MSc in Biotechnology Antoni Malachowski at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NFH) will Friday 26 June 2026 hold his trial lecture and defend his thesis for the PhD degree in Natural Science.
Trial lecture on assigned topic will take place at 09.15: "The role of adaptive cellular immunity in teleost anti-viral immune responses".
Later, at 10.15 he will defend his thesis entitled: "Immune response dynamics and cardiac mitochondrial morphology during piscine myocarditis virus infection in Atlantic salmon".
Professor Jahn Petter Johnsen at NFH will lead the disputation.
Popular Science Summary
Piscine myocarditis virus (PMCV) infects Atlantic salmon and can cause a serious heart disease (CMS) that threatens fish farming in Norway and abroad. This study tracked infection over 16 weeks to understand how the disease develops. The virus spreads from immune organs to the heart, where the atrium shows a faster and stronger immune reaction than the ventricle, leading to greater damage. While the heart begins to clear the virus over time, immune tissues may retain it, allowing possible reinfection. Several members of molecular pattern recognition receptor pathways, which are the first line of defense against a virus infection, are downregulated in the head kidney. The infection also disrupts mitochondria, the cell’s energy producers, in heart cells, which may impair the heart's ability to pump blood effectively. Overall, the findings reveal how PMCV damages the heart and evades full clearance, helping explain disease severity and persistence.
Evaluation Committee
Supervisors
Streaming
Both the trial lecture and defense and will be streamed and recorded:
Thesis
The thesis is available in Vitenarkivet