Abstract
Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxozoan parasite and the etiological agent of whirling disease in salmonids. The parasite's life cycle involves waterborne spores and requires both a salmonid fish and the benthic freshwater oligochaete worm Tubifex tubifex (Oligochaeta: Tubificidae). Wildfires can lead to the erosion of fine sediments into stream channels and have been implicated as promoting environmental conditions that are suitable for the survival and success of T. tubifex, whose presence in turn can affect the prevalence of M. cerebralis. Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to be a powerful tool for evaluating the presence of microorganisms, for which direct observation is impossible. We investigated the presence of M. cerebraliseDNA in river water and river sediment samples collected from areas affected by recent fire activity in Plumas National Forest, California. We compared eDNA loads in the environment to M. cerebralis infection in T. tubifex and sentinel-exposed Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and the presence of T. tubifex lineages in the same environment. For the latter, we developed a multiplex quantitative PCR assay for detection of T. tubifex lineages I, III, and V. Lineage IIIT. tubifex and M. cerebralis (eDNA as well as DNA extracted from fish and worm tissues) were detected only in samples obtained from areas affected by the Moonlight wildfire. The association between M. cerebralis infection in sentinel-exposed fish and eDNA detection in environmental samples only approached significance at a P-value of 0.056. However, given the difference in relative effort between the two sampling methods (host versus nonhost environment), our data suggest that eDNA sampling of water and substrate is a promising approach for surveillance of myxozoan fish parasites.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Aquatic Animal Health |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - Jan 1 2018 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aquatic Science
Cite this
Distribution and Prevalence of Myxobolus cerebralis in Postfire Areas of Plumas National Forest : Utility of Environmental DNA Sampling. / Richey, Christine A.; Kenelty, Kirsten V.; Van Stone Hopkins, Kristina; Stevens, Brittany N.; Martinez Lopez, Beatriz; Barnum, Samantha M.; Hallett, Sascha L.; Atkinson, Stephen D.; Bartholomew, Jerri L.; Soto Martinez, Esteban.
In: Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, 01.01.2018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Distribution and Prevalence of Myxobolus cerebralis in Postfire Areas of Plumas National Forest
T2 - Utility of Environmental DNA Sampling
AU - Richey, Christine A.
AU - Kenelty, Kirsten V.
AU - Van Stone Hopkins, Kristina
AU - Stevens, Brittany N.
AU - Martinez Lopez, Beatriz
AU - Barnum, Samantha M.
AU - Hallett, Sascha L.
AU - Atkinson, Stephen D.
AU - Bartholomew, Jerri L.
AU - Soto Martinez, Esteban
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxozoan parasite and the etiological agent of whirling disease in salmonids. The parasite's life cycle involves waterborne spores and requires both a salmonid fish and the benthic freshwater oligochaete worm Tubifex tubifex (Oligochaeta: Tubificidae). Wildfires can lead to the erosion of fine sediments into stream channels and have been implicated as promoting environmental conditions that are suitable for the survival and success of T. tubifex, whose presence in turn can affect the prevalence of M. cerebralis. Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to be a powerful tool for evaluating the presence of microorganisms, for which direct observation is impossible. We investigated the presence of M. cerebraliseDNA in river water and river sediment samples collected from areas affected by recent fire activity in Plumas National Forest, California. We compared eDNA loads in the environment to M. cerebralis infection in T. tubifex and sentinel-exposed Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and the presence of T. tubifex lineages in the same environment. For the latter, we developed a multiplex quantitative PCR assay for detection of T. tubifex lineages I, III, and V. Lineage IIIT. tubifex and M. cerebralis (eDNA as well as DNA extracted from fish and worm tissues) were detected only in samples obtained from areas affected by the Moonlight wildfire. The association between M. cerebralis infection in sentinel-exposed fish and eDNA detection in environmental samples only approached significance at a P-value of 0.056. However, given the difference in relative effort between the two sampling methods (host versus nonhost environment), our data suggest that eDNA sampling of water and substrate is a promising approach for surveillance of myxozoan fish parasites.
AB - Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxozoan parasite and the etiological agent of whirling disease in salmonids. The parasite's life cycle involves waterborne spores and requires both a salmonid fish and the benthic freshwater oligochaete worm Tubifex tubifex (Oligochaeta: Tubificidae). Wildfires can lead to the erosion of fine sediments into stream channels and have been implicated as promoting environmental conditions that are suitable for the survival and success of T. tubifex, whose presence in turn can affect the prevalence of M. cerebralis. Analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to be a powerful tool for evaluating the presence of microorganisms, for which direct observation is impossible. We investigated the presence of M. cerebraliseDNA in river water and river sediment samples collected from areas affected by recent fire activity in Plumas National Forest, California. We compared eDNA loads in the environment to M. cerebralis infection in T. tubifex and sentinel-exposed Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and the presence of T. tubifex lineages in the same environment. For the latter, we developed a multiplex quantitative PCR assay for detection of T. tubifex lineages I, III, and V. Lineage IIIT. tubifex and M. cerebralis (eDNA as well as DNA extracted from fish and worm tissues) were detected only in samples obtained from areas affected by the Moonlight wildfire. The association between M. cerebralis infection in sentinel-exposed fish and eDNA detection in environmental samples only approached significance at a P-value of 0.056. However, given the difference in relative effort between the two sampling methods (host versus nonhost environment), our data suggest that eDNA sampling of water and substrate is a promising approach for surveillance of myxozoan fish parasites.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046076845&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046076845&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/aah.10014
DO - 10.1002/aah.10014
M3 - Article
C2 - 29710407
AN - SCOPUS:85046076845
JO - Journal of Aquatic Animal Health
JF - Journal of Aquatic Animal Health
SN - 0899-7659
ER -