FIELD DETECTION OF PATHOGENS (Renibacterium salmoninarum) USING A HANDHELD QPCR SYSTEM

Katherine Haman1, Austen Thomas2, Maria F. Chacon-Heszele3, Mieke Sinnesael3

1 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1111 Washington Street SE, Olympia, WA 98501, katherine.haman@dfw.wa.gov

2 Smith-Root, Inc., 16603 NE 50th Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98686
3 Biomeme, 20 N. 3rd st., Suite 302, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD), caused by the bacteria Renibacterium salmoninarum, affects both wild and cultured salmonids and can have significant economic impacts in both public and private aquaculture. Screening for the BKD causative agent (R. salmoninarum) in broodstock is often done using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. While reliable, immunoassays are substantially less sensitive as a diagnostic tool than quantitative PCR (qPCR), which is rapidly becoming an industry standard for medical diagnostics. In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of using the Biomeme handheld qPCR system for on-site BKD detection. Biomeme can run the same diagnostic tests as benchtop instruments used for R. salmoninarum detection, with the added advantage of delivering test results in 40 minutes in resource limited settings. We compare BKD test results between the three alternative diagnostic tools (ELISA, Benchtop qPCR, Biomeme qPCR) using kidney samples from hatchery Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Washington state. Results of our comparative study will be presented, along with diagnostic tool recommendations for alternative BKD testing scenarios. The establishment of a field-based rapid BKD detection platform such as Biomeme would provide necessary information to enable adaptive management practices (e.g. culling eggs) that prevent R. salmoninarum-infected progeny from entering production. In turn, this would significantly improve the industry's ability to prevent and control this devastating disease.