Abstract
A set of 69 specimens from 19 groundwater species of the genera Niphargus, Niphargellus, Microniphargus and Crangonyx was genetically screened for microsporidian infections. Samples mostly originated from groundwater-dependent spring environments (71%), natural caves (9%) and artificial caverns/tunnels (13%). Amphipod hosts were identified by morphology and/or molecular data, whereas microsporidian parasites were characterised by a genetic screening assay targeting a section of the small subunit rRNA gene. Five microsporidian species (Dictyocoela duebenum; Nosema sp.; Hyperspora aquatica and two undescribed Microsporidium spp.) were revealed from 13 host specimens (Niphargus schellenbergi; N. aquilex lineages B, F and G; Niphargellus arndti). In particular N. schellenbergi was frequently infected with D. duebenum as well as a new and potentially niphargid-specific Nosema sp. identified in Niphargellus arndti. Our results shed further light on the still largely unknown diversity and specificity of microsporidian parasites in groundwater amphipods and subterranean animals in general.
Highlights
Microsporidians are microparasites that belong to the taxon Opisthosporidia, a sister group of the Fungi (Karpov et al 2014)
The COI marker was used for DNA barcoding of 57 specimens, the 28S locus analysed for 38 specimens – with a total of 32 specimens being investigated for both markers
The total groundwater amphipod dataset screened for microsporidian infections comprised 58 Niphargus specimens, 9 Niphargellus specimens, Crangonyx sp. and Microniphargus leruthi (Table 1)
Summary
Microsporidians are microparasites that belong to the taxon Opisthosporidia, a sister group of the Fungi (Karpov et al 2014). Almost fifty years later, Bulnheim (1971) stated that Pleistophora mülleri (described as Stempellia mülleri) was detected in Niphargus ilidzensis. Since it has become more and more clear that the identification and delineation of microsporidian species as well as of groundwater amphipod hosts had been far from consistent. All microsporidian infections were shared by a sympatrically occurring population of Gammarus fossarum lineage 13. This lead to the assumption that groundwater amphipods could enable transmission of microsporidians between surface habitats that are only connected by groundwater (Weigand et al 2016)
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