Thierry M Work

A reference genome assembly for the endangered Aga or Mariana Crow (Corvus kubaryi)

The Aga, also known as the Mariana Crow, is an endangered endemic crow of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth of the United States of America. The only known population currently extant is on the island of Rota and has been in decline over the past two decades. Unknown pathogens are among the factors that may be contributing to this decline. To support metagenomic and transcriptomic analysis of potential disease agents, a reference genome was generated and gene features comprehensively annotated. The methods used and data availability are described. This data release consists of: 1. Gene annotations for the endangered Aga or Mariana Crow, including summary statistics, that are available from the National...

Tags: Genetics, Northern Mariana Islands, Rota, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), biota, All tags... birds, genetics, Fewer tags

Chelonid herpesvirus 5 virus isolation data

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease of marine turtles associated with Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) that has historically been refractory to growth in tissue culture. Here, we show for the first time de novo formation of ChHV5-positive intranuclear inclusions in cultured green turtle cells, which is indicative for active lytic replication of the virus. The minimal requirements to achieve lytic replication in cultured cells included 1) either in-vitro culturing of ChHV5-positive tumor biopsies or organotypic cultures consisting of ChHV5-positive turtle fibroblasts in collagen rafts seeded with ChHV5-negative or -positive turtle keratinocytes and 2) keratinocyte maturation, which occurred naturally in explanted...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Hawaii, Herpesvirus, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, All tags... morphogenesis, pathology, pathology, Fewer tags

Relating tissue egg counts to eggs/g of spleen in Hawaiian green turtles

The present study proposes a new methodology for the quantification of parasite eggs in animal tissue. Quantification of parasites are important to understand epidemiology of spirorchiid infections in sea turtles, however different methodologies for quantifying Spirorchiidae eggs in turtle tissues have been used. The most representative way to quantify Spirorchiidae burdens in tissues is counting eggs / g of tissue, however, this method is very laborious. As an alternative, we propose quantifying number of Spirorchiidae egg/ area of tissue on a microscope slide. We compared this method to number of eggs / slide, a common metric of egg burden in turtle tissues. Both methods correlated well with eggs / g with eggs/mm2...

Categories: Data; Tags: Hawaii, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Disease, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, parasites, All tags... pathology, spirorchiid, Fewer tags

Corallimorph Invasion Palmyra: Data

In 2007, a phase shift from corals to corallimorpharians (CM) was documented at Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands, centered around a shipwreck. Subsequent surveys revealed CM to be overgrowing the reef benthos, including corals and coralline algae, potentially placing coral ecosystems in the atoll at risk. This prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the lead management agency of the atoll, to remove the shipwreck. Subsequent surveys showed reversal of spread of CM around the ship impact site. We explain patterns of spread of the CM in terms of life history and local currents and show with a pilot study that pulverized bleach may be an effective tool to eradicate CM on a local scale. If applied strategically, particularly...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Corralimorpharian, Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), biological population management, biota, All tags... control, coral reefs, ecosystem management, fishery management, health, invasion dynamics, natural resource management, phase shifts, Fewer tags

Data on blood cells of the collector urchin, Tripneustes gratilla

Echinoderms such as urchins are important in marine ecosystems, particularly as grazers, and unhealthy urchins can have important ecological implications. For instance, unexplained mortalities of Diadema sp. in the Caribbean were followed by algal overgrowth and subsequent collapse of coral reef ecosystems. Unfortunately few tools exist to evaluate echinoderm health making management of mortalities or other health issues problematic. Hematology is often used to assess animal health in many animal groups including invertebrates but is seldom applied to echninoderms. We used a standard gravitometric technique to concentrate fixed ceolomocytes from the collector urchin Tripneustes gratilla onto microscope slides permitting...

Categories: Data; Tags: Oahu, Tripneustes gratilla, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Disease, biota, All tags... coelomocytes, echinoderms, electron microscopy, hematology, lectins, light microscopy, Fewer tags