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Expanded host and geographic range of tadpole associations with the Severe Perkinsea Infection group.

ABSTRACT: Severe Perkinsea infection is an emerging disease of amphibians, specifically tadpoles. Disease presentation correlates with liver infections of a subclade of Perkinsea (Alveolata) protists, named Pathogenic Perkinsea Clade (PPC). Tadpole mortality events associated with PPC infections have been reported across North America, from Alaska to Florida. Here, we investigate the geographic and host range of PPC associations in seemingly healthy tadpoles sampled from Panama, a biogeographic provenance critically affected by amphibian decline. To complement this work, we also investigate a mortality event among Hyla arborea tadpoles in captive-bred UK specimens. PPC SSU rDNA was detected in 10 of 81 Panama tadpoles tested, and H. arborea tadpoles from the UK. Phylogenies of the Perkinsea SSU rDNA sequences demonstrate they are highly similar to PPC sequences sampled from mortality events in the USA, and phylogenetic analysis of tadpole mitochondrial SSU rDNA demonstrates, for the first time, PPC associations in diverse hylids. These data provide further understanding of the biogeography and host range of this putative pathogenic group, factors likely to be important for conservation planning.

SUBMITTER: Smilansky V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8205526 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Expanded host and geographic range of tadpole associations with the Severe Perkinsea Infection group.

Smilansky Vanessa V Jirků Miloslav M Milner David S DS Ibáñez Roberto R Gratwicke Brian B Nicholls Andrew A Lukeš Julius J Chambouvet Aurélie A Richards Thomas A TA

Biology letters 20210616 6

Severe Perkinsea infection is an emerging disease of amphibians, specifically tadpoles. Disease presentation correlates with liver infections of a subclade of Perkinsea (Alveolata) protists, named Pathogenic Perkinsea Clade (PPC). Tadpole mortality events associated with PPC infections have been reported across North America, from Alaska to Florida. Here, we investigate the geographic and host range of PPC associations in seemingly healthy tadpoles sampled from Panama, a biogeographic provenance ...[more]

PMID: 34129800

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The family Mesoniviridae (order Nidovirales) comprises of a group of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA ([+]ssRNA) viruses isolated from mosquitoes. FINDINGS:Thirteen novel insect-specific virus isolates were obtained from mosquitoes collected in Indonesia, Thailand and the USA. By electron microscopy, the virions appeared as spherical particles with a diameter of ~50 nm. Their 20,129 nt to 20,777 nt genomes consist of positive-sense, single-stranded RNA with a poly-A tail. Four isolates from Houston, Texas, and one isolate from Java, Indonesia, were identified as variants of the species Alphamesonivirus-1 which also includes Nam Dinh virus (NDiV) from Vietnam and Cavally virus (CavV) from Côte d'Ivoire. The eight other isolates were identified as variants of three new mesoniviruses, based on genome organization and pairwise evolutionary distances: Karang Sari virus (KSaV) from Java, Bontag Baru virus (BBaV) from Java and Kalimantan, and Kamphaeng Phet virus (KPhV) from Thailand. In comparison with NDiV, the three new mesoniviruses each contained a long insertion (180 - 588 nt) of unknown function in the 5' region of ORF1a, which accounted for much of the difference in genome size. The insertions contained various short imperfect repeats and may have arisen by recombination or sequence duplication. CONCLUSIONS:In summary, based on their genome organizations and phylogenetic relationships, thirteen new viruses were identified as members of the family Mesoniviridae, order Nidovirales. Species demarcation criteria employed previously for mesoniviruses would place five of these isolates in the same species as NDiV and CavV (Alphamesonivirus-1) and the other eight isolates would represent three new mesonivirus species (Alphamesonivirus-5, Alphamesonivirus-6 and Alphamesonivirus-7). The observed spatiotemporal distribution over widespread geographic regions and broad species host range in mosquitoes suggests that mesoniviruses may be common in mosquito populations worldwide.

Project description:BackgroundNchelenge District in northern Zambia suffers from holoendemic malaria transmission despite a decade of yearly indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated net (ITN) distributions. One hypothesis for this lack of impact is that some vectors in the area may forage in the early evening or outdoors. Anopheles gibbinsi specimens were identified in early evening mosquito collections performed in this study area, and further insight was gleaned into this taxon, including characterizing its genetic identity, feeding preferences, and potential role as a malaria vector.MethodsMosquitoes were collected in July and August 2019 by CDC light traps in Nchelenge District in indoor sitting rooms, outdoor gathering spaces, and animal pens from 16:00-22:00. Host detection by PCR, COI and ITS2 PCR, and circumsporozoite (CSP) ELISA were performed on all samples morphologically identified as An. gibbinsi, and a subset of specimens were selected for COI and ITS2 sequencing. To determine risk factors for increased abundance of An. gibbinsi, a negative binomial generalized linear mixed-effects model was performed with household-level variables of interest.ResultsComparison of COI and ITS2 An. gibbinsi reference sequences to the NCBI database revealed > 99% identity to "Anopheles sp. 6" from Kenya. More than 97% of specimens were morphologically and molecularly consistent with An. gibbinsi. Specimens were primarily collected in animal pen traps (59.2%), followed by traps outdoors near where humans gather (24.3%), and traps set indoors (16.5%). Host DNA detection revealed a high propensity for goats, but 5% of specimens with detected host DNA had fed on humans. No specimens were positive for Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites. Animal pens and inland households > 3 km from Lake Mweru were both associated with increased An. gibbinsi abundance.ConclusionsThis is the first report of An. gibbinsi in Nchelenge District, Zambia. This study provided a species identity for unknown "An. sp. 6" in the NCBI database, which has been implicated in malaria transmission in Kenya. Composite data suggest that this species is largely zoophilic and exophilic, but comes into contact with humans and the malaria parasites they carry. This species should continue to be monitored in Zambia and neighbouring countries as a potential malaria vector.

Dataset Information

Expanded host and geographic range of tadpole associations with the Severe Perkinsea Infection group.

Publications

Expanded host and geographic range of tadpole associations with the Severe Perkinsea Infection group.

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