RAPID: Collaborative Research: Investigation of microbial roles in Pacific Asteroidea wasting disease

在许多沿海环境中，海星是重要的捕食者，它们捕食主要的无脊椎动物，如双壳类软体动物和海胆。海星消瘦病（SSWD）是一种非常严重的棘皮动物疾病，似乎对美国太平洋沿岸的海星种群产生了巨大的负面影响。这一快速反应项目旨在确定目前在太平洋沿岸发生的疫情中引起可持续发展疾病的病原体，并结合对疫情在受影响物种、流行程度、毒力、空间分布和地理范围方面的程度的观察。将使用分子方法检查海星健康和患病组织中的病毒、细菌和原生动物，并将健康和患病组织之间的微生物菌群进行比较，从而确定候选病原体。该项目是对致病微生物在海星病中的作用进行生态学和微生物学协调研究。本研究将为棘皮动物体内的病毒、细菌和真核微生物的多样性提供新的信息，项目成果将包括：1)鉴定与该疾病相关的微生物（病毒、细菌和原生动物）；2)分析疾病的地理范围、进展及其对海星种群大小的影响；3)将鉴定的微生物与其在sswd感染人群中的流行程度联系起来。最终的结果将是了解疾病的原因，它与环境条件的关系，以及疾病对更广泛的沿海生态的后续影响。除了从事疾病生态学研究的本科生外，还将聘请一个公民科学小组来评估这种疾病在太平洋沿岸整个发生范围内的流行程度和影响。这些数据，连同其他小组使用类似抽样方法的调查数据，将被上传到一个数据库，并用于填充海星消瘦病地图，该地图提供了整个北美西海岸站点的SSWD存在的信息。世界各地的用户已经访问了这张地图和与之相关的社会福利信息。通过直接结合生态和微生物学研究，这些研究将提供对SSWD更全面的了解，这将有利于全球的研究人员，并协助管理人员降低未来爆发的风险。

Sea stars are keystone predator species in many coastal environments, where they consume dominant invertebrate taxa, e.g. bivalve mollusks and sea urchins. A very significant echinoderm disease, Sea-Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) appears to be having a dramatic, and negative, effect on sea-star populations on the Pacific Coast of the United States. This RAPID response project seeks to identify causative agents of SSWD in the outbreak that is currently occurring on the Pacific Coast, in concert with observations on the extent of the event with respect to species affected, prevalence, virulence, spatial distribution, and geographic extent. Viruses, bacteria, and protozoa will be examined in healthy and diseased tissues of sea-stars using molecular approaches and comparisons of the microbial flora between healthy and diseased tissues will permit identification of candidate pathogens. The project represents a coordinated ecological and microbiological study into the role of pathogenic microorganisms in sea star disease. This study will provide new information on the diversity of viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotic microorganisms inhabiting echinoderms, and the outcomes of this project will include: 1) identification of microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, and protozoa) associated with the disease; 2) analysis of geographical extent of the disease, its progression, and impact on sea star population size; and 3) linking the identified microorganisms with their prevalence in SSWD-affected populations. The net result will be an understanding of the cause of disease, how it relates to environmental conditions, and subsequent impacts of the disease on wider coastal ecology. In addition to undergraduate student in disease ecology research a citizen's science group will be engaged to assess the prevalence and impact of this disease throughout the full range of occurrence along the Pacific Coast. These data, along with survey data from other groups using similar sampling methods, will be uploaded to a database and used to populate the Sea Star Wasting Disease Map, which provides information on SSWD presence at sites along the entire west coast of North America. Already, this map and the SSWD information associated with it have been accessed by users throughout the world. By directly combining ecological and microbiological studies of SSWD, these studies will provide a more complete understanding of SSWD, which will benefit researchers globally, and assist managers in mitigating risk of future outbreaks.