Microsporidian diversity in the aquatic isopod Asellus aquaticus.
Parasitology
; 149(13): 1729-1736, 2022 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36117283
ABSTRACT
We conducted a molecular survey on microsporidian diversity in different lineages (operational taxonomic units = OTUs) of Asellus aquaticus from 30 sites throughout Europe. Host body length was determined, and DNA was extracted from host tissue excluding the intestine and amplified by microsporidian-specific primers. In total, 247 A. aquaticus specimens were analysed from which 26.7% were PCR-positive for microsporidians, with significantly more infections in larger individuals. Prevalence ranged between 10 and 90%. At 9 sites, no microsporidians were detected. A significant relationship was found between the frequency of infected individuals and habitat type, as well as host OTU. The lowest proportion of infected individuals was detected in spring-habitats (8.7%, n = 46) and the highest in ponds (37.7%, n = 53). Proportion of infected individuals among host OTUs A, D and J was 31.7, 21.7 and 32.1%, respectively. No infections were detected in OTU F. Our results are, however, accompanied by a partially low sample size, as only a minimum of 5 individuals was available at a few locations. Overall, 17 different microsporidian molecular taxonomic units (MICMOTUs) were distinguished with 5 abundant isolates (found in 417 host individuals) while the remaining 12 MICMOTUs were "rare" and found only in 13 host individuals. No obvious spatio-genetic pattern could be observed. The MICMOTUs predominantly belonged to Nosematida and Enterocytozoonida. The present study shows that microsporidians in A. aquaticus are abundant and diverse but do not show obvious patterns related to host genetic lineages or geography.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Microsporidia
/
Isopoda
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Parasitology
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Alemania