Identification of a rosette-like agent as Sphaerothecum destruens, a multi-host fish pathogen.

Abstract

A recent threat to European fish diversity was attributed to an infectious pathogen, a rosette-like intracellular parasite carried by invasive cyprinids. Here we show that the emerging rosette-like agent is Sphaerothecum destruens, originally found to be responsible for disease outbreaks in salmon in the United States. Sequencing of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA highlights some level of geographical isolation. Unlike the situation in the United States, its occurrence in invasive fishes presents a risk of spread from wild invasive populations to sympatric populations of susceptible native fish and as such represents a risk for fisheries, as movement of fish for stocking purposes is common practice.