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Droplet digital PCR as a tool for investigating dynamics of cryptic symbionts

Year of publication

2021

Authors

Hiillos, Anna‐Lotta; Thonig, Anne; Knott, Karelyn Emily

Abstract

Interactions among symbiotic organisms and their hosts are major drivers of ecological and evolutionary processes. Monitoring the infection patterns among natural populations and identifying factors affecting these interactions are critical for understanding symbiont–host relationships. However, many of these interactions remain understudied since the knowledge about the symbiont species is lacking, which hinders the development of appropriate tools. In this study, we developed a digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) assay based on apicomplexan COX1 gene to detect an undescribed agamococcidian symbiont. We show that the method gives precise and reproducible results and enables detecting cryptic symbionts in low target concentration. We further exemplify the assay's use to survey seasonally sampled natural host (Pygospio elegans) populations for symbiont infection dynamics. We found that symbiont prevalence differs spatially but does not show seasonal changes. Infection load differed between populations and was low in spring and significantly increased towards fall in all populations. We also found that the symbiont prevalence is affected by host length and population density. Larger hosts were more likely to be infected, and high host densities were found to have a lower probability of infection. The observed variations could be due to characteristics of both symbiont and host biology, especially the seasonal variation in encounter rates. Our findings show that the developed ddPCR assay is a robust tool for detecting undescribed symbionts that are otherwise difficult to quantify, enabling further insight into the impact cryptic symbionts have on their hosts.
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Organizations and authors

University of Jyväskylä

Hiillos Anna-Lotta Orcid -palvelun logo

Thonig Anne

Knott Emily Orcid -palvelun logo

Publication type

Publication format

Article

Parent publication type

Journal

Article type

Original article

Audience

Scientific

Peer-reviewed

Peer-Reviewed

MINEDU's publication type classification code

A1 Journal article (refereed), original research

Publication channel information

Publisher

Wiley

Volume

11

Issue

23

Pages

17381-17396

​Publication forum

70337

​Publication forum level

1

Open access

Open access in the publisher’s service

Yes

Open access of publication channel

Fully open publication channel

Self-archived

Yes

Other information

Fields of science

Ecology, evolutionary biology

Keywords

[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Publication country

United Kingdom

Internationality of the publisher

International

Language

English

International co-publication

Yes

Co-publication with a company

No

DOI

10.1002/ece3.8372

The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection

Yes