Review of Pseudoloma Neurophilia (Microsporidia): a Common Neural Parasite of Laboratory Zebrafish (Danio Rerio).

Details

• Alternative Title:
  The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 2025, v. 71, no. 5: Review of Pseudoloma Neurophilia (Microsporidia): a Common Neural Parasite of Laboratory Zebrafish (Danio Rerio).
• Journal Article:
  The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
• Personal Author:
  Schuster, Corbin J. ; Murray, Katrina N. ; Sanders, Justin L. ; Couch, Claire E. ; Kent, Michael L.
• Description:
  Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is now the second most used animal model in biomedical research. As with other vertebrate models, underlying diseases and infections often impact research. Beyond mortality and morbidity, these conditions can compromise research end points by producing nonprotocol induced variation within experiments. Pseudoloma neurophilia, a microsporidium that targets the central nervous system, is the most frequently diagnosed pathogen in zebrafish facilities. The parasite undergoes direct, horizontal transmission within populations, and is also maternally transmitted with spores in ovarian fluid and occasionally within eggs. This transmission explains the wide distribution among research laboratories as new lines are generally introduced as embryos. The infection is chronic, and fish apparently never recover following the initial infection. However, most fish do not exhibit outward clinical signs. Histologically, the parasite occurs as aggregates of spores throughout the midbrain and spinal cord and extends to nerve roots. It often elicits meninxitis, myositis, and myodegeneration when it infects the muscle. There are currently no described therapies for the parasite, thus the infection is best avoided by screening with PCR-based tests and removal of infected fish from a facility. Examples of research impacts include reduced fecundity, behavioral changes, transcriptome alterations, and autofluorescent lesions.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Animals
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fish Diseases
  • Microsporidia
  • Microsporidiosis
  • Zebrafish
• Keywords:
  • Fish
  • infection
  • parasite
  • transmission
  • diagnostics
  • pathogenesis
• Source:
  The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 2025, v. 71, no. 5
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.13040
• ISSN:
  1066-5234 ; 1550-7408
• Pubmed ID:
  38961716
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11846143
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  P40 OD011021/OD/NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R24 OD010998/OD/NIH HHSUnited States/ ; NIH ORIP 3 R24 OD010998/NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP)/ ; P40 OD011021/CD/ODCDC CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Pages in Document:
  e13040 (26 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  71
• Issue:
  5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/262084/cdc_262084_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.33 MB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:62b1d126c1267e0d02b09fc084234fc33f78827c2dfb1f46a83b921fd29df55de811702a58b1ae796015215b0e6da7053dad060a5ab990fd5335e8ec62e68165