Avian Botulism qPCR data, Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan. Years 2011-2014

Publication Date

2018-11-08

Start Date

2011

End Date

2014

Isaacs, N.M., 2018, Avian Botulism qPCR data, Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan. Years 2011-2014: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P26XCW.

Avian botulism outbreaks have been recorded to occur in the Great Lakes since the 1960’s. The goal of this Great Lakes Restoration Initiative project was to investigate why botulism outbreaks, which have caused extensive mortality of fish and fish-eating birds, are occurring in the Great Lakes. This project has four major objectives: developing a new assay for testing for the presence of the toxin, evaluating the trophic pathways by which fish and birds are exposed to the botulinum toxin, studying the distribution and migration of waterbirds, and synthesizing epidemiological information on the timing and location of bird carcasses on Great Lakes beaches. The overall goal of the project is to determine what factors need to link together to trigger an outbreak. National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife, and Great Lake stewards need this information to formulate management strategies to minimize outbreaks and protect endangered and other bird species in National Parks and throughout the Great Lakes. Most field work for this project has taken place near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SLBE). Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and Trophic Pathways: Sediment samples collected at fixed and random sites during 2011-2014 were analyzed for the presence of the bontE gene (the C. botulinum gene that codes for botulinum type E toxin) using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Quantitative PCR has been conducted on ~739 environmental samples collected during 2011-2014, including sediments, mussels and the mussel micro habitat, which is the immediate area surrounding mussel beds, attached and sloughed Cladophora, and several types of invertebrates collected within the waters near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This effort involved challenging sample collection and coordinated environmental and laboratory approaches, and was the first such comprehensive analysis using modern gene-based approaches on multiple environmental matrices for this area of the Great Lakes.

• USGS Data Release Products
• Upper Midwest Water Science Center