Abstract
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a marine turtle disease recognised by benign tumours on the skin, eyes, shell, oral cavity and/or viscera. Despite being a globally distributed disease that affects an endangered species, research on FP and its likely causative agent chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) in Australia is limited. Here we present improved molecular assays developed for detection of ChHV5, in combination with a robust molecular and phylogenetic analysis of ChHV5 variants. This approach utilised a multi-gene assay to detect ChHV5 in all FP tumors sampled from 62 marine turtles found at six foraging grounds along the Great Barrier Reef. Six distinct variants of ChHV5 were identified and the distribution of these variants was associated with host foraging ground. Conversely, no association between host genetic origin and ChHV5 viral variant was found. Together this evidence supports the hypothesis that marine turtles undergo horizontal transmission of ChHV5 at foraging grounds and are unlikely to be contracting the disease at rookeries, either during mating or vertically from parent to offspring.
Highlights
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a marine turtle disease, characterised by the growth of benign tumours on the skin, eyes, shell, oral cavity and/or viscera
In order to inform management decisions and improve conservation outcomes for C. mydas and other vulnerable turtle species, this study aims to improve our understanding of chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) along the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) through the following objectives: Firstly, this study will improve the resolution of the current phylogeny of ChHV5 in Australia by generating a more robust sequence data set than has previously been used, including a larger sample size and increased geographical locations
Other turtles were found to be haplotypes typically found to originate from the northern GBR region (CmP98.1, 1.7%) and New Caledonia (CmP85.1, 3.4%; CmP44.2, 1.7%)
Summary
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a marine turtle disease, characterised by the growth of benign tumours on the skin, eyes, shell, oral cavity and/or viscera. This disease has been reported in every species of marine turtle but predominantly affects the endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas) [1]. FP has a global distribution, with prevalence rates varying spatially and temporally [1].
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