Aphanomyces astaci isolate from latently infected stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) population is virulent.

Abstract

Aphanomyces astaci infection is the cause of crayfish plague in European crayfish. Here the virulence of an A. astaci As strain isolated from apparently healthy stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) from Slovenia was compared to that of the Psl-Puujärvi A. astaci isolate in 3 crayfish species: noble crayfish (Astacus astacus), signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from Finland and stone crayfish from Slovenia. All 3 crayfish species were challenged with PsI-Puujärvi A. astaci and succumbed to crayfish plague, with both noble crayfish and stone crayfish showing 100% mortality, while 25% of the signal crayfish died during the challenge. In comparison, the As-Slovenia A. astaci isolate was pathogenic for noble crayfish but not for signal crayfish or stone crayfish. This finding suggests that A. astaci virulence could be species specific and a strain from latent A. astaci infection in one native European crayfish species could be detrimental to other native European crayfish species.