Virus accumulation by the rock oyster Crassostrea glomerata

Abstract

The accumulation of virus by the New Zealand rock oyster Crassostrea glomerata has been studied in a static seawater system using radioactively labeled reovirus type III and Semliki Forest virus. The uptake of virus was found to be less rapid than for the bacterium Escherichia coli and to be unaffected by the presence of the marine alga Dunaliella primolecta in the seawater. Accumulation was dependent on virus concentration, with saturation achieved at 4 X 10(10) reovirus particles per oyster, implying that an oyster possesses a large but finite number of sites for virus adsorption. When the rates of uptake of two viruses of similar size but differing surface properties were compared, the rate of accumulation of the lipoprotein-enveloped Semliki Forest virus was found to be less than that for the protein-enclosed reovirus. This observation, together with the finding that the oyster shell has a strong affinity for virus, suggests that surface properties, rather than size, are the principal factors governing the accumulation of viruses by filter-feeding marine bivalves.