| The understanding of reciprocal interactions between Crassostrea gigas and Vibrio sp., whether these be virulent or avirulent, is vital for the development of methods to improve the health status of cultured oysters. We describe an original non-invasive experimental infection technique using cohabitation, designed to explore these interactions. Using real-time PCR techniques we examined the dynamics of virulent and avirulent Vibrio sp. in oyster hemolymph and tank seawater, and made a parallel study of the expression of four genes involved in oyster immune defense: Cg-BPI, Cg-EcSOD, Cg-IκB, Cg-TIMP. No mortality occurred in control animals, but oysters put in cohabitation for 2–48 h with animals previously infected by two Vibrio pathogens suffered... |
