![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/2026\/03\/Screenshot-2026-03-02-150444-1024x396.jpg?resize=840%2C325&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nGeneral aims<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ViroCray project aims to investigate how crayfish virome diversity and dynamics contributes to invasion success. We aim to expand our limited knowledge of crayfish viruses and their role in biological invasions by: i) comparing virome composition across three successful crayfish invaders in EU; ii) identifying how ecological factors such as population size, age and trend, intruduction history and presence of a cogener affect virome diversity and by 3) examining the impact of crayfish health status and inter-species interactions on virome diversity and dynamics. We will elucidate the effects of the invasion process on virome dynamics, provide baseline data on virome composition across species and organs, and enhance our understanding of viral distribution, diversity and host associations. Our interdisciplinary approach integrates extensive field study of selected crayfish invaders with cutting-edge approaches to virome research and experimental research at the intersection of ecology, virology, and immunology. By expanding knowledge on crayfish virus diversity, ViroCray will address key gaps in understanding of arthropod viruses, which comprise over 80% of known animal diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Model organisms:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We will focus on three highly successful invaders in EU: signal crayfish (P. leniusculus<\/em>), spiny-cheek crayfish (Faxonius limosus<\/em>) and marbled crayfish (P. virginalis<\/em>). They are listed as species of Union concern (EU, 2016), due to their recognized threat to EU biodiversity (EU, 2014). Selected species also represent the full timeline of crayfish introductions to Europe: signal and spiny-cheek crayfish are Old NICS, widespread throughout EU, while marbled crayfish is a new NICS, first recorded in the wild in 2010. They also differ in their introduction pathways and origins: signal and spiny cheek crayfish were introduced to Europe from wild populations in their native range in US, while marbled crayfish which has no known native range, originated in the pet trade (which is also its main introduction pathway). Finally, spiny-cheek crayfish experienced a severe introduction bottleneck (a single introduction event of a small number of individuals in 1890), whereas signal crayfish underwent multiple introductions from diverse US populations since 1959, followed by extensive translocations across Europe. In contrast, marbled crayfish is a clonal species. Selected species are well studied in ViroCray partner countries, with detailed data available on their distribution, population history, structure, dispersal and ecology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Graphical Summary: General aims: The ViroCray project aims to investigate how crayfish virome diversity and dynamics contributes to invasion success. We aim to expand our limited knowledge of crayfish viruses and their role in biological invasions by: i) comparing virome composition across three successful crayfish invaders in EU; ii) identifying how ecological factors such as … Continue reading “Project overview”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/Ph8EDR-e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30,"url":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/references\/","url_meta":{"origin":14,"position":0},"title":"Publications","author":"ablejec","date":"05\/04\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Virome analysis of signal crayfish Virome Analysis of Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus)\u00a0 Crayfish pet trade as a pathway for the introduction of known and novel viruses https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0022201125000795?via%3Dihub","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40,"url":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/","url_meta":{"origin":14,"position":1},"title":"Short description","author":"ablejec","date":"05\/04\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Invasive non-native species (INNS) are a major threat to biodiversity, human well-being and global economy. Because only a small fraction of introduced species worldwide become invasive and cause significant environmental harm, forecasting successful invaders remains a major global challenge. There is a growing evidence that microbiome has an important role\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"arrs-logo-en","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projects.nib.si\/alge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2016\/04\/ARRS_logo_small-300x166.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633,"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions\/633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.nib.si\/virocray\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}