Sea stars resist wasting through active immune and collagen systems.

ABSTRACT: Epidemics are becoming more common and severe, however, pinpointing the causes can be challenging, particularly in marine environments. The cause of sea star wasting (SSW) disease, the ongoing, largest known panzootic of marine wildlife, is unresolved. Here, we measured gene expression longitudinally of 24 adult Pisaster ochraceus sea stars, collected from a recovered site, as they remained asymptomatic (8 individuals) or naturally progressed through SSW (16 individuals) in individual aquaria. Immune, tissue integrity and pro-collagen genes were more highly expressed in asymptomatic relative to wasting individuals, while hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α and RNA processing genes were more highly expressed in wasting relative to asymptomatic individuals. Integrating microbiome data from t

SUBMITTER: Pespeni MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10320347 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature