Microbial Communities are Indicators of Parasite Infection Status

This study identified the microbial communities associated with infected and uninfected estuarine mud crabs using multiple biological tissue types (uninfected crab, infected crab, parasite externae, and parasite larvae) from host and parasite to better understand the tripartite relationship among microbes, parasites, and hosts. Our study examined the flatback mud crab, Eurypanopeus depressus, and its rhizocephalan parasitic barnacle, Loxothylacus panopaei. Infected and uninfected crabs were collected over three time points to determine how tissue type and/or seasonality played a role in the associated microbiome.