Biological Control of Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida Infection in Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using Aeromonas Phage PAS-1

Abstract

The potential control efficacy of Aeromonas phage PAS-1 was evaluated against Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida infection in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) model in this study. The phage was co-cultured with the virulent A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida strain AS05 that possesses the type III secretion system related ascV gene, and a strong bacteriolytic activity was observed against the bacteria. The administration of PAS-1 in rainbow trout demonstrated that the phage was cleared from the fish within 200 h post-administration, and a temporal neutralizing activity against the phage was detected in the sera of phage-administrated fish. The administration of PAS-1 (multiplicity of infection, MOI: 10,000) in a rainbow trout-furunculosis model showed notable protective effects, with increased survival rates and mean times to death. These results demonstrated that Aeromonas phage PAS-1 could be considered as an alternative biological control agent against A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida infections in rainbow trout culture.