks, gametes,
fertilized eggs and larvae. An
objective of the present study is to fully develop and refine this assay. Once
this is completed, the assay will be validated for detecting nodavirus in tissues
such as the brain, eyes, eggs and sperm from fish known to be infected with
nodavirus, and from nodavirus-infected larvae and juveniles. These tissues will be provided by the
researchers at the Institute for Marine Biosciences (Nova Scotia, Canada). In addition, the assay will be tested for the
non-lethal detection of nodavirus in cod broodstock via blood and/or gamete
sampling. After validation, the assay
will be used in an industry setting to sample blood, gametes and larvae from
captive broodstock. To attempt to eliminate nodavirus on the
surface of cod eggs and possible vertical transmission several disinfection methods will be
investigated including the use of ozonation, iodophor and RNAse A. Throughout the duration of this study,
up-to-date progress and results will be available via this webpage.
Principal Investigators: Steven Roberts (sroberts@mbl.edu) and Scott Lindell (slindell@mbl.edu)
Final Report 10/06 recently added
Abbreviated Progress Report 05/04
Real-time PCR Assay Log - This
document is an on-going record of the primary real-time assays run at
the Marine Biological Laboratory. Included are the precise
conditions of each assays and results. The log is generated in
short-hand, so if their are any questions or comments please contact:
sroberts@mbl.edu.
LINK: PROCEEDINGS OF NODAVIRUS II WORKSHOP
Publications:
Roberts SB. (2005) New molecular techniques to detect nodavirus in Atlantic cod hatcheries. Global Aquaculture Advocate 8(2) 56-57 (PDF)
"QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR METHODS FOR DISEASE DETECTION IN MARINE FISH"
Powerpoint Presentation (Internet Explorer recommended) or PDF version of invited talk given at
Aquaculture Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 2004
Video and Images
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