0000000001299618
AUTHOR
Hanna Kinnula
High Nutrient Concentration Can Induce Virulence Factor Expression and Cause Higher Virulence in an Environmentally Transmitted Pathogen
Environmentally transmitted opportunistic pathogens shuttle between two substantially different environments: outside-host and within-host habitats. These environments differ from each other especially with respect to nutrient availability. Consequently, the pathogens are required to regulate their behavior in response to environmental cues in order to survive, but how nutrients control the virulence in opportunistic pathogens is still poorly understood. In this study, we examined how nutrient level in the outside-host environment affects the gene expression of putative virulence factors of the opportunistic fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare. The impact of environmental nutrient concen…
Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions
Bacterial densities (mean ± S.E.M.) of dose controls of strains A, B and C of Flavobacterium columnare in the growth experiment. The average optical density of the cultures is on the Y-axis, and culture time on the X-axis. (DOC 65 kb)
Higher resource level promotes virulence in an environmentally transmitted bacterial fish pathogen
Diseases have become a primary constraint to sustainable aquaculture, but remarkably little attention has been paid to a broad class of pathogens: the opportunists. Opportunists often persist in the environment outside the host, and their pathogenic features are influenced by changes in the environment. To test how environmental nutrient levels influence virulence, we used strains of Flavobacterium columnare, an environmentally transmitted fish pathogen, to infect rainbow trout and zebra fish in two different nutrient concentrations. To separate the effects of dose and nutrients, we used three infective doses and studied the growth of bacteria in vitro. High nutrient concentration promoted …
Intensive aquaculture selects for increased virulence and interference competition in bacteria
Although increased disease severity driven by intensive farming practices is problematic in food production, the role of evolutionary change in disease is not well understood in these environments. Experiments on parasite evolution are traditionally conducted using laboratory models, often unrelated to economically important systems. We compared how the virulence, growth and competitive ability of a globally important fish pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare , change under intensive aquaculture. We characterized bacterial isolates from disease outbreaks at fish farms during 2003–2010, and compared F. columnare populations in inlet water and outlet water of a fish farm during the 2010 outbre…
Additional file 2: Table S1. of Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions
Effect of the treatment (single or coinfection) on the growth parameters of Flavobacterium columnare. (DOC 29Â kb)
Additional file 3: Table S2. of Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions
The treatment and control groups in Flavobacterium columnare infection experiment. (DOC 70Â kb)
Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions
Background In nature, organisms are commonly coinfected by two or more parasite strains, which has been shown to influence disease virulence. Yet, the effects of coinfections of environmental opportunistic pathogens on disease outcome are still poorly known, although as host-generalists they are highly likely to participate in coinfections. We asked whether coinfection with conspecific opportunistic strains leads to changes in virulence, and if these changes are associated with bacterial growth or interference competition. We infected zebra fish (Danio rerio) with three geographically and/or temporally distant environmental opportunist Flavobacterium columnare strains in single and in coinf…
The influence of infective dose, nutrient availability and coinfection on virulence of Flavobacterium columnare : implications of intensive aquaculture on opportunistic infections
Ecological factors are known to affect disease dynamics and even lead to disease emergence. Especially in opportunistic, environmentally transmitted pathogens, the environment may significantly contribute to pathogen virulence. Intensive farming, including aquaculture, has been suggested to create conditions favouring development of highly virulent pathogens. At Finnish fish farms, epidemics caused by opportunistic Flavobacterium columnare have been constantly increasing in their prevalence and severity since the 1980’s. Yet, factors behind the increased virulence of the pathogen and their mechanisms of action have largely remained unsolved. In this thesis, I explore the effects of infectio…
The Influence of Infective Dose on the Virulence of a Generalist Pathogen in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Zebra Fish (Danio rerio)
Pathogen density and genetic diversity fluctuate in the outside-host environment during and between epidemics, affecting disease emergence and the severity and probability of infections. Although the importance of these factors for pathogen virulence and infection probability has been acknowledged, their interactive effects are not well understood. We studied how an infective dose in an environmentally transmitted opportunistic fish pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare, affects its virulence both in rainbow trout, which are frequently infected at fish farms, and in zebra fish, a host that is not naturally infected by F. columnare. We used previously isolated strains of confirmed high and low …
Data from: Intensive aquaculture selects for increased virulence and interference competition in bacteria
Although increased disease severity driven by intensive farming practices is problematic in food production, the role of evolutionary change in disease is not well understood in these environments. Experiments on parasite evolution are traditionally conducted using laboratory models, often unrelated to economically important systems. We compared how the virulence, growth and competitive ability of a globally important fish pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare, change under intensive aquaculture. We characterized bacterial isolates from disease outbreaks at fish farms during 2003-2010, and compared F. columnare populations in inlet water and outlet water of a fish farm during the 2010 outbreak…
Data from: Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions
Background In nature, organisms are commonly coinfected by two or more parasite strains, which has been shown to influence disease virulence. Yet, the effects of coinfections of environmental opportunistic pathogens on disease outcome are still poorly known, although as host-generalists they are highly likely to participate in coinfections. We asked whether coinfection with conspecific opportunistic strains leads to changes in virulence, and if these changes are associated with bacterial growth or interference competition. We infected zebra fish (Danio rerio) with three geographically and/or temporally distant environmental opportunist Flavobacterium columnare strains in single and in coinf…
Data from: Higher resource level promotes virulence in an environmentally transmitted bacterial fish pathogen
Diseases have become a primary constraint to sustainable aquaculture, but remarkably little attention has been paid to a broad class of pathogens: the opportunists. Opportunists often persist in the environment outside the host and their pathogenic features are influenced by changes in the environment. To test how environmental nutrient levels influence virulence, we used strains of Flavobacterium columnare, an environmentally transmitted fish pathogen, to infect rainbow trout and zebra fish in two different nutrient concentrations. To separate the effects of dose and nutrients, we used three infective doses and studied the growth of bacteria in vitro. High nutrient concentration promoted b…