DAO 84:95-104 (2009) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02032
Pathology, isolation and molecular characterisation of a ranavirus from the common midwife toad Alytes obstetricans on the Iberian Peninsula
Ana Balseiro1,*, Kevin P. Dalton2, Ana del Cerro1, Isabel Marquez1, Andrew A. Cunningham3, Francisco Parra2, José M. Prieto1, R. Casais1
ABSTRACT: We describe the pathology, isolation and characterisation of a virus responsible for an outbreak of a systemic haemorrhagic disease causing high mortality in tadpoles of the common midwife toad Alytes obstetricans in the ‘Picos de Europa’ National Park in northern Spain. The virus, provisionally designated as the common midwife toad virus (CMTV), was isolated from homogenates of visceral tissue from diseased toad tadpoles following inoculation on epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells. Molecular characterisation of the virus, including sequence analysis of the DNA polymerase and major capsid protein genes, showed that the isolated virus was a ranavirus with marked sequence identity to other members of the genus Ranavirus. A rabbit antiserum raised against purified virions was prepared and used to definitively demonstrate systemic distribution of the virus in diseased tadpoles, indicating that the isolated virus was the primary pathogen.
KEY WORDS: Common midwife toad · Alytes obstetricans · Ranavirus · Pathology · Virology · Immunohistochemistry
| Full text in pdf format | Cite this article as: Balseiro A, Dalton KP, del Cerro A, Marquez I and others (2009) Pathology, isolation and molecular characterisation of a ranavirus from the common midwife toad Alytes obstetricans on the Iberian Peninsula. Dis Aquat Org 84:95-104. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02032
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