Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) is the etiological agent capable of causing the disease known as Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) in Atlantic salmon cultivated in Norway, and it is associated with the jaundice syndrome in Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Chile. Currently, it is classified into three variants based on the sequencing of the S1 gene segment: PRV-1, PRV-2, and PRV-3. In Chile, Coho salmon is affected by both PRV-1 and PRV-3.
In this context, a group of researchers from the Austral University of Chile, the San Sebastián University Patagonia campus, the Center for Applied Biological Research (CIBA), and the Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR) characterized the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of PRV-3 identified in Coho salmon with clinical signs of jaundice syndrome in the seawater phase.
The results of the study published in the journal “Aquaculture” indicate the presence of new gene sequences characterized by unique polymorphisms identified in the Chilean variants, specifically in the viral S1 gene segment, which encodes for the viral capsid protein σ3 and the non-structural protein p13. This characteristic was also found in the M2 gene segment, which encodes for the viral capsid protein μ1.
For more information, please read the article «Piscine orthoreovirus 3a detected from farmed coho salmon with jaundice syndrome displays positive selection and polymorphisms in S1 and M2 viral segment»
