scholarly journals Peer Review #2 of "What doesn’t kill them makes them stronger: an association between elongation factor 1-α overdominance in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus and “sea star wasting disease” (v0.1)"

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
Elongation Factor 1

scholarly journals RNA expression and disease tolerance are associated with a “keystone mutation” in the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3696 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Katelyn Chandler ◽  
John P. Wares
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Response ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Response To Temperature ◽  
Elongation Factor 1 ◽  
Lower Expression

An overdominant mutation in an intron of the elongation factor 1-α (EF1A) gene in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus has shown itself to mediate tolerance to “sea star wasting disease”, a pandemic that has significantly reduced sea star populations on the Pacific coast of North America. Here we use RNA sequencing of healthy individuals to identify differences in constitutive expression of gene regions that may help explain this tolerance phenotype. Our results show that individuals carrying this mutation have lower expression at a large contingent of gene regions. Individuals without this mutation also appear to have a greater cellular response to temperature stress, which has been implicated in the outbreak of sea star wasting disease. Given the ecological significance of P. ochraceus, these results may be useful in predicting the evolutionary and demographic future for Pacific intertidal communities.

scholarly journals What doesn’t kill them makes them stronger: an association between elongation factor 1-αoverdominance in the sea starPisaster ochraceusand “sea star wasting disease”

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Wares ◽  
Lauren M. Schiebelhut
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Functional Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor 1

In recent years, a massive mortality event has killed millions of sea stars, of many different species, along the Pacific coast of North America. This disease event, known as ‘sea star wasting disease’ (SSWD), is linked to viral infection. In one affected sea star (Pisaster ochraceus), previous work had identified that the elongation factor 1-αlocus (EF1A) harbored an intronic insertion allele that is lethal when homozygous yet appears to be maintained at moderate frequency in populations through increased fitness for heterozygotes. The environmental conditions supporting this increased fitness are unknown, but overdominance is often associated with disease. Here, we evaluate populations ofP. ochraceusto identify the relationship between SSWD and EF1A genotype. Our data suggest that there may be significantly decreased occurrence of SSWD in individuals that are heterozygous at this locus. These results suggest further studies are warranted to understand the functional relationship between diversity at EF1A and survival inP. ochraceus.

scholarly journals What doesn’t kill them makes them stronger: An association between elongation factor 1-α overdominance in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus and "sea star wasting disease”

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Wares ◽  
Lauren M Schiebelhut
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Functional Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor 1

In recent years, a massive plague has killed millions of sea stars, of many different species, along the Pacific coast of North America. This disease, known as 'sea star wasting disease' (SSWD), is thought to be caused by viral infection. In the affected sea star Pisaster ochraceus, previous work had identified that the elongation factor 1-α (EF1A) locus harbored an intronic insertion allele that is lethal when homozygous yet appears to be maintained at moderate frequency in populations through increased fitness for heterozygotes. The environmental conditions supporting this increased fitness are unknown, but overdominance is often associated with disease. Here, we evaluate populations of P. ochraceus to identify the relationship between SSWD and EF1A genotype. Our data suggest that there may be significantly decreased infection or mortality rates in individuals that are heterozygous at this locus. These results suggest further studies to understand the functional relationship between diversity at EF1A and survival in P. ochraceus.

scholarly journals What doesn’t kill them makes them stronger: An association between elongation factor 1-α overdominance in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus and "sea star wasting disease”

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Wares ◽  
Lauren M Schiebelhut
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Functional Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor 1

In recent years, a massive plague has killed millions of sea stars, of many different species, along the Pacific coast of North America. This disease, known as 'sea star wasting disease' (SSWD), is thought to be caused by viral infection. In the affected sea star Pisaster ochraceus, previous work had identified that the elongation factor 1-α (EF1A) locus harbored an intronic insertion allele that is lethal when homozygous yet appears to be maintained at moderate frequency in populations through increased fitness for heterozygotes. The environmental conditions supporting this increased fitness are unknown, but overdominance is often associated with disease. Here, we evaluate populations of P. ochraceus to identify the relationship between SSWD and EF1A genotype. Our data suggest that there may be significantly decreased infection or mortality rates in individuals that are heterozygous at this locus. These results suggest further studies to understand the functional relationship between diversity at EF1A and survival in P. ochraceus.

scholarly journals Is there an association between elongation factor 1-α overdominance in the seastar Pisaster ochraceus and “seastar wasting disease”?

