Transmission Pathways of Seagrass Wasting Disease in Coastal Meadows

沿海草甸海草消耗病的传播途径

• 批准号: 2109607
• 负责人: C. Drew Harvell
• 金额: $ 247.99万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-08-15 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2109607&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Transmission; Pathways; Seagrass; Wasting; Disease

Warming in the oceans caused by climate change increases the risk of disease outbreaks in valuable marine organisms and habitats. Seagrass meadows in temperate waters are vital habitats, affected globally by Eelgrass Wasting Disease. This is a devastating disease, known to increase with warming, and is already outbreaking locally along the US west coast. The team’s work over the last decade documents significant declines in eelgrass meadows and outbreaks of wasting disease in the Salish Sea, WA. A combined laboratory, field, and modeling program will transform our understanding of how eelgrass wasting disease epidemics are initiated and transmitted in nature. To communicate the combined risk of disease with climate change and the ways disease spreads in the ocean, the team runs hands-on K-12 programs with Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Friday Harbor Laboratories K-12 program and the Spring Street School Salish Sea School. The team will continue a 5-week graduate course at Friday Harbor Laboratories to train the next generation of disease ecologists and develop a documentary film, Epidemics Rising in the Seagrass.The transmission mode used by a pathogen to move between hosts is poorly understood for most marine diseases. Outbreaks of eelgrass wasting disease, caused by the marine protozoan Labyrinthula zosterae, occurs on Pacific shores from California to Alaska, with intermittent outbreaks. Quantitative estimates of the rates and extent of waterborne and multiple modes of transmission are knowledge gaps limiting understanding of marine disease processes. Experimental studies reveal a circulating portfolio of L. zosterae strains varying in virulence and genetics from non-pathogenic to extremely pathogenic and transmitted by both contact and through the water. Experiments show that disease is transmitted by dual transmission modes of contact and waterborne, as is common, but poorly documented, for many marine pathogens. To understand the transmission pathways that underlie the spread of the disease, the team will first measure the role of factors including warming and pathogen strain in starting new infections. Secondly, the team is investigating how both resident microbiomes and biota such as grazing snails and filtering oysters can affect the rate of new infections. Thirdly, the results from lab experiments are applied to a whole meadow setting to help the team model the way the disease spreads in nature. This study system allows direct, experimentally verified incorporation of species interactions into the disease transmission model, including the role of microbiome, invertebrate vectors and filter feeders.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

气候变化造成的海洋变暖增加了宝贵的海洋生物和栖息地爆发疾病的风险。温带水域的海草草甸是重要的栖息地，受到全球大叶草消耗病的影响。这是一种毁灭性的疾病，已知会随着变暖而增加，并且已经在美国西海岸局部地区爆发。该小组在过去十年中的工作记录了西澳萨利希海大叶草草地的显著减少和消耗性疾病的爆发。一个结合实验室、实地和建模的项目将改变我们对大叶藻消耗疾病流行病是如何在自然界中开始和传播的理解。为了传达疾病与气候变化的综合风险以及疾病在海洋中传播的方式，该团队与帕迪拉湾国家河口研究保护区、星期五港口实验室K-12项目和斯普林街学校萨利什海洋学校一起开展了实践K-12项目。该小组将继续在星期五港实验室进行为期五周的研究生课程，以培训下一代疾病生态学家，并制作一部纪录片《海草中的流行病》。对于大多数海洋疾病，人们对病原体在宿主之间移动的传播模式知之甚少。由海洋原生动物zosterae迷路虫引起的大叶藻耗损病在从加利福尼亚到阿拉斯加的太平洋沿岸发生，间歇性爆发。对水传播和多种传播方式的比率和程度的定量估计是知识空白，限制了对海洋疾病过程的了解。实验研究揭示了一种循环的带状乳杆菌菌株组合，其毒力和基因从非致病性到极致病性各不相同，并通过接触和通过水传播。实验表明，疾病通过接触和水传播的双重传播模式传播，这对许多海洋病原体来说是常见的，但记录很少。为了了解疾病传播的传播途径，该团队将首先测量包括变暖和病原体菌株在内的因素在引发新感染中的作用。其次，该团队正在研究常驻微生物群和生物群（如食草蜗牛和过滤牡蛎）如何影响新感染率。第三，将实验室实验的结果应用到整个草地环境中，以帮助团队模拟疾病在自然界中的传播方式。该研究系统允许将物种相互作用直接、实验验证地纳入疾病传播模型，包括微生物组、无脊椎动物载体和滤食性动物的作用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Deeper habitats and cooler temperatures moderate a climate-driven seagrass disease

• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0016
• 发表时间: 2023-03-27
• 期刊: PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
• 影响因子: 6.3
• 作者: Graham, Olivia J. J.;Stephens, Tiffany;Harvell, Drew
• 通讯作者: Harvell, Drew

UAV High-Resolution Imaging and Disease Surveys Combine to Quantify Climate-Related Decline in Seagrass Meadows

无人机高分辨率成像和疾病调查相结合，量化海草草甸与气候相关的衰退

• DOI: 10.5670/oceanog.2023.s1.12
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Oceanography
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Aoki, Lillian;Yang, Bo;Graham, Olivia;Gomes, Carla;Rappazzo, Brendan;Hawthorne, Timothy;Duffy, Emmett;Harvell, Drew
• 通讯作者: Harvell, Drew