engleski

Monitoring of crayfish plague in the Plitvice lakes National park.

Waterbodies of the Plitvice Lakes National Park are inhabited by two indigenous crayfish species, noble and stone crayfish. Native European crayfish populations are in decline, amongst others due to the lethal disease crayfish plague caused by pathogen Aphanomyces astaci. Presence of this pathogen was previously recorded in the Plitvice Lakes, but those analyses included small sample size. Thus, our goal was to analyse the presence of A. astaci on both crayfish species during two years monitoring period, using larger sample size, at multiple locations within the Park. For A. astaci detection we used IAA Gotland 201920non-invasive sampling method based on collecting swabs of mixed epibiotic microbial communities from crayfish carapace. DNA was isolated from swab samples and PCR was used to detect the presence of the pathogen. Positive samples were classified into semi-quantitative categories of pathogen load by qPCR, and microsatellite genotyping identified presence of strain A (As-genotype). Obtained results will be used in future management plans aiming to protect vulnerable native species in NP, with focus on prevention of unintentional spread of the pathogen.

Astacus astacus, Austropotamobius torrentium, Oomycetes, latent infection

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