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Horgan M, Martinez ME, Archer LL, Duignan PJ, Wellehan JFX. DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A NOVEL DUPLEX PROBE-HYBRIDIZATION QUANTITATIVE PCR FOR LYMPHOMA-ASSOCIATED MIROUNGINE GAMMAHERPESVIRUS 3 IN NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEALS (MIROUNGA ANGUSTIROSTRIS). J Wildl Dis 2023; 59:121-127. [PMID: 36584338 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-22-00030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Recently, a novel gammaherpesvirus, miroungine gammaherpesvirus 3 (MirGHV3), was described in two juvenile elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. We developed and validated a quantitative (q)PCR for rapid detection of MirGHV3 and investigated its potential association with lymphoma. We developed a duplex probe-hybridization qPCR with MirGHV3 DNA polymerase (pol) as the target gene. Each primer-probe combination was cross-validated against the others. Interference was not seen when they were run in the same well as a duplex assay. Twenty-three samples from seven northern elephant seals were tested using the duplex assay. Viral DNA was detected by the assay in 9 of 9 (100%) tissues affected by lymphoma and in 6 of 14 (43%) samples from tissues unaffected by lymphoma. There was a strong correlation between viral copies detected with each of the assays (P=0.0002). Viral load was significantly higher in tissues affected by lymphoma than in those unaffected (P<0.0001). Excluding the virus-negative samples, viral load was still significantly higher in tissues affected by lymphoma than in those unaffected (P=0.0004). This is consistent with a potential role of MirGHV3 in oncogenesis in northern elephant seals, although more studies are needed to determine this definitively. The qPCR developed has utility for further investigations of MirGHV3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly Horgan
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA
| | - Margaret E Martinez
- The Marine Mammal Center, 2000 Bunker Road, Sausalito, California 94965, USA
| | - Linda L Archer
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA
| | - Pádraig J Duignan
- The Marine Mammal Center, 2000 Bunker Road, Sausalito, California 94965, USA
| | - James F X Wellehan
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA
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Celis JE, Espejo W, Chiang G, Kitamura D, Vergara E, Kashiwada S, O'Driscoll NJ. Trace and rare earth elements in excreta of two species of marine mammals from South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Mar Pollut Bull 2022; 183:114095. [PMID: 36070639 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Pinnipeds are sentinel species for marine pollution, but their role as vectors of trace elements (TEs) or rare earth elements (REEs) to ecosystems has been poorly studied. The present study tested pinniped feces for 61 elements, including REEs. Feces of adult seals (Mirounga leonina, Hydrurga leptonyx) from Fildes Bay, King George Island, Antarctica, were analyzed by ICP-MS. TEs varied by several orders of magnitude across the suite examined herein, with Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, HgII and Sr as the top six in both species. Of the REEs, Ce, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Lu, Nd, Pr, Sc, Sm, Tb, Y and Yb were found consistently in all samples and ranged from 0.935 to 0.006 μg g-1 d.w. The results show that both species act as biovector organisms of TEs and REEs through feces in remote environments, whose actual impacts and long-term fate need further exploration.
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Affiliation(s)
- José E Celis
- Department of Animal Science, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Méndez 595, Chillán, Chile
| | - Winfred Espejo
- Soils and Natural Resources Department, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Méndez 595, Chillán, Chile.
| | - Gustavo Chiang
- Sustainability Research Centre-Ecology & Biodiversity Department, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile
| | - Daiki Kitamura
- Research Center for Life and Environmental Sciences, Toyo University, Oura 374-0193, Japan
| | - Elvira Vergara
- Doctorado Interdisciplinario en Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile; Laboratory of Aquatic Environmental Research, Centro de Estudios Avanzados - HUB Ambiental UPLA, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Shosaku Kashiwada
- Research Center for Life and Environmental Sciences, Toyo University, Oura 374-0193, Japan
| | - Nelson J O'Driscoll
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, Canada
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McHuron EA, Castellini JM, Rios CA, Berner J, Gulland FMD, Greig DJ, O'Hara TM. HAIR, WHOLE BLOOD, AND BLOOD-SOAKED CELLULOSE PAPER-BASED RISK ASSESSMENT OF MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN STRANDED CALIFORNIA PINNIPEDS. J Wildl Dis 2019; 55:823-833. [PMID: 31081740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) poses a health risk to wildlife populations and has been documented at relatively high concentrations in many marine mammals, including wild-caught pinnipeds along the central California, US coast. We measured total Hg concentrations ([THg]) in hair and blood of live-stranded harbor seals (HS; Phoca vitulina), California sea lions (CSL; Zalophus californianus), and northern elephant seals (NES; Mirounga angustirostris) in California to quantify species, temporal, and spatial variability in [THg] and assess the relationships between [THg] measured by different methods (blood vs. filter paper) and in different matrices (blood vs. hair). We compared [THg] with toxicologic thresholds of concern to aid in identification of at-risk individuals or groups and better understand how the use of different methods and matrices affects assumed toxicologic risk. There was a wide range of [THg] in blood (<0.01-1.13 μg/g) and hair (0.45-81.98 μg/g), and NES had higher [THg] compared with HS and CSL. All three species had individuals with [THg] that exceeded the lower threshold for one or both matrices, but only HS pups had [THg] exceeding upper thresholds. Spatial differences in [THg] were detected, with higher concentrations in HS pups from areas surrounding San Francisco Bay, but differences were dependent on sampling year and matrix. The relationship between [THg] in blood and filter paper (r2=0.98) was strong, and differences had little influence on comparisons with toxicologic thresholds. Blood and hair [THg] were generally in agreement (r2=0.72), but large mismatches for a few seals underscore the importance of combined sampling in adverse effects studies where accurate assessment of Hg exposure is crucial. The wide range of [THg] in stranded HS pups that exceeded published thresholds of concern makes them a promising candidate for adverse effects studies, particularly because different matrices represent Hg exposure across key developmental stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A McHuron
- Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, 3737 Brooklyn Avenue NE, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - J Margaret Castellini
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 757750, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
| | - Carlos A Rios
- The Marine Mammal Center, 2000 Bunker Road, Sausalito, California 94965, USA
| | - James Berner
- Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 4000 Ambassador Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99508, USA
| | - Frances M D Gulland
- The Marine Mammal Center, 2000 Bunker Road, Sausalito, California 94965, USA
- Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, 1 Garrod Drive, Davis, California 95616, USA
| | - Denise J Greig
- California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA
| | - Todd M O'Hara
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 757750, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
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Gordine SA, Fedak M, Boehme L. Fishing for drifts: detecting buoyancy changes of a top marine predator using a step-wise filtering method. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:3816-24. [PMID: 26486362 PMCID: PMC4712810 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.118109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2015] [Accepted: 10/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), fasting- and foraging-related fluctuations in body composition are reflected by buoyancy changes. Such buoyancy changes can be monitored by measuring changes in the rate at which a seal drifts passively through the water column, i.e. when all active swimming motion ceases. Here, we present an improved knowledge-based method for detecting buoyancy changes from compressed and abstracted dive profiles received through telemetry. By step-wise filtering of the dive data, the developed algorithm identifies fragments of dives that correspond to times when animals drift. In the dive records of 11 southern elephant seals from South Georgia, this filtering method identified 0.8-2.2% of all dives as drift dives, indicating large individual variation in drift diving behaviour. The obtained drift rate time series exhibit that, at the beginning of each migration, all individuals were strongly negatively buoyant. Over the following 75-150 days, the buoyancy of all individuals peaked close to or at neutral buoyancy, indicative of a seal's foraging success. Independent verification with visually inspected detailed high-resolution dive data confirmed that this method is capable of reliably detecting buoyancy changes in the dive records of drift diving species using abstracted data. This also affirms that abstracted dive profiles convey the geometric shape of drift dives in sufficient detail for them to be identified. Further, it suggests that, using this step-wise filtering method, buoyancy changes could be detected even in old datasets with compressed dive information, for which conventional drift dive classification previously failed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Alex Gordine
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Michael Fedak
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Lars Boehme
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
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Suzuki M, Lee AY, Vázquez-Medina JP, Viscarra JA, Crocker DE, Ortiz RM. Plasma FGF21 concentrations, adipose fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 and β-klotho expression decrease with fasting in northern elephant seals. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2015; 216:86-9. [PMID: 25857751 PMCID: PMC4457680 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2015.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2014] [Revised: 02/19/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is secreted from the liver, pancreas, and adipose in response to prolonged fasting/starvation to facilitate lipid and glucose metabolism. Northern elephant seals naturally fast for several months, maintaining a relatively elevated metabolic rate to satisfy their energetic requirements. Thus, to better understand the impact of prolonged food deprivation on FGF21-associated changes, we analyzed the expression of FGF21, FGF receptor-1 (FGFR1), β-klotho (KLB; a co-activator of FGFR) in adipose, and plasma FGF21, glucose and 3-hydroxybutyrate in fasted elephant seal pups. Expression of FGFR1 and KLB mRNA decreased 98% and 43%, respectively, with fasting duration. While the 80% decrease in mean adipose FGF21 mRNA expression with fasting did not reach statistical significance, it paralleled the 39% decrease in plasma FGF21 concentrations suggesting that FGF21 is suppressed with fasting in elephant seals. Data demonstrate an atypical response of FGF21 to prolonged fasting in a mammal suggesting that FGF21-mediated mechanisms have evolved differentially in elephant seals. Furthermore, the typical fasting-induced, FGF21-mediated actions such as the inhibition of lipolysis in adipose may not be required in elephant seals as part of a naturally adapted mechanism to support their unique metabolic demands during prolonged fasting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miwa Suzuki
- Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA; College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0880, Japan.
| | - Andrew Y Lee
- Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | | | - Jose A Viscarra
- Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Daniel E Crocker
- Department of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA
| | - Rudy M Ortiz
- Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
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