Acronym DECIPHER
Category
Aquaculture
Title Deciphering multifactorial diseases: insight into oyster mortalities Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Guillaume Mitta Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
UPVD - University of Perpignan (France)
Institutions involved
ECOSYM - ECOlogy of Coastal Marine Systems (France) ,
NA - Institute of Genetics and Microbiology UMR 8621 (France) ,
LEMAR - Marine Environmental Sciences Laboratory (France) ,
NA - University of Poitiers (France) ,
Start year 2014 End year 2019 Funding (€) € 793,892 Website https://anr.fr/Project-ANR-14-CE19-0023 Summary Mass and recurrent mortality events of complex etiology have increasingly affected invertebrates of ecological and/or economical interest such as honeybees, corals and oysters over the past years. The main oyster species exploited in France and worldwide, Crassostrea gigas, is no exception to this rule. It suffers from devastating summer mortality outbreaks, whose severity has dramatically increased since 2008. It particularly affects juvenile stages throughout France decimating up to 90 % of spats in some farms, resulting in significant economic losses. This phenomenon is due to a combination of direct and indirect factors. Among indirect factors, the intensification of the production, worldwide transport of animals, anthropogenic impacts or climate change in coastal areas have been suspected to weaken the animals and increase the frequency of outbreaks thus contributing to the emergence of the phenomenon. In addition, a series of research projects have evidenced several factors involved the expression of the disease and have underscored the complexity of the pathosystem brought into play: (i) the disease depends on the temperature of the seawater potentially modifying both host physiology (reproductive capacities, health) and composition/function of its associated microbiota (including pathogen virulence); (ii) the susceptibility of oysters to potential pathogens (herpes viruses, bacteria such as Vibrio splendidus, V. aestuarianus, …) depends on the genetics of oysters; (iii) a species/strain of a single microorganism is not sufficient to cause disease suggesting that microorganisms cooperate to initiate pathogenesis; (iv) different dynamics of oyster mortalities are observed according to the production sites. All these data taken together suggest that abiotic factors, human activities, oyster genetics, their life history, their immune status and of course, the pathogens are involved and might influence each other. However, the relative weight of these factors, their interaction patterns, their dynamics during pathogenesis are largely unknown, which makes the disease difficult to understand, predict and control.
To open a way out of this unprecedented crisis and find solutions for a sustainable oyster aquaculture, it is necessary to decipher this complex pathosystem. This is the aim of the DECIPHER project. To achieve this ambitious goal, DECIPHER proposes an integrated multidisciplinary research program in an attempt to link together different levels of understanding of the disease. It will focus on the dynamic study of the "oyster holobiont" (oyster and associated microbiota, including pathogens) and will integrate in a global picture the genetic background of the host, changes in the environment and the history of interactions between the protagonists of this pathosystem and the emergence of the disease.
This ambitious goal is now feasible thanks to recent scientific and technical breakthroughs that the consortium of scientists gathered in this project proposes to use and implement. DECIPHER should bring (i) a clear answer to the question of summer mortalities affecting oyster and (ii) solutions to improve the eco-efficiency of oyster culture and contribute to the sustainability of this industry.
Keywords
Mollusc;
Disease;
Biology;
Shellfish;
Bivalve;
Genetic;
Impacts;
Oyster;
Microbiome;
Climate change;
Anthropic activity;
Open sea aquaculture;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
Marine Region Map
