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  • Evolution in a transmissible cancer: a study of the chromosomal changes in devil facial tumor (DFT) as it spreads through the wild Tasmanian devil population

    Author(s)
    Pearse, Anne-Maree
    Swift, Kate
    Hodson, Pamela
    Hua, Bobby
    McCallum, Hamish
    Pyecroft, Stephen
    Taylor, Robyn
    Eldridge, Mark DB
    Belov, Katherine
    Griffith University Author(s)
    McCallum, Hamish
    Year published
    2012
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are the largest extant marsupial carnivores. This species, now confined to Tasmania, is endangered from the emergence of a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). In the present study, we use cytogenetic and molecular techniques to examine the stability of devil facial tumor (DFT) cell lines across time and space. This article describes disease progression from February 2004 to June 2011. We demonstrate evolutionary changes in the disease, which affects devils in different sites across Tasmania and over a period of several years, producing several chromosomal variants ...
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    Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are the largest extant marsupial carnivores. This species, now confined to Tasmania, is endangered from the emergence of a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). In the present study, we use cytogenetic and molecular techniques to examine the stability of devil facial tumor (DFT) cell lines across time and space. This article describes disease progression from February 2004 to June 2011. We demonstrate evolutionary changes in the disease, which affects devils in different sites across Tasmania and over a period of several years, producing several chromosomal variants (strains) that are capable of transmission between devils. We describe the evolution of DFTs in the field and speculate on the possible impacts on the disease, including (1) development of less aggressive forms of the disease; (2) development of more aggressive forms of the disease; (3) development of forms capable of affecting closely related species of dasyurids (e.g., quolls); (4) extinction of the disease as it acquires additional deleterious mutations that affect either cell viability or transmissibility; and (5) co-evolution of the disease and the host. We also speculate about the future of the Tasmanian devil in the wild. We note that although DFTs are regarded as unstable by comparison with another much older transmissible cancer, canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), the potential for development of less aggressive forms of DFTs or for development of resistance in devils is limited by devils' small numbers, low genetic diversity, and restricted geographical distribution.
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    Journal Title
    Cancer Genetics
    Volume
    205
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cancergen.2011.12.001
    Subject
    Ecological applications not elsewhere classified
    Population ecology
    Veterinary epidemiology
    Oncology and carcinogenesis
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/51745
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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