Genetic Identification of the source of the North American population of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the invasive fungus causing White-Nose Disease in Bats

Abstract Little is known of the eastern North American population of Barrow's Goldeneyes (Bucephala islandica), which was recently listed as “of special concern” in Canada. In 1998 and 1999, we marked 18 adult males wintering along the St. Lawrence River, Québec, with satellite transmitters to document their breeding, molting, and wintering distribution and phenology, and to describe timing and routes of their spring, molt, and fall migrations. Thirteen males moved inland from the St. Lawrence River to breed; the spring migration averaged 5.9 days, and birds arrived on breeding areas on average 9 May. All breeding areas were inland, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River estuary and gulf. Breeding areas averaged 64.8 km from the St. Lawrence corridor. Males stayed on their respective breeding area a mean of 34.5 days, and left on average 11 June. Twelve males were tracked to their molting areas, one of which stayed on its wintering area until 5 June and flew directly to its molting area. Their molt migration averaged 18.6 days, and the mean arrival date on molting areas was 30 June. All molting areas were located north and averaged 986 km from breeding areas. Four males molted in Hudson Bay, four in Ungava Bay, two in northern Labrador, one on Baffin Island, and one inland, near the Québec–Labrador border. The mean length of stay on the molting areas was 105.3 days, and the mean date of departure from molting areas was 4 October. All goldeneyes for which the radio still functioned during fall migration returned to winter in the St. Lawrence River estuary, on average 6 November. Our results refute the idea that the main breeding area of the eastern North American population of Barrow's Goldeneyes is located in northern Québec and Labrador and rather indicate that it is in the boreal forest just north of the St. Lawrence River estuary and gulf. They also indicate that Barrow's Goldeneye males undertake a genuine molt migration, and highlight the importance of molting areas because birds stayed there approximately four months each year.

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AGING OF THE NORTH AMERICAN POPULATION

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American) ◽

10.2106/00004623-200304000-00024 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 85 (4) ◽

pp. 748-758 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

JOSEPH A. BUCKWALTER ◽

JAMES D. HECKMAN ◽

DAVID P. PETRIE

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

North American Population ◽

American Population ◽

The North

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Fungus Causing White-Nose Syndrome in Bats Accumulates Genetic Variability in North America with No Sign of Recombination

mSphere ◽

10.1128/mspheredirect.00271-17 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jigar Trivedi ◽

Josianne Lachapelle ◽

Karen J. Vanderwolf ◽

Vikram Misra ◽

Craig K. R. Willis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

North American ◽

Disease Ecology ◽

Spontaneous Mutation ◽

North American Population ◽

Pseudogymnoascus Destructans ◽

Clonal Population ◽

White Nose Syndrome ◽

The North ◽

Single Clone

ABSTRACT Emerging fungal diseases of wildlife are on the rise worldwide, and the white-nose syndrome (WNS) epidemic in North American bats is a catastrophic example. The causal agent of WNS is a single clone of the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Early evolutionary change in this clonal population has major implications for disease ecology and conservation. Accumulation of variation in the fungus through mutation, and shuffling of variation through recombination, could affect the virulence and transmissibility of the fungus and the durability of what appears to be resistance arising in some bat populations. Our genome-wide analysis shows that the clonal population of P. destructans has expanded in size from a single genotype, has begun to accumulate variation through mutation, and presents no evidence as yet of genetic exchange among individuals. IMPORTANCE Since its discovery in 2006, the emerging infectious disease known as white-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in North America, making it one of the most devastating wildlife epidemics in recorded history. We demonstrate that there has been as yet only spontaneous mutation across the North American population of P. destructans, and we find no indication of recombination. Thus, selective forces, which might otherwise impact pathogenic virulence, have so far had essentially no genetic variation on which to act. Our study confirmed the time of origin for the first and, thus far, only introduction of P. destructans to North America. This system provides an unprecedented opportunity to follow the evolution of a host-pathogen interaction unfolding in real time.

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Contrasting demographic histories of European and North American sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence variation

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf12062 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 63 (9) ◽

pp. 827 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Martin J. Genner ◽

Robert Hillman ◽

Matthew McHugh ◽

Stephen J. Hawkins ◽

Martyn C. Lucas

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

North American ◽

Petromyzon Marinus ◽

Population Expansion ◽

Sea Lamprey ◽

European Population ◽

North American Population ◽

American Population ◽

The North

Populations of anadromous sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) have been found to be largely genetically homogeneous across western Europe, and across the eastern seaboard of North America. However, comparatively little is known of the relationship between the European and North American populations. We quantified the extent of population structuring present over a transatlantic scale using mitochondrial DNA sequences. We found clear segregation of the populations on either side of the Atlantic, and considerable genetic homogeneity within Europe over a spatial scale of over 2000 km. The North American populations contained larger genetic diversity than those from Europe, and coalescent analyses showed a corresponding greater overall effective population size. Employing calibration points based on a dated phylogeny of the Petromyzontiformes, our analyses indicated that the North American population has been increasing in effective size since establishment ~500 000 years ago, while the total European population has only undergone population expansion only within the last 125 000 years. This evidence is consistent with a colonisation of Europe from an older North American population, and with the European population persisting through the last glaciation within regional refugia.

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CASQ1 Gene Is an Unlikely Candidate for Malignant Hyperthermia Susceptibility in the North American Population

Anesthesiology ◽

10.1097/01.anes.0000530185.78660.da ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 118 (2) ◽

pp. 344-349 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Natalia Kraeva ◽

Elena Zvaritch ◽

Wanda Frodis ◽

Olga Sizova ◽

Alexander Kraev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Malignant Hyperthermia ◽

North American ◽

Malignant Hyperthermia Susceptibility ◽

North American Population ◽

American Population ◽

Coding Region ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Coding Sequence ◽

Protein Levels ◽

The North

Abstract Background Malignant hyperthermia (MH, MIM# 145600) is a complex pharmacogenetic disorder that is manifested in predisposed individuals as a potentially lethal reaction to volatile anesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants. Studies of CASQ1-null mice have shown that CASQ1, encoding calsequestrin 1, the major Ca2+ binding protein in the lumen of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, is a candidate gene for MH in mice. The aim of this study was to establish whether the CASQ1 gene is associated with MH in the North American population. Methods The entire coding region of CASQ1 in 75 unrelated patients diagnosed by caffeine-halothane contracture test as MH susceptible (MHS) was analyzed by DNA sequencing. Subsequently, three groups of unrelated individuals (130 MHS, 100 MH negative, and 192 normal controls) were genotyped for a variant that was identified by sequencing. Levels of CASQ1 expression in the muscle from unrelated MHS and MH negative individuals were estimated by Western blotting. Results Screening of the entire coding sequence of the CASQ1 gene in 75 MHS patients revealed a single variant c.260T > C (p.Met87Thr) in exon 1. This variant is unlikely to be pathogenic, because its allele frequency in the MHS group was not significantly different from that of controls. There was also no difference in calsequestrin 1 protein levels between muscle samples from MHS and controls, including those carrying the p.Met87Thr variant. Conclusions This study revealed a low level of protein coding sequence variability within the human CASQ1 gene, indicating that CASQ1 is not a major MHS locus in the North American population.

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