Diagnosis of Ostreid herpesvirus 1 in fixed paraffin-embedded archival samples using PCR and in situ hybridisation

In 1994, some of the high mortality episodes that affected oysters cultured in France were associated with herpesviral infections. Through histology analysis, however, viral presence could only be suspected and confirmation of histological diagnosis by transmission electron microscopy was performed in only a few cases. Subsequently, the characterisation and genome sequencing of Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) made possible the development of specific molecular detection (PCR and in situ hybridisation (ISH)). Using both molecular tools, attempts were made to screen for OsHV-1 a number of fixed, paraffin-embedded oyster samples collected and processed in 1994. The aim was to compare these techniques and to estimate the accuracy of histology-based indication of viral infection. Existing DNA extraction protocols were adapted for oyster samples and two pairs of specific primers targeting small fragments (less than 200bp) were designed (C(9)/C(10) and B(4)/B(3)). The poor consistency observed between the results of PCR with both primer pairs was confirmed by statistical analysis. C(9)/C(10), which targets a repeated region of the OsHV-1 genome, appears to be the primer of choice for viral detection in archival samples. In situ hybridisation may furnish complementary information concerning the localisation of viral foci. Under certain conditions, retrospective examination of archival samples by molecular techniques may therefore provide valuable epidemiological data.