The Mikrocytida -- Divergent Pathogens of Aquatic Invertebrates

To date, mikrocytids have been represented by a single species (Mikrocytos mackini) and some closely related forms infecting marine bivalve mollusks. In this study, we describe a novel and highly prevalent mikrocytid infecting juvenile marine crabs and, further, reveal a previously unknown diversity from host and environmental samples. By combining traditional pathology approaches for disease investigation with high-throughput sequencing, we show that mikrocytids are present in a wide range of f