Repatriation of an old fish host as an opportunity for myxozoan parasite diversity: The example of the allis shad, Alosa alosa (Clupeidae), in the Rhine. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wünnemann, Hannah; Holzer, Astrid; Pecková, Hana; Bartošová-Sojková, Pavla; Eskens, Ulrich; Lierz, Michael
• Is Part Of: Parasites & vectors. Volume 9:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 13
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Host reintroduction -- Alosa alosa -- Parasite population structure -- Hoferellus alosae n. sp. -- Myxozoa -- Diversity -- SNPs; Parasitism -- Periodicals; Parasites -- Periodicals; Vector-pathogen relationships -- Periodicals; Animals as carriers of disease -- Periodicals; Insects as carriers of disease -- Periodicals; 616.96
• DOI: 10.1186/s13071-016-1760-6
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-3305

Abstract

Abstract Background Wildlife repatriation represents an opportunity for parasites. Reintroduced hosts are expected to accumulate generalist parasites via spillover from reservoir hosts, whereas colonization with specialist parasites is unlikely. We address the question of how myxozoan parasites, which are characterized by a complex life-cycle alternating between annelids and fish, can invade a reintroduced fish species and determine the impact of ade novo invasion on parasite diversity. We investigated the case of the anadromous allis shad, Alosa alosa (L.), which was reintroduced into the Rhine approximately 70 years after its extinction in this river system. Methods We studied parasites belonging to the Myxozoa (Cnidaria) in 196 allis shad from (i) established populations in the French rivers Garonne and Dordogne and (ii) repatriated populations in the Rhine, by screening the first adults returning to spawn in 2014. Following microscopical detection of myxozoan infections general myxozoan primers were used for SSU rDNA amplification and sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses were performed and cloned sequences were analyzed from individuals of different water sources to better understand the diversity and population structure of myxozoan isolates in long-term coexistingvs recently established host-parasite systems. Results We describeHoferellus alosae n. sp. from the renal tubules of allis shad by use of morphological and molecular methods. A species-specific PCR assay determined that the prevalence ofH. alosae n. sp. is 100 % in sexually mature fish in the Garonne/Dordogne river systems and 22 % in the first mature shad returning to spawn in the Rhine. The diversity of SSU rDNA clones of the parasite was up to four times higher in the Rhine and lacked a site-specific signature of SNPs such as in the French rivers. A second myxozoan, Ortholinea sp., was detected exclusively in allis shad from the Rhine. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that thede novo establishment of myxozoan infections in rivers is slow but of great genetic diversity, which can only be explained by the introduction of spores from genetically diverse sources, predominantly via straying fish or by migratory piscivorous birds. Long-term studies will show if and how the high diversity of ade novo introduction of host-specific myxozoans succeeds into the establishment of a local successful strain in vertebrate and invertebrate hosts.