Wide geographic distribution of overlooked parasites: Rare Microsporidia in Gammarus balcanicus, a species complex with a high rate of endemism. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Quiles, Adrien; Rigaud, Thierry; Wattier, Rémi A.; Grabowski, Michal; Bacela Spychalska, Karolina
• Is Part Of: International journal for parasitology. Volume 14(2021)
• Page Start: 121
• Page End: 129
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Parasite richness -- Host-parasite association -- Amphipoda -- Geographic range -- Host range; Parasites -- Periodicals; Parasitology -- Periodicals; Animals -- Periodicals; Wildlife diseases -- Periodicals; Parasites -- Periodicals; Animals, Wild -- Periodicals; Animals; Parasites; Parasitology; Wildlife diseases; Periodicals; 591.7857
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2021.01.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2213-2244

Abstract

Abstract: Parasites and other symbionts deeply influence host organisms, and no living organism can be considered to have evolved independent of its symbionts. The first step towards understanding symbiotic influences upon host organisms is a strong supporting knowledge of parasite/symbiont diversity. Parasites of freshwater amphipods are diverse, with Microsporidia being a major group. These intracellular parasites impact gammarid fitness in different ways, ranging from reduced fitness to increased fecundity. Many Microsporidia have been recorded using molecular data, with multiple taxa pending formal taxonomic description. While some parasites are common, others are known only through sporadic records of single infections. In this study, we focus on rare/sporadic microsporidian infections within Gammarus balcanicus, a host species complex with a high level of endemism. In addition to enriching our knowledge on Microsporidia parasite diversity in amphipod hosts, we test whether these symbionts are specific to G. balcanicus or if they are the same taxa infecting other gammarid species. Of 2231 hosts from 87 sites, we catalogued 29 sequences of "rare" Microsporidia clustering into 19 haplogroups. These haplogroups cluster into 11 lineages: four pre-described taxa ( Cucumispora roeselum, C. ornata, C. dikerogammari and Enterocytospora artemiae ) and seven 'Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units', which are known from previously published studies to infect other European amphipod species. Our study significantly widens the geographic range of these Microsporidia and expands the known spectrum of hosts infected. Our results suggest that these parasites are ancient infections of European gammarids. For some host-parasite systems, we hypothesize that the common parasite ancestors that infected the hosts' common ancestors, diversified alongside host diversification. For others, we observe Microsporidia taxa with wide host ranges that do not follow host phylogeny. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Microsporidia infect a wide range of host but are well studied for the most abundant parasite taxa. Amphipods are common microsporidian hosts but knowledge on parasite diversity remains partial. Gammarus balcanicus species complex is a perfect host to study evolutionary history of rare Microsporidia. All Microsporidia found in G. balcanicus are ancient infections in the European gammarids. Some Microsporidia co-diversified with the host, while the others did not follow the host phylogeny.