Characterization and pathogenicity of Aeromonas veronii associated with mortality in cage farmed grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, 1844) from the Central Himalayan region of India

In the study, Aeromonas strains (n = 12) were isolated from moribund grass carp fry reared in the cage culture unit from the Central Himalayan region of India. They were identified as Aeromonas veronii, by biochemically and 16S rRNA analysis. The experimental bath infection of grass carp fry was performed using A. veronii GCAFBLC 228, one of the 12 isolates at cell concentrations 106 and 108 CFU mL−1. The infected fry showed varied behavioural characteristics followed by tail rot, black pigmentation and hemorrhage in the body 48–96 h post infection. The post bath challenged demonstrated maximum mortality (23%) at cell concentration 108 CFU mL−1 during 10th and 12th day. Histopathology revealed hypertrophy, hyperplasia, fusion of gill lamellae, detachment and epithelial cell detachment in gill, swelling of hepatocytes, granular deposition in liver and tubular degeneration and yellow pigmented macrophage aggregates in the kidney. The in vitro assays for virulence traits recorded that A. veronii GCAFBLC 228 was β-haemolytic having strong cell surface hydrophobicity (CHS) characteristic (> 50%), precipitated after boiling, produced slime, non-suicidal and bound to crystal violet. The antibiogram showed that the strain was susceptible to ciprofloxacin (5 μg), cefotaxime (30 μg), ceftazidime (30 μg), cefoxitin (30 μg), ceftriaxone (30 μg), chloramphenicol (30 μg) and tetracycline (30 μg). Negative staining transmission electron microscopy revealed presence of the lateral flagellum-like structure and cell adherence possibly could be correlated with the pathogenicity of A. veronii GCAFBLC 228. The further investigation is warranted to study the transmission, pathogenesis and epidemiology of A. veronii GCAFBLC 228 to develop the best health management practice for cage farmed fish.