A Novel Quantitative Real-Time PCR Diagnostic Assay for Fecal and Nasal Swab Detection of an Otariid Lungworm, Parafilaroides decorus

Authors

Kalani M. Williams, Smith College
M. K. Fessler, Smith College
R. A. Bloomfield, Smith College
William D. Sandke, Smith College
Clara R. Malekshahi, Smith College
Caroline D. Keroack, Smith College
Pádraig J. Duignan, The Marine Mammal Center
Samantha D. Torquato, Smith College
Steven A. Williams, Smith CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-1-2020

Publication Title

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

Abstract

Parafilaroides decorus, also known as sea lion lungworm, is a metastrongyloid nematode that infects otariid hosts, such as the charismatic California sea lion, Zalophus californianus. P. decorus causes bronchointerstitial pneumonia, respiratory distress, reduced ability to swim, dive and hunt and as a result, increased mortality particularly in young animals. Respiratory disease is a leading cause of stranding and admission to rehabilitation centers on the Pacific coast. Low-coverage genomic sequencing of four P. decorus individuals analyzed through Galaxy's RepeatExplorer identified a novel repeat DNA family we employed to design a sensitive quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for diagnosing infections from fecal or sputum samples. The assay detects as little as 10 fg of P. decorus DNA and a linear regression model developed using a standard curve can be used to estimate the concentration of P. decorus DNA in a sample, ± 0.015 ng. This knowledge can be leveraged to estimate the level of parasite burden, which can be used to design improved treatments for animals in rehabilitation. Improved treatment of infections will aid in more animals being successfully released back into the wild.

Keywords

Lungworm, Marine mammals, Molecular diagnostics, Nematodes, Parafilaroides decorus, Pinniped, Quantitative PCR

Volume

12

First Page

85

Last Page

92

DOI

10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.04.012

ISSN

22132244

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Rights

2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology.

Comments

Archived as published. Open access paper.

Recommended Citation

Williams, Kalani M.; Fessler, M. K.; Bloomfield, R. A.; Sandke, William D.; Malekshahi, Clara R.; Keroack, Caroline D.; Duignan, Pádraig J.; Torquato, Samantha D.; and Williams, Steven A., "A Novel Quantitative Real-Time PCR Diagnostic Assay for Fecal and Nasal Swab Detection of an Otariid Lungworm, Parafilaroides decorus" (2020). Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/bio_facpubs/152