Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing reveals Miamiensis avidus (Ciliophora: Scuticociliatida) in the 2017 epizootic of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) in San Francisco Bay, California

Hanna Retallack, Mark S. Okihiro, Elliot Britton, Sean Van Sommeran, Joseph L. DeRisi
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/301556
Hanna Retallack
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, 1700 4th St., San Francisco, CA 94158
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mark S. Okihiro
2Fisheries Branch, Wildlife and Fisheries Division, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1880 Timber Trail, Vista, CA 92081
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: Mark.Okihiro@wildlife.ca.gov
Elliot Britton
3San Francisco University High School, 3065 Jackson St., San Francisco CA 94115
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sean Van Sommeran
4Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, 750 Bay Ave. #2108, Capitola CA 95010
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Joseph L. DeRisi
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, 1700 4th St., San Francisco, CA 94158
5Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub, 499 Illinois St., San Francisco, CA 94158
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

During March to August of 2017, hundreds of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) stranded and died on the shores of San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Similar mass stranding events occurred in 1967 and 2011, yet analysis of these epizootics was incomplete and no etiology was confirmed. Our investigation of the most recent epizootic revealed severe meningoencephalitis in stranded sharks, raising suspicion for infection. On this basis, we pursued a strategy for unbiased pathogen detection using metagenomic next-generation sequencing followed by orthogonal validation and further screening. We show that the ciliated protozoan pathogen, Miamiensis avidus, was present in the central nervous system of leopard (n=12) and other shark species (n=2) that stranded in San Francisco Bay, but absent in leopard sharks caught elsewhere. Whereas this protozoan has previously been implicated in devastating outbreaks in teleost marine fish, our findings represent the first report of a ciliated protozoan infection in wild elasmobranchs. This discovery highlights the benefits of adopting unbiased metagenomic sequencing in the study of wildlife health and disease.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted April 15, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Metagenomic next-generation sequencing reveals Miamiensis avidus (Ciliophora: Scuticociliatida) in the 2017 epizootic of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) in San Francisco Bay, California
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Metagenomic next-generation sequencing reveals Miamiensis avidus (Ciliophora: Scuticociliatida) in the 2017 epizootic of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) in San Francisco Bay, California
Hanna Retallack, Mark S. Okihiro, Elliot Britton, Sean Van Sommeran, Joseph L. DeRisi
bioRxiv 301556; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/301556
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Metagenomic next-generation sequencing reveals Miamiensis avidus (Ciliophora: Scuticociliatida) in the 2017 epizootic of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) in San Francisco Bay, California
Hanna Retallack, Mark S. Okihiro, Elliot Britton, Sean Van Sommeran, Joseph L. DeRisi
bioRxiv 301556; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/301556

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Microbiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4658)
  • Biochemistry (10313)
  • Bioengineering (7636)
  • Bioinformatics (26240)
  • Biophysics (13481)
  • Cancer Biology (10648)
  • Cell Biology (15360)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (8463)
  • Ecology (12776)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (16794)
  • Genetics (11372)
  • Genomics (15430)
  • Immunology (10580)
  • Microbiology (25087)
  • Molecular Biology (10172)
  • Neuroscience (54233)
  • Paleontology (398)
  • Pathology (1660)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2883)
  • Physiology (4326)
  • Plant Biology (9213)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1582)
  • Synthetic Biology (2544)
  • Systems Biology (6761)
  • Zoology (1458)