Taylor Kreul
Colleen E. Al-Samarrie
James T. Peterson
Justin L. Sanders
Michael L. Kent
Corbin J. Schuster
2022
<p><i>Pseudoloma neurophilia</i><span> is a critical threat to the zebrafish (</span><i>Danio rerio</i><span>) model, as it is the most common infectious agent found in research facilities. In this study, our objectives were two-fold: (1) compare the application of diagnostic tools for </span><i>P. neurophilia</i><span> and (2) track the progression of infection using PCR and histology. The first experiment showed that whole-body analysis by qPCR (WB-qPCR) can be a standardized process, providing a streamlined diagnostic protocol, without the need for extraction of specific tissues. Evaluating the course of infection in experimentally infected fish, we showed key dynamics in infection. Starting with a low dose exposure of 8000 spores/fish, the prevalence remained low until 92 days post-exposure (dpe), followed by a 30%–40% prevalence by histology or 40%–90% by PCR until the end of the experiment at 334 dpe. WB-qPCR positively detected infection in more fish than histology throughout the study, as WB-qPCR detected the parasite as early as 4 dpe, whereas it was undetected by histology until 92 dpe. We also added a second slide for histologic analyses, showing an increase in detection rate from 24% to 26% when we combined all data from our experiments, but this increase was not statistically significant.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1111/jfd.13675
en
Wiley
Progression of infection and detection of Pseudoloma neurophilia in zebrafish Danio rerio Hamilton by PCR and histology
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