It is now appreciated that these organisms are related to the fungi. Microsporidia are intracellular sporeforming organisms that are ubiquitous in the environment and can infect a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, including insects, birds, fish, and mammals. Pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia infections in zebrafish. Microsporidia are sporeforming unicellular parasites that can affect aquaculture severely. Dec 22, 2009 pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia is a common disease of zebrafish, danio rerio, including those used as research models. The eel cell line, ep1, appears to be the only published example of any fish cell line being permanently infected with microsporidia, in this case heterosporis anguillarum. Most infect insects, but they are also responsible. Jan 17, 2018 microsporidia are wellrecognized pathogens of fish. The organisms infect the lining of the small intestine, thereby causing severe diarrhea and an inability to absorb nutrients malabsorption. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences usa 96. Some microsporidia are being investigated as microbial insecticides, and at least one is available commercially, but the technology is new and work is needed to perfect the use of these organisms.
Whereas most fish microsporidia are host specific, at least at the genus level, a few show broad host specificity. Indeed, the decline of entire fisheries has been attributed to microsporidiosis on several occasions. Kocher td, jeffery wr, parichy dm, peichel cl, streelman jt, thorgaard gh 2005. Native to south asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio and thus often called a tropical fish although both tropical and subtropical. Out of 600 marine fish from the red sea belonging to three different species that were collected and examined for microsporidian parasites, 87 14. This new book, the first since 1976 to address all aspects of microsporidia and microsporidiosis, provides biologists, physicians, and research scientists with a complete. The zebrafish book a guide for the laboratory use of zebrafish danio brachydanio rerio by monte westerfield, institute of neuroscience, university of oregon older literature referred to zebrafish as brachydanio rerio.
Microsporidia are wellrecognized pathogens of fish. However, conroy and conroy 1999 reported that kanamycin at 50 ppm with 4 doses 2 days apart apparently controlled the disease in guppies. Microsporidia infect a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate taxa, and are common parasites of both fish and arthropods. Surprisingly, this system can also support the development of enterocytozoon bienusi, which is of mammalian origin. The infection was recorded as cysts or xenomas embedded in the gut epithelium and the peritoneal cavity of the three fish species. The zebrafish danio rerio is a freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family cyprinidae of the order cypriniformes. Surviving and flourishing inside another eukaryotic cell is a very specialised lifestyle that requires evolutionary innovation.
Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei ehp is most commonly found in fish ponds that retard the growth of shrimp and impacts aquaculture around the world. Fish models for studying adaptive evolution and speciation. Clinical signs of microsporidiosis in zebrafish can include chronic wasting or emaciation, lethargy. The host range of the other microsporidia known to infect humans is not as well known.
The most successful microsporidiafish cell culture system has been relatively longterm primary cultures of salmonid leukocytes for culturing nucleospora salmonis. Very shortterm primary cultures have been used to show how microsporidia spores can modulate. Pathogens of opportunity provides a systematic overview of the biology of microsporidia. Loosely 1500 of the probably more than one million species are named now. Microsporidiosis also known as microsporidiasis is caused by infection with microsporidia, which are obligately intracellular, sporeforming parasites that belong to the phylum microspora and the order microsporida. Traditionally, they were considered protozoa, but recently have been reclassified as fungi based on molecular biology and genomics. The infection is usually very difficult to eradicate in fish culture systems with antibiotics. Nosema figure 3 can infect honeybee colonies, particularly in the spring and decimate them. Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites that generally undergo two developmental stages. The parasite infects the central nervous system and muscle and may. Although infections caused by microsporidians are recognized as being problematic, studies on the economic impact have not yet been done.
