title: First report of the protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus in South America, infecting mangrove oysters Crassostrea rhizophorae from the Paraíba River (NE, Brazil).
abstract: The present work aimed to study the infection by Perkinsus sp. in the mangrove oysters Crassostrea rhizophorae from the estuary of the Paraíba River (Paraíba State, Brazil). Perkinsosis was detected by incubation of oyster gill pieces in Ray's fluid thioglycollate medium. The monthly prevalence values were all above 70%, thus infection was not likely to be a transient event. Perkinsus sp. parasites isolated from eight oysters were propagated in vitro. PCR-RFLP analysis of in vitro cultured cells as well as the sequences of the rDNA ITS region allowed the identification of the in vitro propagated parasites as Perkinsus marinus. Phylogenetic analyses using rDNA ITS region sequences strongly supported the Perkinsus sp. from Paraíba in a monophyletic group with P. marinus. Thus, the results confirmed the species affiliation of Paraíba Perkinsus sp. as P. marinus. This is the first report of P. marinus in Brazil and South America and the first report of P. marinus naturally infecting C. rhizophorae.
authors: Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB), CEP 58051-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil. mirella_dasilva@hotmail.com
authors: Patricia Mirella
authors: PM
authors: da Silva
authors: Rogério Tubino
authors: RT
authors: Vianna
authors: Cristhiane
authors: C
authors: Guertler
authors: Liana Pinho
authors: LP
authors: Ferreira
authors: Lucas Nunes
authors: LN
authors: Santana
authors: Sergio
authors: S
authors: Fernández-Boo
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Ramilo
authors: Asunción
authors: A
authors: Cao
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Villalba
mesh_terms: D056893:Alveolata / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D010125:Ostreidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA