All life forms are encoded by their specific genetic sequence and, importantly, within an organisms' genetic sequence are the instructions for all aspects of its life cycle. In the case of viruses, for example, these instructions may dictate which organisms the virus can parasitize, and how successfully the virus can replicate in those organisms. Because such instructions are so crucial to survival, those organisms - among a group of related ones - with instructions different from the 'hard-wired' ones may reproduce poorly, or may cease to reproduce altogether. The primary goal of our study is to search for the presence of such hard-wired instructions in the genetic sequence of a virus that routinely upsets the health of salmon, as well as the economic gains of the Norwegian aquaculture industry. With such knowledge we intend then to sabotage these hard-wired instructions in a way that will lead to a controlled reduction in that viruses' ability to cause severe disease in salmon. The usefulness of the weakened state of such a virus, much like the usefulness of a virus vaccine in humans, is that it will allow us to understand in clearer detail which instructions within the virus' genetic sequence make it so pathogenic to salmon, but also which cascade of genetic events will occur within the salmon itself as it fights off an infection from this weakened virus. Collectively, this information will give us valuable clues as to how vaccines against virus infections in salmon should be designed so that we can safeguard the health of salmon as well as that of the aquaculture industry.
Project manager
Partners
- University of Cape Town
- INRA – French National Institute for Agricultural Research
- Oslo University Hospital