Source: ABC Rural
Marine scientists studying Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome using a vaccine to trigger immunity in diseased oysters
Oysters from the Clyde River on the New South Wales far south coast are being used to try and ‘trick’ their central coast cousins into developing immunity to Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS).
POMS is a disease which has caused major problems on oyster beds on the central coast of NSW.
So far, the Clyde River Pacific Oyster has not been affected by the disease.
In the latest attempt to manage POMS, researchers from Sydney’s Institute of Marine Sciences plan to inject a vaccine into the abductor muscle of the Clyde River Pacific Oysters.
“We think that by stimulating a really vigorous anti-viral response in the adult oyster, some of those anti-viral compounds will be retained in the oyster’s eggs and then be transferred on to the next generation,” explained the Institute’s Dr Tony Green.
Clyde River Pacific Oysters are not used for breeding, and so this part of the three-year project is to determine the oyster’s response to the injections.
Read the full article at ABC Rural
Image Credit: ABC Rural
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