NONSPECIFIC IMMUNE-RESPONSES IN FAMILIES OF ATLANTIC SALMON, SALMO-SALAR, EXHIBITING DIFFERENTIAL RESISTANCE TO FURUNCULOSIS

A variety of non-specific humoral and cellular immune-parameters were investigated in five families of farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, known to exhibit differential susceptibilities to furunculosis in the field (fishfarm) situation, Non-specific phagocyte functions, such as respiratory burst activity and migration, were not found to be signifi cantly different between resistant and susceptible families, Both comp lement and non-alpha(2)macroglobulin (alpha(2)m)-antiprotease activity were found to be higher in families of salmon resistant to Aeromonas salmonicida, however, these differences were not significant. Neverthe less, significant(P < 0.05) inverse correlations between both non-spec ific humoral factors and furunculosis mortalities in two independent d ata sets were observed, Based on the above observations, both compleme nt and non-alpha(2)m-antiprotease activities appear to play a role in resistance against A. salmonicida.