Molecular confirmation of pearl formation in arctic mussels (Mytilus edulis) caused by Gymnophallus bursicola (Odhner 1900) metacercariae

• Published in: Parasitology
• Main Authors: Benito, Denis, Izagirre, Urtzi, Lekube, Xabier, Zaldibar, Benat, Villalba, Antonio, de Montaudouin, Xavier, Daffe, Guillemine, Soto, Manu, Diaz de Cerio, Oihane
• Other Authors: Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: bivalve molluscs; blue mussel; COI sequence; encapsulation; SSU-rDNA; trematodes; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Norwegian Sea; Tromsø
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04294784; https://hal.science/hal-04294784/document; https://hal.science/hal-04294784/file/EPOC_PARASITOLOGY_2023_Benito.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000860

International audience Abstract In recent field studies, suspected gymnophallid metacercariae were histologically located in the mantle of mussels from the Norwegian Sea. Mussels from the sites in which that infection was detected also presented abnormally high pearl numbers. It has been previously described that gymnophallid metacercariae could cause pearl formation processes in mussels, as a host reaction to encapsulate these metacercariae. Given the pathological host reaction these parasites elicit, a study was performed to identify gymnophallid metacercariae found in mussels collected from Tromsø at morphological and molecular level and to assess, by the use of molecular tools, the relationship between the parasite and the biological material inside the pearls. As a result, Gymnophallus bursicola metacercariae infecting Norwegian Mytilus edulis were identified according to morphological characters, along with the first 18S rDNA and COI sequences for this trematode species. In addition, parasite DNA from the core of the pearls was extracted and amplified for the first time, confirming the parasitological origin of these pearls. This procedure could allow identifying different parasitic organisms responsible for the generation of pearls in bivalves.