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wares ◽  
Lauren Schiebelhut
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Elongation Factor 1

In recent years, a massive plague has killed millions of seastars, of many different species, along the Pacific coast of North America. This disease, known as 'seastar wasting disease' (SSWD), is thought to be caused by viral infection. In the affected seastar Pisaster ochraceus, previous work had identified that the elongation factor 1-α locus harbored an intronic insertion allele that is lethal when homozygous yet appears to be maintained at moderate frequency in populations through increased fitness for heterozygotes. The environmental conditions supporting this increased fitness are unknown, but overdominance is often associated with disease. Here, we evaluate seastars from 3 regional populations of P. ochraceus to identify the relationship between SSWD and genotype. Although our data suggest that there may be decreased infection or mortality rates in individuals that are heterozygous at this locus, the effect is small and not statistically significant.

scholarly journals RNA expression and disease tolerance are associated with a “keystone mutation” in the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wares ◽  
Virginia K Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Response ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Single Mutation ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Fold Reduction ◽  
Response To Temperature

An overdominant mutation in the elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1A) gene in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus has shown itself to mediate tolerance to "sea star wasting disease", a pandemic that has significantly reduced sea star populations on the Pacific coast of North America. Here we use RNA sequencing of healthy individuals to identify differences in constitutive expression of gene regions that may help explain this tolerance phenotype. Our results show that individuals carrying this single mutation have lower expression at a large contingent of gene regions, and it appears likely that the EF1A locus itself is similarly affected, with a 2-fold reduction in expression of some EF1A transcripts. Individuals without this mutation also appear to have a greater cellular response to temperature stress, which has been implicated in the outbreak of sea star wasting disease. Given the ecological significance of P. ochraceus and the key role of EF1A in cellular composition and maintenance, these results may be useful in predicting the evolutionary and demographic future for Pacific intertidal communities.

scholarly journals Re-evaluation of homozygous lethality for EF1A indel polymorphism inPisaster ochraceus

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Wares ◽  
Paige J. Duffin
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Model ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Indel Polymorphism ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
Disease Outcomes ◽  
Elongation Factor 1 Alpha ◽  
Intron Region ◽  
Elongation Factor 1

AbstractA genotypic polymorphism in the sea starPisaster ochraceushas been associated with possible overdominant maintenance of diversity, and subsequent studies of this polymorphism suggested that intermittent disease outbreaks could be a driving factor in this system. However, comparative transcriptomic studies of individuals carrying distinct genotypes at the elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1A) region indicated that the marker was not accurately describing the constitutive differences among individuals. Here we more thoroughly assess this EF1A intron region to better understand how polymorphic diversity could be associated with differential disease outcomes and physiological responses, and find that the underlying genetic model is incorrect. In fact, rather than an instance of homozygous lethality, it is clear that previous genotyping efforts were misled by a PCR artefact. We reanalyze results from two previous studies to show that the effects are not as clear as believed.

scholarly journals RNA expression and disease tolerance are associated with a “keystone mutation” in the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wares ◽  
Virginia K Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Response ◽  
Constitutive Expression ◽  
Elongation Factor ◽  
Single Mutation ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Wasting Disease ◽  
Pisaster Ochraceus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Fold Reduction ◽  
Response To Temperature

An overdominant mutation in the elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1A) gene in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus has shown itself to mediate tolerance to "sea star wasting disease", a pandemic that has significantly reduced sea star populations on the Pacific coast of North America. Here we use RNA sequencing of healthy individuals to identify differences in constitutive expression of gene regions that may help explain this tolerance phenotype. Our results show that individuals carrying this single mutation have lower expression at a large contingent of gene regions, and it appears likely that the EF1A locus itself is similarly affected, with a 2-fold reduction in expression of some EF1A transcripts. Individuals without this mutation also appear to have a greater cellular response to temperature stress, which has been implicated in the outbreak of sea star wasting disease. Given the ecological significance of P. ochraceus and the key role of EF1A in cellular composition and maintenance, these results may be useful in predicting the evolutionary and demographic future for Pacific intertidal communities.

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