Identification of Austwickia chelonae as cause of cutaneous granuloma in endangered crocodile lizards using metataxonomics.

ABSTRACT: The crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus Ahl, 1930) is an endangered reptile species, and in recent years many have died from diseases, especially the rescued and breeding individuals. However, pathogens underlying these diseases are unclear. In this study, we report our effort in rapidly identifying and isolating the pathogen that causes high mortality in crocodile lizards from Guangdong Luokeng Shinisaurus crocodilurus National Nature Reserve. The typical symptom is cutaneous granuloma in the infected crocodile lizards. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a comprehensive approach for sequence-based identification of pathogenic microbes. In this study, 16S rDNA based mNGS was used for rapid identification of pathogens, and microscopy and microbe isolation

SUBMITTER: Jiang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6420803 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature