ARS | Publication request: The pathophysiology of bacterial cold water disease in selectively-bred rainbow trout

Submitted to: Aquaculture Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 16, 2012
Publication Date: February 25, 2013
Citation: Marancik, D.P., Leeds, T.D., Wiens, G.D. 2013. The pathophysiology of bacterial cold water disease in selectively-bred rainbow trout. Aquaculture Conference Proceedings. P0154.

Technical Abstract: Breeding programs that select for fish that exhibit disease resistance are important elements of aquaculture. A current challenge in selecting for disease resistance is recognizing and understanding the mechanisms that lead to disease resistance. Infectivity trials that monitor mortality and allow mapping of immunologic mechanisms may be useful in quantifying and understanding survival differences between disease resistant and susceptible fish. The NCCCWA established a selective breeding program in 2005 to improve survival of rainbow trout to bacterial coldwater disease (BCWD), caused by the bacterium Flavobacterium psychrophilum. Relative survival to F. psychrophilum was found to be moderately heritable and results were repeatable with subsequent offspring. To better explain survival differences between resistant and susceptible-line rainbow trout infected with F. psychrophilum, projects are underway to correlate family survival with various immunologic and pathologic mechanisms. Correlating these physical manifestations of disease with ongoing immunologic studies, helps reveal how genetic differences affect host survival.