DETECTING AND GENETICALLY VERIFYING KEY AQUACULTURE VIRUSES AUTONOMOUSLY AND CONTINUOUSLY

Nucleic Sensing Systems will work in partnership with Dr. Jerri Bartholomew at the Oregon State University's John L. Fryer Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Fish Health Services to develop and validate the efficacy of a continuous, autonomous, viral detection instrument by adding reverse transcription (RT) to the Tracker's internal process flow. This work will build upon our work funded by NOAA SBIR I & II for the simultaneous eDNA detection of multiple waterborne infectious organisms in aquaculture.Technical Question: What design modifications are necessary to adapt the current eDNA Tracker to an eRNA Tracker?Technical Objectives:Validate RT-qPCR kits on reference eRNA.Incorporate on the information gathered from the RT-qPCR kit development into the design features of the RT-qPCR benchtop prototype.Demonstrate and validate viral detection capabilities of the prototype with the following fish viruses: Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHNV), Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSV), Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus (IPNV). Combined, these viral targets account for the majority of pathogenic losses in the salmon aquaculture industry. Furthermore, both the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as Oregon State University identified these viruses as critical targets.