Jaing Crystal, Thissen James B, Gardner Shea, McLoughlin Kevin, Slezak Tom, Bossart Gregory D, Fair Patricia A
Physical & Life Sciences Directorate, Computations Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2015 Oct 16;116(2):83-91. doi: 10.3354/dao02917.
The number and prevalence of diseases is rapidly increasing in the marine ecosystem. Although there is an increase in the number of marine diseases observed world-wide, current understanding of the pathogens associated with marine mammals is limited. An important need exists to develop and apply platforms for rapid detection and characterization of pathogenic agents to assess, prevent and respond to disease outbreaks. In this study, a broad-spectrum molecular detection technology capable of detecting all sequenced microbial organisms, the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array, was used to assess the microbial agents that could be associated with wild Atlantic dolphins. Blowhole, gastric, and fecal samples from 8 bottlenose dolphins were collected in Charleston, SC, as part of the dolphin assessment effort. The array detected various microbial agents from the dolphin samples. Clostridium perfringens was most prevalent in the samples surveyed using the microarray. This pathogen was also detected using microbiological culture techniques. Additionally, Campylobacter sp., Staphylococcus sp., Erwinia amylovora, Helicobacter pylori, and Frankia sp. were also detected in more than one dolphin using the microarray, but not in culture. This study provides the first survey of pathogens associated with 3 tissue types in dolphins using a broad-spectrum microbial detection microarray and expands insight on the microbial community profile in dolphins.
海洋生态系统中疾病的数量和流行率正在迅速上升。尽管全球范围内观察到的海洋疾病数量有所增加，但目前对与海洋哺乳动物相关的病原体的了解仍然有限。迫切需要开发和应用用于快速检测和鉴定病原体的平台，以评估、预防和应对疾病爆发。在本研究中，一种能够检测所有已测序微生物的广谱分子检测技术——劳伦斯利弗莫尔微生物检测阵列，被用于评估可能与野生大西洋海豚相关的微生物病原体。作为海豚评估工作的一部分，从南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的8只宽吻海豚身上采集了气孔、胃和粪便样本。该阵列从海豚样本中检测到了各种微生物病原体。在使用微阵列检测的样本中，产气荚膜梭菌最为普遍。使用微生物培养技术也检测到了这种病原体。此外，弯曲杆菌属、葡萄球菌属、梨火疫病菌、幽门螺杆菌和弗兰克氏菌属在不止一只海豚中也通过微阵列检测到，但在培养中未检测到。本研究首次使用广谱微生物检测微阵列对与海豚3种组织类型相关的病原体进行了调查，并扩展了对海豚微生物群落概况的认识。
