Ironside Joseph E, Wilkinson Toby J, Rock Jennifer
Institute of Biological Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Ceredigion SY23 3DA, United Kingdom.
J Eukaryot Microbiol. 2008 Jul-Aug;55(4):355-62. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2008.00338.x.
Microsporidia of the genus Pleistophora are important parasites of fish and crustacea. Pleistophora mulleri has been described previously as a parasite of the gammarid amphipod crustacean Gammarus duebeni celticus in Irish freshwater habitats. Through a survey of European G. duebeni populations, P. mulleri was found to be widely distributed in the western British Isles (Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man), and populations of the subspecies Gammarus duebeni duebeni as well as G. d. celticus were infected. Pleistophora infections were also detected in G. d. duebeni sampled from the Bay of Gdansk on Poland's Baltic coast, indicating a wide distribution of Pleistophora in European G. duebeni. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and Rpb1 genes of P. mulleri suggest that this species may be synonymous with P. typicalis, a parasite of fish. These findings suggest that amphipod crustaceans may act as intermediate or reservoir hosts for microsporidian parasites of fish.
Pleistophora属的微孢子虫是鱼类和甲壳类动物的重要寄生虫。穆氏Pleistophora此前被描述为爱尔兰淡水生境中杜氏钩虾（Gammarus duebeni celticus）这种甲壳纲动物的寄生虫。通过对欧洲杜氏钩虾种群的调查，发现穆氏Pleistophora广泛分布于不列颠群岛西部（威尔士、苏格兰和马恩岛），杜氏钩虾指名亚种（Gammarus duebeni duebeni）以及杜氏钩虾凯尔特亚种（G. d. celticus）的种群均受到感染。在从波兰波罗的海沿岸格但斯克湾采集的杜氏钩虾指名亚种中也检测到了穆氏Pleistophora感染，这表明穆氏Pleistophora在欧洲杜氏钩虾中分布广泛。对穆氏Pleistophora的16S rRNA、18S rRNA和Rpb1基因进行测序和系统发育分析表明，该物种可能与鱼类寄生虫典型Pleistophora同义。这些发现表明，甲壳纲动物可能是鱼类微孢子虫寄生虫的中间宿主或储存宿主。
