title: Cryptic microsporidian parasites differentially affect invasive and native Artemia spp.
abstract: We investigated the host specificity of two cryptic microsporidian species (Anostracospora rigaudi and Enterocytospora artemiae) infecting invasive (Artemia franciscana) and native (Artemia parthenogenetica) hosts in sympatry. Anostracospora rigaudi was on average four times more prevalent in the native host, whereas E. artemiae was three times more prevalent in the invasive host. Infection with An. rigaudi strongly reduced female reproduction in both host species, whereas infection with E. artemiae had weaker effects on female reproduction. We contrasted microsporidian prevalence in native A. franciscana populations (New World) and in both invaded and non-invaded Artemia populations (Old World). At a community level, microsporidian prevalence was twice as high in native compared with invasive hosts, due to the contrasting host-specificity of An. rigaudi and E. artemiae. At a higher biogeographical level, microsporidian prevalence in A. franciscana did not differ between the invaded populations and the native populations used for the introduction. Although E. artemiae was the only species found both in New and Old World populations, no evidence of its co-introduction with the invasive host was found in our experimental and phylogeographic tests. These results suggest that the success of A. franciscana invasion is probably due to a lower susceptibility to virulent microsporidian parasites rather than to decreased microsporidian prevalence compared with A. parthenogenetica or to lower microsporidian virulence in introduced areas.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR CNRS 5175, 1, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France. nicolas.rode@ens-lyon.org
authors.forename: Nicolas O
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Rode
authors.forename: Eva J P
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lievens
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Segard
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flaven
authors.forename: Roula
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jabbour-Zahab
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lenormand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001156:Artemia / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016814:Microsporidia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Anostracospora rigaudi; Artemia franciscana; Artemia parthenogenetica; Artemia salina; Biological invasions; Enemy release; Enterocytospora artemiae; Microsporidiosis