Pathogenicity of nodavirus strains from striped jack Pseudocaranx dentex and Atlantic halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus, studied by waterborne challenge of yolk-sac larvae of both teleost species.

The present study shows that differences in pathogenicity exist among fish nodavirus strains. In challenge trials, a Japanese strain (SJ93Nag) was highly virulent to larvae of the striped jack Pseudocaranx dentex but replication was not detected in larvae of Atlantic halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus at 6 degrees C. Conversely, a Norwegian nodavirus strain (AH95NorA) that was highly virulent to the Atlantic halibut larvae did not replicate in striped jack larvae at 20 degrees C. Occurrence of the disease viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER) and cumulative mortality were significantly different in the 2 species when challenged with the 2 nodavirus strains. The presence of nodavirus in nervous tissue was monitored by immunohistochemical methods. Our results support the view that the genetic diversity among nodavirus strains reflects the existence of different viral phenotypes which may be adapted to infect different host species and/or for replicating at different temperatures. Fish nodaviruses represent surveyable pathogens well suited for studying the relation between viral genotypic and phenotypic properties such as host specificity, temperature optima, neuroinvasiveness and neurovirulence.