PUBLICATION

Expansion of the Known Host Range of the Microsporidium, Pseudoloma neurophilia

Authors
Sanders, J.L., Watral, V., Stidworthy, M.F., Kent, M.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-160519-31
Date
2016
Source
Zebrafish   13 Suppl 1: S102-6 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Kent, Michael
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Female
  • Fish Diseases/microbiology*
  • Host Specificity*
  • Male
  • Microsporidia/physiology*
  • Microsporidiosis/microbiology
  • Microsporidiosis/veterinary*
  • Zebrafish*
PubMed
27182659 Full text @ Zebrafish
Abstract
The microsporidium, Pseudoloma neurophilia, is the most common infectious organism found in laboratory zebrafish colonies. Many currently used zebrafish lines originally came from pet store fish, and the initial description of P. neurophilia came from zebrafish obtained from a retail pet store. However, as P. neurophilia has not been described from wild-caught zebrafish, whether P. neurophilia is a natural pathogen of zebrafish is an open question. The pooling of fish of different species in the aquarium fish trade is common and a generalist parasite could be transmitted to novel hosts in this scenario. We determined that P. neurophilia can infect seven species of fishes from five families by cohabitation with infected zebrafish: Betta splendens, Xiphophorus maculatus, Devario aequipinnatus, Pimephales promelas, Oryzias latipes, Carassius auratus and Paracheirodon innesi. Infections in these fishes were histologically similar to those of zebrafish. We include a case report of a laboratory population of fathead minnows with naturally acquired P. neurophilia infections. With such a broad host range, including several fish families, other laboratory fishes should be screened routinely for this and other microsporidian parasites.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping