Detection of Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) in exported frozen tails of subadult-adult Caribbean spiny lobsters Panulirus argus

Abstract

The Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus is a valuable fishing resource and the trade in frozen lobster tails is an important industry. However, the presence of the pathogenic virus Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1), which causes systemic infection in P. argus and is particularly lethal to juvenile individuals, has not been previously examined in imported/exported lobster products. We used PCR assays to determine the presence of PaV1 in abdominal muscle tissue of 22 frozen P. argus tails exported from Belize to Mexico. Based on their size, the tails belonged to subadult -adult lobsters. Using specific primers targeted for PaV1 resulted in 11 tails showing a specific 499 bp band. The sequence of positive amplified fragments showed a high similarity to PaV1 (95% identity with GenBank accession no. EF206313.1). Although the pathogenicity of PaV1 was not evaluated in the present study, our results provide the first evidence of PaV1 in frozen lobster tails exported in the seafood industry as well as the first molecular evidence of PaV1 in adult lobsters. KEY WORDS: Panulirus argus Virus 1 · Frozen lobster tails · Caribbean SeaResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

Variability in clinical prevalence of PaV1 in Caribbean spiny lobsters occupying commercial casitas over a large bay in Mexico

“…Adult Panulirus argus can be infected with PaV1 (Huchin-Mian et al 2009, Behringer et al 2012 but are less likely to develop the disease than are smaller conspecifics. However, adult lobsters are the main target of the fisheries, but few studies have examined the clinical or true prevalence of PaV1 in wild adult lobsters (Behringer et al 2011, Cruz-Quintana et al 2011).…”

“…However, this operation cannot be performed during the closed season and, in addition, no sub legal-sized lobsters can be extracted from casitas at any time. Moreover, in Bahía de la Ascensión and elsewhere, many lobsters of all sizes that appear grossly normal have been found to be subclinically infected, and although some of these lobsters may never develop the disease, they may represent a background source of infection (Huchin-Mian et al 2009, unpubl. data, Behringer et al 2012).…”

Landscape Analysis for PaV1 Infection in Lobsters Panulirus argus from the Artisanal Fishery of the Eastern Coast of Yucatan, Mexico

“…For example, in Quintana Roo, Mexico, the prevalence of PaV1 by clinical signs was higher among lobsters at Punta Allen (8.4%, n = 1842) compared to Vigía Chico (1.5%, n = 2016) [37]. But in an ongoing research in the same zones in 2013, the PaV1-PCR detected higher prevalence of PaV1 in Punta Allen (28.1% of 420 lobsters) and in Vigía Chico (3.0% of 263 lobsters), compared with PaV1 prevalence by clinical signs in the same organisms (15% and 0.8%, respectively) [26].…”

“…Regarding to the PaV1-PCR; it has been validated previously in diseased spiny lobsters P. argus with and without clinical signs of PaV1, and it has been also used to assess PaV1 prevalence in frozen lobsters tails intended for commercialization, thus the risk of non-specificity is very low [23] [26]. The DNA sequence obtained herein, showed a high homology to a similar DNA sequence of PaV1 from the GenBank™, confirming that the amplified PCR products described here were from DNA of PaV1 infected lobsters.…”

“…Visualization was done using UV illumination (MiniBis Pro ® ). The negative control was DNA from uninfected lobsters and ultrapure water, and the positive control was DNA from lobsters heavily infected with PaV1 [23] [25] [26]. The PCR was performed in triplicate to avoid non-specific results.…”