1. Susceptibility of Delta Select and Delta Control Channel Catfish lines to experimental Edwardsiella ictaluri and Edwardsiella piscicida infection.
- Author
-
Bosworth, Brian G., Koshy, Manoj Chandy, Ware, Cynthia C., Yamamoto, Fernando Y., Byars, Todd S., Griffin, Matt J., and Wise, David J.
- Subjects
CHANNEL catfish ,EDWARDSIELLA ,BACTERIAL diseases ,COMMUNICABLE diseases ,ECONOMIC impact - Abstract
Objective: The Delta Select line of Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus was established in 2006 and has undergone five generations of genetic selection, specifically targeting increased growth rate and carcass yield, and was released to U.S. catfish farmers in 2020. While improvements in growth rate and carcass yield have been confirmed, performance for other important production traits has yet to be evaluated. Infectious disease, particularly bacterial infections caused by Edwardsiella spp., cause significant economic losses to catfish producers in the southeastern United States. Given the economic consequences of these bacterial pathogens, experimental infectivity trials were conducted comparing susceptibility to Edwardsiella spp. between the Delta Select line and a randomly bred line of Channel Catfish originating from the same base population (Delta Control line). Methods: Twenty‐six full‐sib families from each line were used in infectivity trials consisting of a high and a low dose of E. ictaluri (immersion challenge: high dose = 1.6 × 107 CFU/mL, low dose = 8.0 × 106 CFU/mL) and E. piscicida (intracoelomic challenge: high dose = 6.3 × 105 CFU/fish, low dose = 1.9 × 105 CFU/fish). Result: The high challenge dose resulted in the highest mortality for both pathogens (p < 0.001), regardless of selection line. There was no significant difference in cumulative percent mortality between the Delta Select and Delta Control lines following the E. ictaluri challenge at either dose (p = 0.55). Delta Selects had reduced mortality (p < 0.001) in response to E. piscicida challenge compared with the Delta Controls, regardless of dose. Conclusion: These results indicate that selection for increased growth rate and carcass yield in the Delta Select Channel Catfish line did not negatively impact resistance to E. ictaluri while potentially improving resistance to E. piscicida. Impact statementSelection for increased growth and carcass yield in the Delta Select line of Channel Catfish has not impacted susceptibility to Edwardsiella ictaluri and appears to have reduced susceptibility to Edwardsiella piscicida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF