Browsing by Author "Polo Prieto, Maria"
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Item Disseminated Neoplasia in Mytilus chilensis(2017-10-12) Polo Prieto, MariaHeamic neoplasia or disseminated neoplasia is a leukemia-like disease that consists of the proliferation of malignant non-functional hemocytes. Since hemocytes are responsible for respiration, nutrient absorption, and defense against pathogens, disseminated neoplasia impairs homeostasis and eventually ends in death. Research about this condition increased after mass mortalities of soft-shell clams happened throughout the world. Although most cancers are restricted to the individual diseased, horizontal transmission of this cancer is seen in multiple bivalve species. This rare phenomenon might suggest that transmissible cancers are more widespread than previously thought. We found the diseased individuals contained more than three alleles, with a common cancer-associated allele not found in healthy individuals. Diseased individuals show varying copy numbers of the cancer-associated allele, with much higher copy numbers than healthy individuals. Also, the cancer-associated allele seems to be of a different cancer lineage than the one observed in Mytilus trossolus. This is evidence of the potential presence of a transmissible cancer in a new species. This project was completed with contributions from Stephen Goff and Michael Metzger from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University.Item The Chilean blue mussel has an independent transmissible cancer(2019-05) Polo Prieto, MariaI used the Chilean blue mussel, Mytilus chilensis, to identify if the leukemia-like disease in this species is a conventional cancer or a transmissible cancer, as observed in other bivalves. To test this, I analyzed the DNA sequences of an intron-spanning region of the gene EF1 alpha (Elongation factor 1 alpha) to identify shared nucleotide polymorphisms only present in diseased individuals. Some neoplastic individuals contained more than two alleles, and normal individuals contained only two. Because bivalves are diploid organisms, I hypothesize the excess alleles belong to a cancer cell non-native to the host. Neoplastic individuals showed the presence of a common allele, giving evidence of horizontal transmission of a clonal cancerous cell. Further DNA sequence analysis indicated that the Mytilus chilensis potentially has a transmissible cancer lineage independent from the cancer lineage found in Mytilus trossulus, the blue mussel native to the Northern Pacific. The results of this study suggest that the evolution of transmissible cancers in the ocean are more common than previously thought.