Genotypic variation in the parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium perezi along the Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia

Overwintering of the parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium perezi in dredged blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) from Wachapreague Creek, Virginia

“…Hemolymph smears using vital stains, prepared histological slides, PCR assays and in some cases altered body coloration indicative of advanced infections have been used for many years (see Stentiford & Shields, 2005). Molecular studies have progressed from diagnosis using PCR assays with genus-specific probes (Hudson & Adlard, 1994;Gruebl et al, 2002;Hamilton et al, 2007;Small et al, 2007Small et al, , 2012, to more refined tools for detection in environmental samples (Frisher et al, 2006;Hamilton et al, 2011), and for real-time PCR in environmental samples (Li et al, 2010;Hanif et al, 2013), as well as the development of more advanced or novel tools, such as the application of high performance liquid chromatography to detect pathogens (Troedssson et al, 2008), use of microsatellite markers for population genetics (Pagenkopp Lohan et al, 2014), and development of a novel dinoflagellate/viral nucleo-protein technique for visualizing the parasite in tissues (Gornik et al, 2013). However, none of these studies have compared methodologies using the epidemiological reference points of sensitivity and specificity.…”