Project: Mechanisms of Resistance to Myxobolus cerebralis Infection in Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout and Coho Salmon in Comparison to the Highly Susceptible Rainbow Trout

Primary Investigator: Ronald Hedrick
Project Summary: The investigators used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to compare the number of triactinomyxons (TAMs) that attached in the first 10 minutes of exposure to rainbow trout, westslope cutthroat trout, brown trout and coho salmon. They also used histology and light microscopy to determine the number of sporoplasm somatic cells that had successfully migrated into the epithelium one hour after attachment of the TAMs. The data indicate that the resistance of coho salmon and brown trout to whirling disease is conferred by different immune mechanisms. Coho salmon prevent infection by inhibiting the migration of most of the sporoplasm somatic cells into the epithelium, ultimately resulting in a light infection. In brown trout the parasite successfully invades and becomes established in the epithelium; at some subsequent point between the epithelium and the cartilage, possibly in the cranial nerve ganglia and nerve roots, the immune response engages and significantly reduces parasite numbers. Resistance in westslope cutthroat, although much less strong, may be due to similar mechanisms as seen in the coho salmon.
Funding Period: 2001-2002
Final Report: Adkison_01-02.pdf
Dataset(s) associated with this project:

There are no datasets associated with this project.