Malays. Appl. Biol. (2019) 48(1): 131–138
MOLECULAR SCREENING OF INFECTIOUS SPLEEN AND
KIDNEY NECROSIS VIRUS IN FOUR SPECIES OF
MALAYSIAN FARMED ORNAMENTAL FISH
SANDRA CATHERINE ZAINATHAN1,2*, DINESWARY BALARAMAN1,
LOGAJOTHISWARAN AMBALAVANAN1, PONNARASI KRISHNA MOORTHY1,
SURRIN KUMAR PALAKRISHNAN1 and NURSHUHADA ARIFF1,2
1School of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu,
21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
2Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu,
21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Accepted 14 January 2019, Published online 20 March 2019
ABSTRACT
Malaysia is the 8th largest world producer of freshwater ornamental fish. Ornamental fish are commonly associated with Megalocytiviruses infection, which has led to severe diseases and economic loss. The purpose of this study was to detect the presence or absence of Infectious Spleen and Kidney Necrosis Virus (ISKNV) in four ornamental fish species namely Xiphophorus maculatus, Poecilia reticulata, Trichogaster leeri and Apistogramma ramirezi from Malaysia. A total of 175 samples were analysed using PCR analysis for detection of ISKNV. The PCR analysis demonstrated 22 positive pooled samples (n = 110) for the presence of ISKNV. No clinical signs were observed in positive samples except darkened body in X. maculatus. Sequencing analysis of Megalocytivirus major capsid protein (MCP) revealed that the ISKNV strains in this study demonstrated high nucleotide identity to each other and reference ISKNV (96% to 100%). Based on the phylogenetic tree, the ISKNV strains were closely related to reference ISKNV and can be classified into Megalocytivirus genotype I.
Key words: Megalocytivirus, ISKNV, genotype I, ornamental fish, Malaysia
