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. 2022 Aug 18;12(16):2122.
doi: 10.3390/ani12162122.

Detection of Human and Fish Viruses in Marine Gastropods

Francesca Errani  1 , Sara Ciulli  1 , Luciana Mandrioli  1 , Patrizia Serratore  1 , Enrico Volpe  1
Affiliations

Detection of Human and Fish Viruses in Marine Gastropods

Francesca Errani et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Marine gastropods represent a major food source for higher trophic levels and an important source of animal protein for humans. Like bivalve molluscs, gastropods can accumulate several types of contaminants; however, the bioaccumulation of microorganisms, particularly viruses, has been poorly investigated in these animals. This study focused on gastropods (Tritia mutabilis, Bolinus brandaris and Rapana venosa) collected during the fishing season from 2017 to 2021 in the north-western Adriatic Sea, and on clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) harvested in the same geographical area, in order to evaluate the presence of human and fish viruses in their tissues. A virological investigation was carried out on the digestive gland using molecular methods. The presence of hepatitis A virus was detected in one sample, whereas noroviruses were not present in the investigated specimens. Regarding fish viruses, it was possible to detect the presence of nervous necrosis virus (NNV) in 26.5% of the analyzed gastropods; however, the histological examination did not show any pathological changes in the nervous tissue in both NNV-positive and -negative batches. As a whole, the investigated gastropods showed the ability to bioaccumulate viruses; however, lower contamination by human viruses compared to bivalve molluscs was pointed out, posing a minor concern to human health.

Keywords: Tritia mutabilis; gastropods; hepatitis A virus; histology; molecular investigation; molluscs; nervous necrosis virus; norovirus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on the partial VP1 nucleotide sequences of HAV. Sequences obtained in this study including those from gastropods (asterisk) and those from bivalve molluscs (triangle) are in bold. Sequences retrieved from GenBank are reported with the isolate name and the accession number. Bootstrap values > 70% are shown. Branch lengths are scaled according to the number of nucleotide substitutions per site. The scale bar is reported.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree based on the partial RNA1 (a) and RNA2 (b) nucleotide sequences of NNV. Sequences obtained in this study are in bold. Sequences retrieved from GenBank are reported with the genotype name and the accession number. Bootstrap values >70% are shown. Branch lengths are scaled according to the number of nucleotide substitutions per site. The scale bar is reported.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Nerve ganglia of T. mutabilis. Ganglia are lined by a rim of connective tissue (arrows) and are composed of pyrenophores (asterisks) and fiber bundles (fb). No signs of vacuolar degeneration or necrosis were present in (a) NNV-negative and (b) NNV-positive animals. Hematoxylin and eosin, magnification ×200 and ×100.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Eyes of T. mutabilis: (a) NNV-negative and (b) NNV-positive animals. The photoreceptors and basal retinal neurons (arrows) did not show signs of degeneration. Hematoxylin and eosin, magnification ×100.
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