Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases
Abstract Multiple parasites and pathogens cause disease in aquatic wildlife and in aquaculture species, generating a need for monitoring and management. Conventional disease monitoring methods involve laborious, costly, and invasive capture and examination of host species, and require specialized ex...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental DNA |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.427 |
| _version_ | 1797277038073085952 |
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| author | Natalie Sieber Alex King Raphael Krieg Armin Zenker Christoph Vorburger Hanna Hartikainen |
| author_facet | Natalie Sieber Alex King Raphael Krieg Armin Zenker Christoph Vorburger Hanna Hartikainen |
| author_sort | Natalie Sieber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Multiple parasites and pathogens cause disease in aquatic wildlife and in aquaculture species, generating a need for monitoring and management. Conventional disease monitoring methods involve laborious, costly, and invasive capture and examination of host species, and require specialized expertise for every host and pathogen of interest. Environmental DNA could provide simultaneous occurrence data for multiple pathogens across different host taxa, valuable for using parasite diversity as, for example, a bioindicator of ecosystem disturbance. Here, we tested the potential for simultaneous detection of four wildlife pathogens in water samples from 280, mainly riverine, sites across Switzerland. We targeted the crayfish pathogen Aphanomyces astaci, the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and the fish pathogens Saprolegnia parasitica and Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae. The eDNA detection showed a widespread distribution of A. astaci, S. parasitica, and T. bryosalmonae, although A. astaci and T. bryosalmonae were not detected in some alpine river catchments. B. dendrobatidis was detected only rarely, which was expected since the sampling did not target amphibian breeding sites. Co‐detection rates were higher in rivers than in lakes, likely reflecting the habitat preferences and distributions of the host species. We discuss the advantages and limitations of eDNA‐based pathogen monitoring and list a set of recommendations for managers. Our study illustrates how eDNA‐based techniques can monitor several pathogen species concurrently, thus facilitating more comprehensive disease monitoring schemes. Combined with metabarcoding approaches in the future, eDNA‐based sampling and detection can facilitate the incorporation of parasite and pathogen occurrence and diversity as an indicator for aquatic ecosystem health, and for revealing the hidden biodiversity and structure of parasite communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:37:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad383014255849a9acff82c4997cc617 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2637-4943 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:37:53Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental DNA |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad383014255849a9acff82c4997cc6172024-03-05T09:32:37ZengWileyEnvironmental DNA2637-49432024-01-0161n/an/a10.1002/edn3.427Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseasesNatalie Sieber0Alex King1Raphael Krieg2Armin Zenker3Christoph Vorburger4Hanna Hartikainen5Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Dübendorf SwitzerlandUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland Muttenz SwitzerlandUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland Muttenz SwitzerlandUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland Muttenz SwitzerlandEawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Dübendorf SwitzerlandEawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Dübendorf SwitzerlandAbstract Multiple parasites and pathogens cause disease in aquatic wildlife and in aquaculture species, generating a need for monitoring and management. Conventional disease monitoring methods involve laborious, costly, and invasive capture and examination of host species, and require specialized expertise for every host and pathogen of interest. Environmental DNA could provide simultaneous occurrence data for multiple pathogens across different host taxa, valuable for using parasite diversity as, for example, a bioindicator of ecosystem disturbance. Here, we tested the potential for simultaneous detection of four wildlife pathogens in water samples from 280, mainly riverine, sites across Switzerland. We targeted the crayfish pathogen Aphanomyces astaci, the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and the fish pathogens Saprolegnia parasitica and Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae. The eDNA detection showed a widespread distribution of A. astaci, S. parasitica, and T. bryosalmonae, although A. astaci and T. bryosalmonae were not detected in some alpine river catchments. B. dendrobatidis was detected only rarely, which was expected since the sampling did not target amphibian breeding sites. Co‐detection rates were higher in rivers than in lakes, likely reflecting the habitat preferences and distributions of the host species. We discuss the advantages and limitations of eDNA‐based pathogen monitoring and list a set of recommendations for managers. Our study illustrates how eDNA‐based techniques can monitor several pathogen species concurrently, thus facilitating more comprehensive disease monitoring schemes. Combined with metabarcoding approaches in the future, eDNA‐based sampling and detection can facilitate the incorporation of parasite and pathogen occurrence and diversity as an indicator for aquatic ecosystem health, and for revealing the hidden biodiversity and structure of parasite communities.https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.427Aphanomyces astaciBatrachochytrium dendrobatidisdisease surveillanceenvironmental DNApathogen monitoringSaprolegnia parasitica |
| spellingShingle | Natalie Sieber Alex King Raphael Krieg Armin Zenker Christoph Vorburger Hanna Hartikainen Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases Environmental DNA Aphanomyces astaci Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis disease surveillance environmental DNA pathogen monitoring Saprolegnia parasitica |
| title | Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases |
| title_full | Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases |
| title_fullStr | Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases |
| title_short | Large‐scale eDNA monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases |
| title_sort | large scale edna monitoring of multiple aquatic pathogens as a tool to provide risk maps for wildlife diseases |
| topic | Aphanomyces astaci Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis disease surveillance environmental DNA pathogen monitoring Saprolegnia parasitica |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.427 |
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