Investigating the influence of <i>Diadematidae</i> scuticociliatosis on host microbiome composition.

ABSTRACT: Mass mortality of Diadematidae urchins, caused by the Diadema antillarum scuticociliatosis Philaster clade (DScPc), affected the Caribbean in spring 2022 and subsequently spread to the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, and western Indian Ocean. A key question around Diadematidae scuticociliatosis (DSc), the disease caused by the scuticociliate, is whether the urchin microbiome varies between scuticociliatosis-affected and grossly normal urchins. Tissue samples from both grossly normal and abnormal Diadema antillarum were collected in the field during the initial assessment of the DSc causative agent and from an experimental challenge of DScPc culture on aquacultured D. antillarum. Specimens were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Additional abnormal

SUBMITTER: Vilanova-Cuevas B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11915805 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature