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

海星是许多沿海环境中的关键捕食者物种，在那里它们消耗占主导地位的无脊椎动物类群，例如双壳软体动物和海胆。 一种非常重要的棘皮动物疾病，海星消耗病（SSWD）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。 该快速反应项目旨在确定目前在太平洋海岸发生的SSWD爆发的病原体，并结合对受影响物种、流行率、毒力、空间分布和地理范围的事件程度的观察。 将使用分子方法在海星的健康和患病组织中检查病毒、细菌和原生动物，并且健康和患病组织之间的微生物植物群的比较将允许识别候选病原体。该项目是对病原微生物在海星星病中的作用进行的协调的生态学和微生物学研究。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，本项目的成果将包括：1）微生物的鉴定（病毒、细菌和原生动物）; 2）分析疾病的地理范围、其进展和对海星星星种群大小的影响;和3）将鉴定的微生物与它们在SSWD受影响人群中的流行率联系起来。最终结果将是了解疾病的原因，它如何与环境条件，以及疾病对更广泛的沿海生态的后续影响。除了疾病生态学研究的本科生外，还将聘请一个公民科学小组评估这种疾病在太平洋沿岸沿着发生的所有范围内的流行程度和影响。 这些数据，沿着来自使用类似抽样方法的其他小组的调查数据，将被上传到一个数据库，并用于填充星星消耗病地图，该地图提供了关于整个北美西海岸沿着地点SSWD存在的信息。世界各地的用户已经可以使用这张地图和与之相关的SSWD信息。通过直接结合SSWD的生态学和微生物学研究，这些研究将提供对SSWD的更全面的了解，这将使全球研究人员受益，并协助管理人员减轻未来爆发的风险。

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.