PUBLICATION
Microbe transmission from pet shop to lab-reared zebrafish reveals a pathogenic birnavirus
- Authors
- Rice, M.C., Janik, A.J., Elde, N.C., Gagnon, J.A., Balla, K.M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-240531-4
- Date
- 2024
- Source
- PLoS Biology 22: e3002606e3002606 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Balla, Keir, Elde, Nels, Gagnon, James, Janik, Andrew, Rice, Marlen
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Laboratory/microbiology
- Animals, Laboratory/virology
- Fish Diseases/microbiology
- Fish Diseases/transmission
- Fish Diseases/virology
- Aquaculture
- Pets/microbiology
- Pets/virology
- Zebrafish*/microbiology
- Zebrafish*/virology
- PubMed
- 38814944 Full text @ PLoS Biol.
Citation
Rice, M.C., Janik, A.J., Elde, N.C., Gagnon, J.A., Balla, K.M. (2024) Microbe transmission from pet shop to lab-reared zebrafish reveals a pathogenic birnavirus. PLoS Biology. 22:e3002606e3002606.
Abstract
Zebrafish are popular research organisms selected for laboratory use due in part to widespread availability from the pet trade. Many contemporary colonies of laboratory zebrafish are maintained in aquaculture facilities that monitor and aim to curb infections that can negatively affect colony health and confound experiments. The impact of laboratory control on the microbial constituents associated with zebrafish in research environments compared to the pet trade are unclear. Diseases of unknown causes are common in both environments. We conducted a metatranscriptomic survey to broadly compare the zebrafish-associated microbes in pet trade and laboratory environments. We detected many microbes in animals from the pet trade that were not found in laboratory animals. Cohousing experiments revealed several transmissible microbes including a newly described non-enveloped, double-stranded RNA virus in the Birnaviridae family we name Rocky Mountain birnavirus (RMBV). Infections were detected in asymptomatic animals from the pet trade, but when transmitted to laboratory animals RMBV was associated with pronounced antiviral responses and hemorrhagic disease. These experiments highlight the pet trade as a distinct source of diverse microbes that associate with zebrafish and establish a paradigm for the discovery of newly described pathogenic viruses and other infectious microbes that can be developed for study in the laboratory.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping