Gde Sasmita Julyantoro Pande, Esti Handayani Hardi, Yuniarti Koniyo, I Nyoman Suarsana, Peter Bossier
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is an emerging threat causing high mortality in penaeid shrimp, triggered by deadly toxins secreted by a virulent strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. This strain acquires its pathogenicity by harboring a 63–70 kb AHPND-associated plasmid (pVA1), which encodes the binary PirAB^VP toxin, comprising the PirA^VP and PirB^VP subunits. Degrading these toxins presents a potential strategy for controlling AHPND. This study evaluated the ability of various Bacillus strains to degrade crude and pure AHPND toxins in vitro, as confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis. Previous research has indicated that Bacillus-based treatments can enhance shrimp survival when exposed to AHPND pathogens. However, despite advancements in detection methods, the exact mode of action and effective therapies for AHPND remain unclear. In vivo challenge tests using gnotobiotic Artemia franciscana revealed that certain Bacillus strains improved larval survival against crude and pure AHPND toxins. Moreover, a mixed culture of Bacillus strains significantly increased Artemia survival compared to the positive control, whereas individual strains showed no significant difference when directly challenged with V. parahaemolyticus M0904. The Artemia model provides a controlled, ethical, and cost-efficient system for high-throughput screening of microbial interactions, especially for assessing cytotoxicity and evaluating the effectiveness of potential probiotics in mitigating toxin-induced mortality. These findings suggest that the protective effect of Bacillus strains likely stems from their ability to degrade toxins. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.
Aquaculture Study Program, Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Udayana University, Bukit Jimbaran Campus, Bali Province, Denpasar, 80361, Indonesia; Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Mulawarman University, Gunung Kelua Campus, East Kalimantan Province, Samarinda, 75123, Indonesia; Aquaculture Study Program, Gorontalo State University, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman No. 6 Kota, Gorontalo Province, Gorontalo, Indonesia; Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary, Udayana University, Bukit Jimbaran Campus, Bali Province, Denpasar, 80361, Indonesia; Lab of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center, Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
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