Production of putative virulence factors by Renibacterium salmoninarum grown in cell culture

D. McIntosh, E. Flaño, T. H. Grayson, M. L. Gilpin, B. Austin, A. J. Villena

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    26 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A cell culture system, employing the fish cell line Epithelioma papillosum cyprini (EPC), was developed to study the synthesis of intracellular antigen and the expression of putative virulence factors by Renibacterium salmoninarum. EPC cultures infected with R. salmoninarum could be maintained for 7 weeks, during which the pathogen multiplied intracellularly. Immunohistochemical examination of infected cultures revealed the production of the p57 antigen, haemolysin and cytolysin. The intracellular nature of the infection was confirmed by transmission electron microscopic examination of EPC monolayers. A comparison of the relative virulence of bacterial cells cultured in EPC cells and on agar plates revealed that the former were markedly more virulent in challenge experiments with juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum). The EPC cell culture model provided a system for the study of R. salmoninarum under more natural conditions than those achieved with plate culture techniques.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3349-3356
    Number of pages8
    JournalMicrobiology
    Volume143
    Issue number10
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 1997

    Keywords

    • Antigen detection
    • Cell culture
    • In vitro infection
    • Renibacterium salmoninarum

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