Abstract
The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha Pallas, 1771) and the quagga mussel (D. rostriformis Deshayes, 1838) are successful invasive bivalves with substantial ecological and economic impacts in freshwater systems once they become established. Since their eradication is extremely difficult, their detection at an early stage is crucial to prevent spread. In this study, we optimized and validated a qPCR detection method based on the histone H2B gene to quantify combined infestation levels of zebra and quagga mussels in environmental DNA samples. Our results show specific dreissenid DNA present in filtered water samples for which microscopic diagnostic identification for larvae failed. Monitoring a large number of locations for invasive dreissenid species based on a highly specific environmental DNA qPCR assay may prove to be an essential tool for management and control plans focused on prevention of establishment of dreissenid mussels in new locations.
Highlights
The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha Pallas, 1771) and the quagga mussel (D. rostriformis Deshayes, 1838) are successful invasive bivalves with substantial ecological and economic impacts in freshwater systems once they become established
Analysis of Massive Parallel Sequencing (MPS) output[11] using Blast2GO software resulted in a total of 220 Gene Ontology (GO) terms that were tagged on 56 contigs (1.44% of the total 2,326)
All four markers were verified for species specificity, and three (H1, histone 2B (H2B) and MARS) presented a single and clear PCR amplicon for the two dreissenid species
Summary
The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha Pallas, 1771) and the quagga mussel (D. rostriformis Deshayes, 1838) are successful invasive bivalves with substantial ecological and economic impacts in freshwater systems once they become established Since their eradication is extremely difficult, their detection at an early stage is crucial to prevent spread. Around 2004 the quagga mussel arrived in Western Europe[15,16,17] and has been constantly spreading into areas where zebra mussels previously invaded[18,19,20], and are predicted to arrive to the Iberian Peninsula in a near future unless effective prevention measures are enacted[10] To face these challenges, the National Strategy for the Control of Zebra Mussel in Spain has focused efforts on the rapid detection of both species[21].
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