Contact: Spencer Greenwood and RIck Cawthorn, AVCLSC
Start date: July 2003
Completion date: Fall 2007

Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis, an amoebic parasite, is the causative agent of the disease called ‘paramoebiasis’ in lobsters and sea urchins, and ‘amoebic gill disease’ in Atlantic salmon and other marine aquaculture reared finfish.  The project objectives included development of specific and sensitive molecular methods using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to determine if different strains or subspecies of the amoebae could be identified. The underlying premise is that there may be different isolates of Neoparamoeba that are causing disease in the different host species (lobster, sea urchin, and salmon) or have a specific tissue tropism within the host. 

Publications/Abstracts

Publications for Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis strains

Publications for Microheterogeneity and Coevolution