Chile is the second-largest producer of Atlantic salmon in the world, and the Chilean salmon production accounts for 27% of the world’s production. One important step of the productive cycle in freshwater is the smoltification process that prepares the fish for the marine life stage. This review describes the biological basis of smoltification in Atlantic salmon, with particular attention on branchial osmoregulatory adaptations. We also discuss some of the infectious diseases and problems in smoltification (two of the main causes of losses in Chilean aquaculture) that could be related from a physiological point of view.

Fish cell culture is a common in vitro tool for studies in different fields such as virology, toxicology, pathology and immunology of fish. Fish cell cultures are a promising help to study how to diagnose and control relevant viral and intracellular bacterial infections in aquaculture. They can also be used for developing vaccines and immunostimulants, especially with the ethical demand aiming to reduce and replace the number of fish used in research. This study aimed to isolate head kidney primary cell cultures from three Chilean salmonids: Salmo salar, Oncorhynchus kisutch, and Oncorhynchus mykiss, and characterize the response to bacterial and viral stimuli by evaluating various markers of the innate and adaptive immune response. Specifically, the primary cell cultures of the head kidney from the three salmonids studied were cultured and exposed to two substances that mimic molecular patterns of different pathogens, i.e., Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (bacterial) and Polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid (POLY I:C). Subsequently, we determined the mRNA expression profiles of the TLR-1, TLR-8, IgM, TLR-5, and MHC II genes. Head kidney primary cell cultures from the three species grown in vitro responded differently to POLY I:C and LPS. This is the first study to demonstrate and characterize the expression of immune genes in head kidney primary cell culture isolated from three salmonid species. It also indicates their potential role in developing immune responses as defense response agents and targets of immunoregulatory factors.

Extracellular traps (ETs) are webs of DNA, citrullinated histones, anti-microbial peptides, and proteins that were not previously reported in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). ETs are mainly released from polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and are considered a novel PMN-derived effector mechanism against different invasive pathogens. Here, we showed that Atlantic salmon-derived PMN released ETs-like structures in vitro in response to highly pathogenic facultative intracellular rickettsial bacteria Piscirickettsia salmonis. PMN were isolated from pre-smolt Atlantic salmon and stimulated in vitro with oleic acid and P. salmonis. Extracellular DNA was measured using the PicoGreen™ dye, while immunofluorescence image analysis was used to confirm the classical components of salmonid-extruded ETs. Future studies are required to better understand the role of Atlantic salmon-derived ETs orchestrating innate/adaptive immunity and the knowledge on regulation pathways involved in this cell death process. Thus, comprehension of salmonid-derived ETs against P. salmonis might represent novel alternative strategies to improve host innate defense mechanisms of farmed salmon against closely related rickettsial bacteria, as a complement to disease prevention and control strategies.