title: Concentration and retention of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts by marine snails demonstrate a novel mechanism for transmission of terrestrial zoonotic pathogens in coastal ecosystems.
abstract: The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is an environmentally persistent pathogen that can cause fatal disease in humans, terrestrial warm-blooded animals and aquatic mammals. Although an association between T. gondii exposure and prey specialization on marine snails was identified in threatened California sea otters, the ability of kelp-dwelling snails to transmit terrestrially derived pathogens has not been previously investigated. The objective of this study was to measure concentration and retention of T. gondii by marine snails in laboratory aquaria, and to test for natural T. gondii contamination in field-collected snails. Following exposure to T. gondii-containing seawater, oocysts were detected by microscopy in snail faeces and tissues for 10 and 3 days respectively. Nested polymerase chain reaction was also applied as a method for confirming putative T. gondii oocysts detected in snail faeces and tissues by microscopy. Toxoplasma gondii was not detected in field-collected snails. Results suggest that turban snails are competent transport hosts for T. gondii. By concentrating oocysts in faecal pellets, snails may facilitate entry of T. gondii into the nearshore marine food web. This novel mechanism also represents a general pathway by which marine transmission of terrestrially derived microorganisms can be mediated via pathogen concentration and retention by benthic invertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krusor
authors.affiliation: One Health Institute, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Woutrina A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Western Ecological Research Center, United States Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.|Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
authors.forename: M Tim
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Tinker
authors.affiliation: Ocean Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silver
authors.affiliation: Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.|One Health Institute, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.affiliation: Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.|One Health Institute, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002140:California; D017753:Ecosystem; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D020387:Food Chain; D006801:Humans; D033661:Oocysts / Q000166:cytology; D010041:Otters / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012623:Seawater / Q000469:parasitology*; D012908:Snails / Q000469:parasitology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*