The Microsporidia, an often overlooked fungal lineage, exhibit increasing diversity and taxonomic understanding with the use of genomic techniques. They are obligate parasites infecting a diversity of hosts, including crustaceans. Crustacea are, in essence, ancient insects and their relationship with the Microsporidia is both diverse and convoluted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCrayfishes are among the most widely introduced freshwater taxa and can have extensive ecological impacts. Knowledge of the parasites crayfish harbor is limited, yet co-invasion of parasites is a significant risk associated with invasions. In this study, we describe a novel microsporidium, Cambaraspora faxoni n.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a highly invasive species in many regions of the world and can act as ecosystem engineers in areas where they are established. In riparian ecosystems, wild pigs may affect water quality parameters and introduce fecal bacteria, although previous studies have reported conflicting results. We propose four conditions that we believe are needed for an accurate assessment of wild pig impacts on water quality and address each one in our study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis an important, highly prevalent, and diverse obligate intracellular pathogen infecting pigs. In order to investigate the prevalence and diversity of in the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis and has been recognized as a re-emerging infectious disease in humans and a variety of wild and domestic animal species. In order to understand the prevalence and diversity of spp. in feral pig populations of Alabama, we trapped 315 feral pigs in Bullock County east-central Alabama, and collected 97 environmental samples from riparian areas in Bullock County and Macon County east-central Alabama.
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