Abstract
Echinoderms are prone to large population fluctuations that can be mediated by pervasive disease events. For the majority of echinoderm disease events the causative pathogen is unknown. Viruses have only recently been explored as potential pathogens using culture-independent techniques though little information currently exists on echinoderm viruses. In this study, ten circular ssDNA viruses were discovered in tissues among an asteroid (Asterias forbesi), an echinoid (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and a holothurian (Parastichopus californicus) using viral metagenomics. Genome architecture and sequence similarity place these viruses among the rapidly expanding circular rep-encoding single stranded (CRESS) DNA viral group. Multiple genomes from the same tissue were no more similar in sequence identity to each other than when compared to other known CRESS DNA viruses. The results from this study are the first to describe a virus from a holothurian and continue to show the ubiquity of these viruses among aquatic invertebrates.
Highlights
Diseases of echinoderms, echinoids and asteroids, have been extensively documented worldwide and include some of the largest marine epizootics known to date [1,2,3,4]
The discovery of a circular rep-encoding single-stranded (CRESS) DNA virus was discovered from tissue of a Asterias forbesi, a common sea star on the east coast of North America, exhibiting symptoms similar to the sea star wasting disease observed in the Northeast Pacific
Ten complete circular ssDNA viral genomes were identified from metagenomic analysis of purified DNA from viral particles of tissue from A. forbesi (n = 4), S. droebachiensis (n = 2) and P. californicus (n = 4) (Fig 1)
Summary
Echinoids (sea urchins) and asteroids (sea stars), have been extensively documented worldwide and include some of the largest marine epizootics known to date [1,2,3,4]. For many of these disease events, a causative pathogen remains undescribed which severely limits the study of the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases of these animals. The discovery of a densovirus linked to a mass morality event of sea stars on the west coast of North America brings to question the role of viruses in other echinoderm diseases [4]. No PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0166093 November 17, 2016
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