Geraci-Yee Sabrina, Collier Jackie L, Allam Bassem
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
J Fungi (Basel). 2022 Oct 26;8(11):1128. doi: 10.3390/jof8111128.
, commonly known as QPX (Quahog Parasite Unknown), is the causative agent of QPX disease in hard clams (), but poor understanding of the relationship between host and pathogen has hindered effective management. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a two-year study quantifying the distribution and abundance of in hard clam tissue, pallial fluid, and the environment. was broadly distributed in clams and the environment, in areas with and without a known history of QPX disease. in clams was not strongly related to in the environment. was always present in either the tissue or pallial fluid of each clam, with an inverse relationship between the abundance in the two anatomical locations. This study suggests that the sediment-water interface and clam pallial fluid are environmental reservoirs of and that there is a host-specific relationship between and the hard clam, supporting its classification as a commensal, opportunistic pathogen. There appears to be minimal risk of spreading QPX disease to naïve clam populations because is already present and does not appear to be causing disease in hard clam populations in locations unfavorable for pathogenesis.
，通常被称为QPX（圆蛤寄生虫未知），是硬壳蛤中QPX病的病原体，但对宿主与病原体之间关系的了解不足阻碍了有效的管理。为了填补这一知识空白，我们进行了一项为期两年的研究，对硬壳蛤组织、外套膜液和环境中 的分布和丰度进行了量化。 在有和没有已知QPX病历史的地区的蛤和环境中广泛分布。蛤中的 与环境中的 没有强烈关联。 在每只蛤的组织或外套膜液中总是存在，在这两个解剖位置的丰度之间存在反比关系。这项研究表明，沉积物 - 水界面和蛤外套膜液是 的环境储存库，并且 在硬壳蛤之间存在宿主特异性关系，支持其作为共生、机会性病原体的分类。将QPX病传播到未感染蛤种群的风险似乎极小，因为 已经存在，并且在不利于发病的地点的硬壳蛤种群中似乎并未引起疾病。