Several genera, such as encephalitozoon, enterocytozoon, nosema, vittaforma, pleistophora, and trachipleistophora have been. Microsporidia are strict obligate intracellular parasites that infect a wide range of eukaryotes including humans and economically important fish and insects. The most common symptoms among microsporidia affected shrimp are discoloration in muscles due to. Some modest success has been achieved in growing pseudoloma. This website is intended for pathologists and laboratory personnel, who understand that medical information is imperfect and must be interpreted using reasonable medical judgment. Loosely 1,500 of the probably more than one million microsporidia have been named. These patients tend to be severely immunodeficient with a cd4 count less than 100 x106l. The clinical manifestations of microsporidiosis are diverse and include intestinal, pulmonary, ocular, muscular, and renal disease. Microsporidians have minute spores 2 to 20 micrometres, or 0. Glugea figure 2 attacks fish and makes large tumorlike cysts on their gills, bodies, and organs. Use of fish cell cultures for the study and cultivation of. Pseudoloma neurophilia infecting the zebrafish, danio rerio plos. Delay of initial feeding of zebrafish larvae until 8 days. Genome sequence analyses show that microsporidia have lost most of the genes needed for making primary.
The most successful microsporidia fish cell culture system has been relatively longterm primary cultures of salmonid leukocytes for culturing nucleospora salmonis. Microsporidia are obligate, sporeforming, intracellular fungal parasites that invade vertebrates and invertebrates. The microsporidium, pseudoloma neurophilia, is a common pathogen of the. Pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia is the most common pathogen detected in zebrafish danio rerio from research facilities. Pdf pseudoloma neurophilia infections in zebrafish danio rerio. We conducted a study comprised of four separate experiments to determine the effects of husbandry stress on preexisting and experimental pseudoloma infections and the subsequent effects on survival, infection onset and intensity, fish growth and reproduction. Zebrafish microsporidiosis is caused by pseudoloma neurophilia and. Microsporidia infect all major animal groups most often as gastrointestinal pathogens. The parasite has been more recently described as pseudoloma neurophilia, and is found commonly in zebrafish from both laboratory facilities and commercial suppliers. Pleistophora hyphessobryconis microsporidia infecting.
Symptoms of ocular microsporidiosis may include eye pain, eye redness, or blurry vision. Nov 08, 2018 microsporidiosis is a mostly intestinal disease caused by a family of at least 15 microorganisms called microsporidia. These eukaryotic parasites infect mainly arthropods and fish, but. Written by leading experts in the field, the book combines background and basic information on microsporidia with descriptive methods and resources for working with the pathogen. The parasite infects the central nervous system and muscle, and may be associated with emaciation and skeletal deformities. According to wikipedia, microsporidia constitute a phylum of sporeforming unicellular parasites. A microsporidian infecting the central nervous system of zebrafish was first. Summary the zebrafish, danio rerio, is now one of the most important vertebrate models in biomedical research and can be naturally infected. Microsporidia are increasingly recognized as important parasites of all members of the animal kingdom, causing serious lifethreatening diseases in humans and important economic losses in the fish and agriculture industries. These eukaryotic parasites infect mainly arthropods and fish, but have gained relevance in the medical community in the past few decades because of their increased infection of humans suffering from compromised. Reports of microsporidian infections in marine and freshwater crustacea are also numerous and include various microsporidian genera infecting marine crabs 14, brine shrimp, cladocerans 6, 7, ostracods, marine shrimps 914, amphipods, freshwater.
E xperimentation with zebrafish often requires manipulation and observation after larval hatching and through the first several days when larvae are expected to be free swimming and may be able to initiate feeding. Microsporidia can also spread throughout the body disseminate to cause inflammation in the brain, pancreas, sinuses, and muscle tissue. Over 80 species of microsporidia are known to infect fish and aquatic invertebrates, explains the fish vet groups anna herrero. These cell culture approaches promise to be valuable for describing the growth and development of the microsporidia and for documenting the. The zebrafish is an important laboratory model for toxicology, developmental biology. Microsporidia medical definition merriamwebster medical.
The high prevalence of a microsporidium in laboratory zebrafish. They were once thought to be protists, but are now known to be fungi. The zebrafish as a model for microsporidiosis request pdf. Thus removal of dead and moribund fish would be expected to limit the potential exposure of tank mates to these two parasites. The parasite infects the central nervous system and muscle and may be associated with emaciation and skeletal deformities. Microsporidia of fishes are widely distributed by both host species and geographic location. Microsporidia biology and evolution of highly reduced. Microsporidiosis is a mostly intestinal disease caused by a family of at least 15 microorganisms called microsporidia. They are restricted to animal hosts, and all major groups of animals host microsporidia. Spores of two fish microsporidia pseudoloma neurophilia and. Microsporidiosis is a diverse group of diseases caused by microsporidian parasites in a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate species, including insects, fish, birds and mammals.
Pdf microsporidiosis in zebrafish research facilities. The zebrafish danio rerio is a freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family of the order cypriniformes. It includes some 80 genera parasitizing all classes of vertebrates and many invertebrates, especially the insects. A microsporidian infecting the central nervous system of zebrafish was first reported in 1980 by a group in france. In general, microsporidia infecting fish are transmitted directly, presumably per os by ingestion of infected tissues or spores present in the water dykova and woo 1995. The zebrafish as a model for microsporidiosis microsporidia wiley. Pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia infections in. A characteristic feature of microsporidia is the polar tube or polar filament found in the spore used to infiltrate host cells. They also occur in annelids and some other invertebrates. Microsporidia are a group of sporeforming unicellular parasites. Aug 25, 20 myxosporidiosis and microsporidiosis of fish. How to control microsporidian parasites in shrimp farms. Microsporidia are sporeforming parasites, the exact classification of which has challenged scientists since their discovery in the 19th century.
Nov 29, 2014 according to wikipedia, microsporidia constitute a phylum of sporeforming unicellular parasites. The two microsporidia thus far described in zebrafish, p. Pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia is the most common pathogen found in. Eye infection with microsporidia can cause inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva keratoconjunctivitis. Fish cell cultures have been used less often but have had some success. Nov 27, 2009 microsporidia infect a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate taxa, and are common parasites of both fish and arthropods. No animal reservoir has been identified for vittaforma cornea. Zebrafish larvae inflate their swim bladder and become free swimming between. Some microsporidia are being investigated as microbial insecticides, and at least one is available commercially, but the technology is new and work is. Many of the 14 species infecting humans are also found in a number of wild and domesticated mammals e. The zebrafish danio rerio is a host for microsporidia.
Microsporidian, any parasitic fungus of the phylum microsporidia kingdom fungi, found mainly in cells of the gut epithelium of insects and the skin and muscles of fish. Mcconnaughey, in reference module in biomedical sciences, 2014. Jul 17, 2019 microsporidiosis also known as microsporidiasis is caused by infection with microsporidia, which are obligately intracellular, sporeforming parasites that belong to the phylum microspora and the order microsporida. These eukaryotic parasites infect mainly arthropods and fish, but have gained. Pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia is a common disease of zebrafish, danio rerio, including those used as research models. There are currently approximately 150 described genera of microsporidia with over 1200 individual species 78,79. Today, the microsporidia are known to be an extremely diverse group of parasites. Some microsporidia can cause disease in the sinuses, eyes, lungs, kidneys, brain, and other parts of the body. Infection is characterized by enlargement of the affected tissue. The microsporidia are a ubiquitous group of eukaryotic obligate intracellular parasites which were recognized over 100 years ago with the description of nosema bombycis, a parasite of silkworms.
Microsporidia are restricted to animal hosts, and all major groups of animals host microsporidia. They were once considered protozoans or protists, but are now known to be fungi, or a sister group to fungi. The chapter discusses the zebrafish model and its documented and potential uses in the study of microsporidia. Microsporidia spores are ubiquitous and are capable of infecting any animal cell including those of insects, fish, mammals and even other parasites. Pseudoloma neurophilia microsporidia is a common disease of zebrafish danio rerio, including. Microsporidium definition of microsporidium by medical. About 100 species of microsporidia have been shown to infect fish, including agriculturally relevant fish, such as salmon and rainbow smelt. Microsporidia are eukaryotic organisms that contain 70s ribosomes but lack mitochondria, peroxisomes, golgi membranes, and oth. The genus ovipleistophora, previously assigned to pleistophora, are fish microsporidia that infect primarily ovarian tissue and are associated with reduced fecundity in fish summerfelt and. The everted polar filament of nosema in figure 3 and 4df would inject the sporoplasm into a target cell. Microsporidiosis definition of microsporidiosis by. Microsporidia are not only important as a pathogen compromising zebrafish in research, but provide an excellent format for the study of microsporidia in a vertebrate model. European corn borer and other caterpillars, locusts, grasshoppers.