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Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, are one of the most productive aquaculture species in the world. However, they are threatened by the spread of Ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) and its microvariants (collectively "µvars"), which cause mass mortalities in all life stages of Pacific oysters globally. Breeding programs have been successful in reducing mortality due to OsHV-1 variants following viral outbreaks; however, an OsHV-1-resistant oyster line does not yet exist in the United States (US), and it is unknown how OsHV-1 µvars will affect US oyster populations compared to the current variant, which is similar to the OsHV-1 reference, found in Tomales Bay, CA. The goals of this study were to investigate the resistance of C. gigas juveniles produced by the Molluscan Broodstock Program (MBP) to three variants of OsHV-1: a California reference OsHV-1, an Australian µvar, and a French µvar. This is the first study to directly compare OsHV-1 µvars to a non-µvar. The survival probability of oysters exposed to the French (FRA) or Australian (AUS) µvar was significantly lower (43% and 71%, respectively) than to the reference variant and controls (96%). No oyster family demonstrated resistance to all three OsHV-1 variants, and many surviving oysters contained high copy numbers of viral DNA (mean ~3.53 × 108). These results indicate that the introduction of OsHV-1 µvars could have substantial effects on US Pacific oyster aquaculture if truly resistant lines are not achieved, and highlight the need to consider resistance to infection in addition to survival as traits in breeding programs to reduce the risk of the spread of OsHV-1 variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous studies comparing Crassostrea gigas selected lines with different susceptibility to summer mortality concluded that the higher the reproductive effort the lower the survival. But they were lacking individual follow up of this reproductive effort which would be of great interest to help us to understand the physiology of the oysters facing summer mortalities. The most frequently used method for assessing the volume of the gonad is to measure the area it occupies on histological sections. Gonad measurement by magnetic resonance imaging, in contrast, is non-destructive and therefore makes it possible to assess individual evolution as well as to compare individuals. The present study compared the values of gonad volume by this method with the values of gonad surface obtained by the histological method. The two methods were used successively to assess the volume of the gonads of the same individual oysters at different maturation stages. There is a very highly significant linear relation between the results of these two methods. The estimated uncertainty about the volume value is 29%. Causes of this uncertainty are considered and discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]