Growth of Flavobacterium psychrophilum in fish serum correlates with pathogenicity.

Flavobacterium psychrophilum isolates, obtained from ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis, three species of salmonids and two species of cyprinids in Japan, were used in this study. Bacteria were inoculated to serum prepared from ayu or red spotted masu trout (RSMT), Oncorhynchus masou ishikawae, and incubated at 18 °C for 24 h. All isolates (n = 19) from ayu grew well with a 9- to 116-fold increase of CFU in ayu serum, while CFU decreased markedly in RSMT serum. In contrast, isolates (n = 17) from fish species other than ayu exhibited no growth in ayu serum, but some isolates from salmonids survived or grew (1.2-23.5 fold increase of CFU) in RSMT serum. The isolates that could not survive or grow in ayu and RSMT sera grew well in both heat-inactivated sera of ayu and RSMT. Experimental infection by intraperitoneal injection showed that ayu isolates examined were all pathogenic to ayu but not to RSMT, while none of the isolates from salmonids and cyprinids were pathogenic to ayu but some showed pathogenicity to RSMT. These results indicate that the in vitro growth ability of F. psychrophilum isolates in fish serum correlates well with their pathogenicity to fish, particularly in ayu.

Cloning and characterization of aquaglyceroporin genes from rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and transcript expression in response to cold temperature.

Aquaglyceroporins (GLPs) are integral membrane proteins that facilitate passive movement of water, glycerol and urea across cellular membranes. In this study, GLP-encoding genes were characterized in rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax mordax), an anadromous teleost that accumulates high glycerol and modest urea levels in plasma and tissues as an adaptive cryoprotectant mechanism in sub-zero temperatures. We report the gene and promoter sequences for two aqp10b paralogs (aqp10ba, aqp10bb) that are 82% identical at the predicted amino acid level, and aqp9b. Aqp10bb and aqp9b have the 6 exon structure common to vertebrate GLPs. Aqp10ba has 8 exons; there are two additional exons at the 5' end, and the promoter sequence is different from aqp10bb. Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggests that the aqp10b paralogs arose from a gene duplication event specific to the smelt lineage. Smelt GLP transcripts are ubiquitously expressed; however, aqp10ba transcripts were highest in kidney, aqp10bb transcripts were highest in kidney, intestine, pyloric caeca and brain, and aqp9b transcripts were highest in spleen, liver, red blood cells and kidney. In cold-temperature challenge experiments, plasma glycerol and urea levels were significantly higher in cold- compared to warm-acclimated smelt; however, GLP transcript levels were generally either significantly lower or remained constant. The exception was significantly higher aqp10ba transcript levels in kidney. High aqp10ba transcripts in smelt kidney that increase significantly in response to cold temperature in congruence with plasma urea suggest that this gene duplicate may have evolved to allow the re-absorption of urea to concomitantly conserve nitrogen and prevent freezing.

Studies on morphology and cytochemistry in blood cells of ayu Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis.

Peripheral blood cells from ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis, were separated using a density gradient. Blood cells were then smeared using Shandon Cytospin and subjected to cytochemical staining. Blood cells were categorized based on morphological and cytochemical characteristics, and the density fractionation range and nucleus area/cell area ratio were observed. Lymphocytes are distinguished from neutrophils by their basophilic cytoplasm and Golgi-like field. The features of chromatin in thrombocytes are different from those of lymphocytes or neutrophils, but some small neutrophils have similar chromatin. Therefore, it is necessary to perform peroxidase staining to distinguish small neutrophils from thrombocytes. Basophils have large basophilic granules in cytoplasm. Based on density fractionation of blood cells, thrombocytes in the low-density area were separated from other blood cells. Identification of peripheral blood cells from ayu was possible with these staining methods. Monocytes/macrophages from spleen are specifically positive for esterase staining by α-naphthyl butyrate. As a result, thrombocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils and monocytes/macrophages were identified in smears from peripheral blood or spleen tissue. In this paper, we confirmed that the peripheral blood corpuscles of ayu are able to be identified using the present staining methods.