Severe Perkinsea infection is an emerging disease of amphibians, specifically tadpoles. Disease presentation correlates with liver infections of a subclade of Perkinsea (Alveolata) protists, named Pathogenic Perkinsea Clade (PPC). Tadpole mortality events associated with PPC infections have been reported across North America, from Alaska to Florida. Here, we investigate the geographic and host range of PPC associations in seemingly healthy tadpoles sampled from Panama, a biogeographic provenance critically affected by amphibian decline. To complement this work, we also investigate a mortality event among Hyla arborea tadpoles in captive-bred UK specimens. PPC SSU rDNA was detected in 10 of 81 Panama tadpoles tested, and H. arborea tadpoles from the UK. Phylogenies of the Perkinsea SSU rDNA sequences demonstrate they are highly similar to PPC sequences sampled from mortality events in the USA, and phylogenetic analysis of tadpole mitochondrial SSU rDNA demonstrates, for the first time, PPC associations in diverse hylids. These data provide further understanding of the biogeography and host range of this putative pathogenic group, factors likely to be important for conservation planning.

CNRS Université of Brest IRD Ifremer LEMAR Plouzané France

Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford OX1 3SZ UK

Faculty of Sciences University of South Bohemia 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Living Systems Institute and Biosciences University of Exeter Exeter Devon EX4 4QD UK

Sistema Nacional de Investigación SENACYT Panamá Republic of Panama

Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Washington D C USA

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panamá Republic of Panama

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Expanded host and geographic range of tadpole associations with the Severe Perkinsea Infection group

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figshare
10.6084/m9.figshare.13108136.v1