Survival and Detection of Bivalve Transmissible Neoplasia from the Soft-Shell Clam Mya arenaria (MarBTN) in Seawater.

ABSTRACT: Many pathogens can cause cancer, but cancer itself does not normally act as an infectious agent. However, transmissible cancers have been found in a few cases in nature: in Tasmanian devils, dogs, and several bivalve species. The transmissible cancers in dogs and devils are known to spread through direct physical contact, but the exact route of transmission of bivalve transmissible neoplasia (BTN) has not yet been confirmed. It has been hypothesized that cancer cells from bivalves could be released by diseased animals and spread through the water column to infect/engraft into other animals. To test the feasibility of this proposed mechanism of transmission, we tested the ability of BTN cells from the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria BTN, or MarBTN) to survive in artificial seawater. We

SUBMITTER: Giersch RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8955499 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature