Detection of Haplosporidium pinnae from Pinna nobilis Faeces

Pinna nobilis (Linnaeus, 1758) is the largest bivalve endemic to the Mediterranean. It is distributed in a wide range of coastal environments, including estuaries. Pinna nobilis has recently become a critically endangered species (with almost 100% mortality) along the entire Spanish Mediterranean co...

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Published inJournal of marine science and engineering Vol. 10; no. 2; p. 276
Main Authors Lopez-Nuñez, Raquel, Cortés Melendreras, Emilio, Giménez Casalduero, Francisca, Prado, Patricia, Lopez-Moya, Federico, Lopez-Llorca, Luis Vicente
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2022
Subjects
Alcohol
Biopsy
Coastal environments
Coastal zones
Critically endangered species
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Detection
DNA
Endangered & extinct species
Endangered species
Epidemiology
Estuaries
Eutrophic environments
Eutrophication
faecal DNA
Gene amplification
Haplosporidium
Haplosporidium pinnae
Lagoons
Mar Menor
Methods
Mollusks
Mortality
Nucleotide sequence
Pathogens
PCR
Phenols
Pinna nobilis
Rare species
Sampling methods
Septicaemia
Septicemia
Survival
United States > US
Germany
Spain
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Summary:Pinna nobilis (Linnaeus, 1758) is the largest bivalve endemic to the Mediterranean. It is distributed in a wide range of coastal environments, including estuaries. Pinna nobilis has recently become a critically endangered species (with almost 100% mortality) along the entire Spanish Mediterranean coast. This may be due to coinfections caused by Haplosporidium pinnae and bacterial pathogens such as Mycobacterium spp. We extensively sampled P. nobilis from Mar Menor lagoon (SE Spain), a site where individuals still survive. Using conventional PCR, we found Haplosporidium spp. in 7.1% of mantle and faecal DNA samples in different individuals of P. nobilis. We identified and quantified Haplosporidium pinnae in P. nobilis using Sanger sequencing and qPCR. Faecal H. pinnae detection is non-invasive, unlike biopsies. Therefore, this non-lethal and non-invasive sampling method could contribute to the welfare of living populations, particularly in eutrophic environments, where they are prone to septicaemia. The use of faecal DNA analysis could be a major advance in epidemiology and recovery assessment studies of P. nobilis.
ISSN:2077-1312
2077-1312
DOI:10.3390/jmse10020276