PUBLICATION
Review of Pseudoloma neurophilia (Microsporidia): A common neural parasite of laboratory zebrafish (Danio rerio)
- Authors
- Schuster, C.J., Murray, K.N., Sanders, J.L., Couch, C.E., Kent, M.L.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-240704-13
- Date
- 2024
- Source
- The Journal of eukaryotic microbiology 71(5): e13040 (Review)
- Registered Authors
- Kent, Michael
- Keywords
- diagnostics, fish, infection, parasite, pathogenesis, transmission
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Disease Models, Animal
- Fish Diseases*/microbiology
- Zebrafish*/microbiology
- Microsporidiosis*/microbiology
- Microsporidia/isolation & purification
- Microsporidia/physiology
- PubMed
- 38961716 Full text @ J. Eukaryot. Microbiol.
Citation
Schuster, C.J., Murray, K.N., Sanders, J.L., Couch, C.E., Kent, M.L. (2024) Review of Pseudoloma neurophilia (Microsporidia): A common neural parasite of laboratory zebrafish (Danio rerio). The Journal of eukaryotic microbiology. 71(5):e13040.
Abstract
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is now the second most used animal model in biomedical research. As with other vertebrate models, underlying diseases and infections often impact research. Beyond mortality and morbidity, these conditions can compromise research end points by producing nonprotocol induced variation within experiments. Pseudoloma neurophilia, a microsporidium that targets the central nervous system, is the most frequently diagnosed pathogen in zebrafish facilities. The parasite undergoes direct, horizontal transmission within populations, and is also maternally transmitted with spores in ovarian fluid and occasionally within eggs. This transmission explains the wide distribution among research laboratories as new lines are generally introduced as embryos. The infection is chronic, and fish apparently never recover following the initial infection. However, most fish do not exhibit outward clinical signs. Histologically, the parasite occurs as aggregates of spores throughout the midbrain and spinal cord and extends to nerve roots. It often elicits meninxitis, myositis, and myodegeneration when it infects the muscle. There are currently no described therapies for the parasite, thus the infection is best avoided by screening with PCR-based tests and removal of infected fish from a facility. Examples of research impacts include reduced fecundity, behavioral changes, transcriptome alterations, and autofluorescent lesions.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping