Abstract
In the study, Aeromonas strains (n = 12) were isolated from moribund grass carp fry reared in the cage culture unit from the Central Himalayan region of India. They were identified as Aeromonas veronii, by biochemically and 16S rRNA analysis. The experimental bath infection of grass carp fry was performed using A. veronii GCAFBLC 228, one of the 12 isolates at cell concentrations 106 and 108 CFU mL−1. The infected fry showed varied behavioural characteristics followed by tail rot, black pigmentation and hemorrhage in the body 48–96 h post infection. The post bath challenged demonstrated maximum mortality (23%) at cell concentration 108 CFU mL−1 during 10th and 12th day. Histopathology revealed hypertrophy, hyperplasia, fusion of gill lamellae, detachment and epithelial cell detachment in gill, swelling of hepatocytes, granular deposition in liver and tubular degeneration and yellow pigmented macrophage aggregates in the kidney. The in vitro assays for virulence traits recorded that A. veronii GCAFBLC 228 was β-haemolytic having strong cell surface hydrophobicity (CHS) characteristic (> 50%), precipitated after boiling, produced slime, non-suicidal and bound to crystal violet. The antibiogram showed that the strain was susceptible to ciprofloxacin (5 μg), cefotaxime (30 μg), ceftazidime (30 μg), cefoxitin (30 μg), ceftriaxone (30 μg), chloramphenicol (30 μg) and tetracycline (30 μg). Negative staining transmission electron microscopy revealed presence of the lateral flagellum-like structure and cell adherence possibly could be correlated with the pathogenicity of A. veronii GCAFBLC 228. The further investigation is warranted to study the transmission, pathogenesis and epidemiology of A. veronii GCAFBLC 228 to develop the best health management practice for cage farmed fish.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research (ICAR-DCFR), Bhimtal, India, for providing necessary facilities to carry out the present work.
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This work was funded by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) under the Project “National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD)”, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, India.
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SKM: Conceived of or designed study, performed research, wrote the paper. NJ: Performed research, wrote the paper. KK, SS, KP: Performed research. NS, AKG, SC: Analyzed data.
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The ARRIVE guidelines on the use of animals for research purposes (Kilkenny et al. 2010) were followed to conduct the experiment. The approval was obtained from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) (Reference F. No. 4-4(66)/2015/DC/3611-3617) before the commencement of the study. The guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) were followed for handling, care and use of animals during the experimental trial.
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Mallik, S.K., Joshi, N., Shahi, N. et al. Characterization and pathogenicity of Aeromonas veronii associated with mortality in cage farmed grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, 1844) from the Central Himalayan region of India. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 113, 2063–2076 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-020-01478-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-020-01478-3