Dataset associated to : Petton, B., Alunno Bruscia, M., Mitta, G., and Pernet, F. Increased growth metabolism promotes viral infection in susceptible oyster population. Aquaculture Environment Interactions, in revision.

Here we present data from an experiment whose objective was to assess the effect of overall metabolism on the susceptibility of oysters to disease caused primarily by the ostreid herpesvirus type I infection. The basic hypothesis was that metabolism increases susceptibility to disease by promoting viral replication. Indeed, viruses depend on the cellular machinery of the host to replicate and any increase in the activity of this machinery should lead to an increase in the risk of mortality. In ecthoterm organisms such as oysters, growth metabolism can be modulated by acting on food, temperature and by choosing individuals with more or less rapid growth.

To test this hypothesis, several lines of Pacific oysters with contrasting resistance phenotypes, divided into growth classes, were acclimated to two temperatures and three levels of food before exposure to a viral pathogen under laboratory and natural field conditions. We overall found that increasing host growth through temperature, food level, or selection of fast-growing animals all increased disease susceptibility. Food provisioning was the most influential factor associated with higher viral shedding, followed by temperature, resistance phenotype and individual growth rate.

The database contains data and SAS code from:
1. oyster growth during the acclimation period,
2. food ingestion during acclimatization and virus infection,
3. survival following viral infection in the laboratory,
4. viral shedding,
5. biochemical composition of oysters,
6. survival following an infection in the natural environment.