Influence of host reproductive state on Sphaerothecum destruens prevalence and infection level

Andreou, Dimitra, Hussey, M., Griffiths, Sian Wyn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6348-7352 and Gozlan, R. E. 2010. Influence of host reproductive state on Sphaerothecum destruens prevalence and infection level. Parasitology 138 (1) , pp. 26-34. 10.1017/S0031182010000983

Preview

PDF - Published Version Download (262kB) | Preview

Abstract

Sphaerothecum destruens is an obligate intracellular parasite with the potential to cause high mortalities and spawning inhibition in the endangered cyprinid Leucaspius delineatus. We investigated the influence of L. delineatus’s reproductive state on the prevalence and infection level of S. destruens. A novel real time quantitative polymerarse chain reaction (qPCR) was developed to determine S. destruens’ prevalence and infection level. These parameters were quantified and compared in reproductive and non-reproductive L. delineatus. The detection limit of the S. destruens specific qPCR was determined to be 1 pg of purified S. destruens genomic DNA. Following cohabitation in the lab, reproductive L. delineatus had a significantly higher S. destruens prevalence (P<0·05) and infection levels (P<0·01) compared to non-reproductive L. delineatus. S. destruens prevalence was 19% (n=40) in non-reproductive L. delineatus and 41% (n=32) in reproductive L. delineatus. However, there was no difference in S. destruens prevalence in reproductive and non-reproductive fish under field conditions. Mean infection levels were 18 and 99 pg S. destruens DNA per 250 ng L. delineatus DNA for non-reproductive and reproductive L. delineatus respectively. The present work indicates that S. destruens infection in L. delineatus can be influenced by the latter's reproductive state and provides further support for the potential adverse impact of S. destruens on the conservation of L. delineatus populations.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences Pharmacy
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) R Medicine > RS Pharmacy and materia medica
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Leucaspius delineatus; cyprinids; PCR; fish; invasive; rosette agent; salmonid
Additional Information:	Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0031-1820/ (accessed 24/02/2014).
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0031-1820
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	20 May 2023 19:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/22060

Citation Data

Cited 14 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item