Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) is a very valuable fish species both in Europe and China. The culture of this flatfish is well-established but several bacteria, viruses, and parasites can produce mortality or morbidity episodes in turbot farms. Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSV) is one of the most threatening pathogens affecting turbot, because neither vaccines nor treatments are commercia...

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 2 (STAT2) is an important molecule involved in the type I interferon signalling pathway. To date, little STAT2 homologue is available in fish except Atlantic salmon and goldfish. In this paper, STAT2 was firstly cloned and characterized from turbot, a marine flatfish with high economic value. Briefly, turbot STAT2 cDNA is 3206 bp in length encodi...

The pathogenicity of different birnavirus strains to turbot was determined by challenge experiments. The reference strains of IPNV (Sp, Ab and VR-299) were not pathogenic for turbot (Scophthalmus maximus). The Norwegian serotype (N1) and two selected birnavirus strains isolated from turbot and related to the Ab serotype of IPNV (TB-306 and TB-390) were virulent to different degrees for turbot a...

High concentrations of DDT and metabolites (ΣDDT) have been detected in sediment and the demersal flatfish hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichtys verticalis) collected from Palos Verdes (PV), California, USA, a site contaminated with over 100 metric tons of DDT throughout 1960s-70s. This study was conducted to assess the transfer of ΣDDT from PV-sediment into polychaetes (Neanthes arenaceodentata) and...

Interspecific testicular germ cell (TGC) transplantation was investigated in two commercial flatfish species. Testes from donor species (Senegalese sole) were evaluated using classical histological techniques (haematoxylin-eosin staining and haematoxylin-light green-orange G-acid fuchsine staining), in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemical analysis. Both Ssvasa1-2 mRNAs and SsVasa protein ...

Preventing disease outbreaks in cultured turbot Psetta maxima L. caused by Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida (ASS) requires a better understanding of how this pathogen colonizes its host. Distribution of 1 virulent and 2 avirulent ASS strains in turbot tissues was investigated during early and late stages of infection following an immersion challenge. To track bacteria within the turbot,...

The aim of this study was to examine the burying behaviour of hatchery-reared European flounder Platichthys flesus and turbot Psetta maxima, and whether conditioning on a sandy substrate would improve burying efficiency. Both species buried shortly after release on a sandy substrate. However, the study revealed interspecies differences; the flounder buried immediately after release, while the t...

Experimental infections with a birnavims strain isolated from turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) were conducted by immersion and intraperitoneal injection in turbot. Virus could be recovered in skin, mucus and intestine from fish infected by immersion, only up to 3 days post-infection. The distribution in internal organs was fast after intraperitoneal injection and virus was recovered with high titr...

The involvement of the lectin/carbohydrate interaction in the invasion of the turbot intestinal epithelium by Enteromyxum scophthalmi was studied in vitro using explants of turbot intestine and pre-treatment of parasite stages with the plant lectins of Canavalia ensiformis (Con A) and Glycine max (SBA). Both lectins inhibited the attachment and invasion of E. scophthalmi stages to the intestina...

Metagenomics combined with 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses was applied to unveil the taxonomic composition and functional diversity of the farmed adult turbot gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes which existed in both GI content and mucus were dominated in the turbot GI microbiome. 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses also indicated that the turbot GI tract may harbor some...