A transmissible cancer shifts from emergence to endemism in Tasmanian devils

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6522) ◽  
pp. eabb9772
Author(s):  
Austin H. Patton ◽  
Matthew F. Lawrance ◽  
Mark J. Margres ◽  
Christopher P. Kozakiewicz ◽  
Rodrigo Hamede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infected Individual ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Secondary Infections ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Transmissible Cancer ◽  
Devil Facial Tumor Disease ◽  
Human Viruses

Emerging infectious diseases pose one of the greatest threats to human health and biodiversity. Phylodynamics is often used to infer epidemiological parameters essential for guiding intervention strategies for human viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). Here, we applied phylodynamics to elucidate the epidemiological dynamics of Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a fatal, transmissible cancer with a genome thousands of times larger than that of any virus. Despite prior predictions of devil extinction, transmission rates have declined precipitously from ~3.5 secondary infections per infected individual to ~1 at present. Thus, DFTD appears to be transitioning from emergence to endemism, lending hope for the continued survival of the endangered Tasmanian devil. More generally, our study demonstrates a new phylodynamic analytical framework that can be applied to virtually any pathogen.

Possible mechanisms of transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuriye Nuray Ulusu
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Cellular Metabolism ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Transmissible Cancer ◽  
Devil Facial Tumor Disease ◽  
The One

Abstract:Physical transfer of viable tumor cells from one organism to another is known as transmissible cancer, which is observed in dogs, Tasmanian devils, Syrian hamsters, and some soft-shell clams. Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease is transmitted like an infectious disease between individuals through biting and other close contact. This extinction type is quite different from the other extinction types such as ecological factors. Transmissible cancers’ cellular metabolism is also different from the both normal cellular metabolism and other types of cancers’ metabolism. The lack of an immune response against the Tasmanian devil facial tumor cells is the one of the key points in the transmission of the cancerous cells. The differentiated cellular metabolism and absence of immune reaction may be due to the organisms’ enzymes. Cells may have altered surface proteins by altering enzymatic activities that cannot be recognized by both the innate and adaptive responses. The promiscuity of the key enzymes may be associated with unwanted side effects, such as cannot recognize molecular patterns on the transmitted cell or hypomethylation of DNA by altering catalytic properties enzymes or altered matrix metalloproteinases or cathelicidins.

scholarly journals Two Decades of the Impact of Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1043-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M Woods ◽  
Samantha Fox ◽  
Andrew S Flies ◽  
Cesar D Tovar ◽  
Menna Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Decline ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Island Species ◽  
Island State ◽  
Transmissible Cancer ◽  
Genomic Studies ◽  
Devil Facial Tumor Disease ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Tasmanian devil, a marsupial carnivore, has been restricted to the island state of Tasmania since its extinction on the Australian mainland about 3000 years ago. In the past two decades, this species has experienced severe population decline due to the emergence of devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a transmissible cancer. During these 20 years, scientists have puzzled over the immunological and evolutionary responses by the Tasmanian devil to this transmissible cancer. Targeted strategies in population management and disease control have been developed as well as comparative processes to identify variation in tumor and host genetics. A multi-disciplinary approach with multi-institutional teams has produced considerable advances over the last decade. This has led to a greater understanding of the molecular pathogenesis and genomic classification of this cancer. New and promising developments in the Tasmanian devil’s story include evidence that most immunized, and some wild devils, can produce an immune response to DFTD. Furthermore, epidemiology combined with genomic studies suggest a rapid evolution to the disease and that DFTD will become an endemic disease. Since 1998 there have been more than 350 publications, distributed over 37 Web of Science categories. A unique endemic island species has become an international curiosity that is in the spotlight of integrative and comparative biology research.

scholarly journals Blood Parasites in Endangered Wildlife-Trypanosomes Discovered during a Survey of Haemoprotozoa from the Tasmanian Devil

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 873
Author(s):  
Siobhon L. Egan ◽  
Manuel Ruiz-Aravena ◽  
Jill M. Austen ◽  
Xavier Barton ◽  
Sebastien Comte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Protozoan Parasite ◽  
Blood Parasites ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Devil Facial Tumour Disease ◽  
Transmissible Cancer ◽  
Carnivorous Marsupial ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Single Blood Sample

The impact of emerging infectious diseases is increasingly recognised as a major threat to wildlife. Wild populations of the endangered Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii, are experiencing devastating losses from a novel transmissible cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD); however, despite the rapid decline of this species, there is currently no information on the presence of haemoprotozoan parasites. In the present study, 95 Tasmanian devil blood samples were collected from four populations in Tasmania, Australia, which underwent molecular screening to detect four major groups of haemoprotozoa: (i) trypanosomes, (ii) piroplasms, (iii) Hepatozoon, and (iv) haemosporidia. Sequence results revealed Trypanosoma infections in 32/95 individuals. Trypanosoma copemani was identified in 10 Tasmanian devils from three sites and a second Trypanosoma sp. was identified in 22 individuals that were grouped within the poorly described T. cyclops clade. A single blood sample was positive for Babesia sp., which most closely matched Babesia lohae. No other blood protozoan parasite DNA was detected. This study provides the first insight into haemoprotozoa from the Tasmanian devil and the first identification of Trypanosoma and Babesia in this carnivorous marsupial.

scholarly journals Transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils: localized lineage replacement and host population response

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1814) ◽  
pp. 20151468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo K. Hamede ◽  
Anne-Maree Pearse ◽  
Kate Swift ◽  
Leon A. Barmuta ◽  
Elizabeth P. Murchison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Decline ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Infectious Agent ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Genetic Management ◽  
Genetic Lineages ◽  
Devil Facial Tumour Disease ◽  
Transmissible Cancer

Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a clonally transmissible cancer threatening the Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) with extinction. Live cancer cells are the infectious agent, transmitted to new hosts when individuals bite each other. Over the 18 years since DFTD was first observed, distinct genetic and karyotypic sublineages have evolved. In this longitudinal study, we investigate the associations between tumour karyotype, epidemic patterns and host demographic response to the disease. Reduced host population effects and low DFTD infection rates were associated with high prevalence of tetraploid tumours. Subsequent replacement by a diploid variant of DFTD coincided with a rapid increase in disease prevalence, population decline and reduced mean age of the population. Our results suggest a role for tumour genetics in DFTD transmission dynamics and epidemic outcome. Future research, for this and other highly pathogenic emerging infectious diseases, should focus on understanding the evolution of host and pathogen genotypes, their effects on susceptibility and tolerance to infection, and their implications for designing novel genetic management strategies. This study provides evidence for a rapid localized lineage replacement occurring within a transmissible cancer epidemic and highlights the possibility that distinct DFTD genetic lineages may harbour traits that influence pathogen fitness.

scholarly journals Transmission dynamics of Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease may lead to disease-induced extinction

Ecology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 90 (12) ◽  
pp. 3379-3392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish McCallum ◽  
Menna Jones ◽  
Clare Hawkins ◽  
Rodrigo Hamede ◽  
Shelly Lachish ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Devil Facial Tumor Disease

scholarly journals Evolution and lineage dynamics of a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils

PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. e3000926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Mi Kwon ◽  
Kevin Gori ◽  
Naomi Park ◽  
Nicole Potts ◽  
Kate Swift ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Selection ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Genome Instability ◽  
Copy Number Variants ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Transmissible Cancer

Devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) is a transmissible cancer clone endangering the Tasmanian devil. The expansion of DFT1 across Tasmania has been documented, but little is known of its evolutionary history. We analysed genomes of 648 DFT1 tumours collected throughout the disease range between 2003 and 2018. DFT1 diverged early into five clades, three spreading widely and two failing to persist. One clade has replaced others at several sites, and rates of DFT1 coinfection are high. DFT1 gradually accumulates copy number variants (CNVs), and its telomere lengths are short but constant. Recurrent CNVs reveal genes under positive selection, sites of genome instability, and repeated loss of a small derived chromosome. Cultured DFT1 cell lines have increased CNV frequency and undergo highly reproducible convergent evolution. Overall, DFT1 is a remarkably stable lineage whose genome illustrates how cancer cells adapt to diverse environments and persist in a parasitic niche.

scholarly journals The role of nutrition in strengthening immune system against newly emerging viral diseases: case of SARS-CoV-2

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 240-244
Author(s):  
Meghit Boumediene Khaled ◽  
Nada Benajiba
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Infected Individual ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
The Body ◽  
Healthy Diet ◽  
World Health ◽  
Viral Diseases ◽  
Prevention Measures

The immune system is involved in the protection of host against environmental agents such as pathogenic micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses) and chemicals, thereby preserving the integrity of the body. To preserve organism defense mechanisms, adequate nutritional status should be maintained with appropriate intakes of calories, vitamins, minerals and water that should be continuously provided by a healthy diet. The emergence of new infectious diseases with new pathogenic properties constitutes a serious health issue worldwide. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) represents one of the most recent emerging infectious diseases, caused by a novel coronavirus member called (SARS-CoV-2), identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019, and recognized as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The nutritional status of each COVID-19-infected patient should be assessed prior undertaking treatments. Nutritional support should be the basis of management of any infected individual. However, prevention measures remain the first priority and strategy to develop throughout proper hygiene, healthy diet and staying home. Keywords: Nutrition, Immune system, Viral diseases, SARS-CoV-2.

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