Leveraging preserved specimens of Nerodia to infer the spatiotemporal dynamics of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola via quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Autor: Harding SF; Department of Biology Texas State University San Marcos Texas USA., Moretta-Urdiales MDM; Department of Biology Texas State University San Marcos Texas USA., Nordmeyer SC; Department of Molecular Immunology and Microbiology University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio Texas USA., Wostl E; Department of Biological Sciences St. Edward's University Austin Texas USA., Rodriguez D; Department of Biology Texas State University San Marcos Texas USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2023 Apr 18; Vol. 13 (4), pp. e9998. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Apr 18 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9998
Abstrakt: Ophidiomyces ophidiicola ( Oo ) is a fungal pathogen and the causative agent of ophidiomycosis that has affected multiple snake taxa across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Ophidiomycosis has often been referred to as an emerging infectious disease (EID); however, its status as an EID has recently come under debate. Oo infections have been confirmed in wild snake populations in Texas; however, it is unknown if the pathogen is novel (i.e., invasive) or endemic to the state. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted surveys for Oo among preserved Nerodia deposited at three university museums in Texas. First, we visually assessed snakes for signs of infection (SOI), and if SOI were present, we sampled the affected area. We then used quantitative polymerase chain reaction to diagnose the presence of Oo DNA on areas with SOI and used these data to evaluate spatiotemporal patterns of Oo prevalence. We also tested for significant spatial clusters of Oo infenction using a Bernoulli probability model as implemented in the program SatScan. We found that the proportion of snakes exhibiting SOI was constant over time while the prevalence of Oo DNA among those SOI increased across space and time. Within these data, we detected an incidence pattern consistent with an introduction and then spread. We detected six spatial clusters of Oo infection, although only one was significant. Our results support the hypothesis that Oo is an emerging, novel pathogen to Texas snakes. These data narrow the knowledge gap regarding the history of Oo infections in Texas and establish a historical record of confirmed Oo detections in several counties across the state. Thus, our results will guide future research to those areas with evidence of past Oo infections but lacking confirmation in contemporary hosts.
Competing Interests: All authors have no competing interests to declare.
(© 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: