Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

2007

Journal

Diseases Of Aquatic Organisms

Volume

75

Issue

3

First Page

251

Last Page

258

Abstract

Parasitic dinoflagellates in the genus Hematodinium infect a number of decapod crustaceans in waters off the UK, including the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus and the edible crab Cancerpagurus. This study investigated sequence variability in the first internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) region of the ribosomal RNA complex of Hematodinium spp. infecting N. norvegicus, C. pagurus, and Pagurus bernhardus from 4 locations in the UK and from the Hematodinium sp. infecting Chionoecetes opilio from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Phylogenetic analysis of the Hema todinium ITS 1 sequences from N. norvegicus, C. pagurus, P. bernhardus and C. opilio suggest that these crustaceans are infected with the same species of Hematodinium. Length variability of the ITS1 region was observed (324 to 345 bp) and attributed to 4 variable microsatellite regions (CATG)(n), (GCC)(n)TCCGC(TG)(n), (TA)(n), and (GAA)(n)(GGA)(n) within the sequenced ITS1 fragment. The observed variation may be due to co-infection of the host crustacean with several different strains of Hematodinium or differences among copies of ITS1 region within the genome of a single parasite cell. The Hematodinium ITS1 sequence from N. norvegicus, C. pagurus, P. bernhardus and C. opilio isolates was sufficiently conserved in primer binding regions targeted by previous molecular diagnostic assays; therefore, we suggest that this assay could be used to screen for Hematodinium infections in these crustacean hosts.

DOI

10.3354/dao075251

Keywords

Lobster Nephrops-Norvegicus; Bitter Crab Disease; 5.8S Ribosomal-Rna; Perkinsus-Marinus; Parasitic Dinoflagellate; West-Coast; Dinophyceae; Dna; Variability; Prevalence

Download

Share Feedback

Share

COinS