Influence of Environmental Stressors on the Microbiota of Zebra Mussels ( Dreissena polymorpha )
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INVERTEBRATE MICROBIOLOGY
Influence of Environmental Stressors on the Microbiota of Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) Prince P. Mathai 1 & Jonathan H. Bertram 1 & Soumesh K. Padhi 2 & Vikash Singh 3 & Isaiah E. Tolo 2 & Alexander Primus 3 & Sunil K. Mor 3 & Nicholas B. D. Phelps 2 & Michael J. Sadowsky 1,4,5 Received: 20 July 2020 / Accepted: 11 November 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Host-associated microbiota play a critical role in host fitness by providing nutrition, enhancing digestion capabilities, and by providing protection from pathogens. Here, we investigated the effects of two environmental stressors, temperature, and salinity, on the microbiota associated with zebra mussels (ZMs), a highly invasive bivalve in North America. To examine this in detail, lake-collected ZMs were acclimated to laboratory conditions, and subjected to temperature and salinity stress conditions. The impact of these stressors on the diversity, composition, and dynamics of ZM-associated microbiota were assessed by using amplicon- and shotgun-based sequencing, and qPCR-based approaches. Elevated temperature was found to be the primary driver of ZM mortality, although salinity alone also increased its likelihood. Stressor-induced ZM mortality, which ranged between 53 and 100%, was concomitant with significant increases in the relative abundance of several genera of putative opportunistic pathogens including Aeromonas. These genera were only present in low relative abundance in ZMs obtained from the control tank with 0% mortality. Shotgun sequencing and qPCR analyses indicated that the relative and absolute abundances of pathogenic Aeromonas species (particularly A. veronii) were significantly greater in temperature-induced dead ZMs. Taken together, our results show that environmental stress, especially elevated temperature (> 25 °C), is associated with the rapid mortality of ZMs as well as the proliferation of putative opportunistic bacterial pathogens. Keywords Zebra mussels . Stress . Temperature . Salinity . Microbial communities . Pathogens . Invasive species
Introduction The dreissenid Dreissena polymorpha, commonly known as the zebra mussel (ZM), is among the most successful aquatic Prince P. Mathai and Jonathan H. Bertram contributed equally to this work. * Michael J. Sadowsky [email protected] 1
BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, 1479 Gortner Ave., 140 Gortner Labs, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
2
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
3
Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
4
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
5
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
animals in the Anthropocene. These bivalve mollusks, native to the Caspian Sea, were introduced to Lake Erie (USA) in the 1980s, most likely via ballast water discharged from transatlantic shipping vessels [1]. Since this time, these invasive
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