Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!
At the 2013 International Ranavirus Symposium several of us (Brunner, Storfer, Pessier, Jancovich, Garner, Wellehan, and Waltzek) met to discuss the genomic sequencing of ranavirus isolates. The outcome of our informal discussion was that each of the individual parties was going to sequence their own isolates for their respective projects and then we would reconvene to combine the datasets into a final global analysis. Toward that end, a UF PhD student (Sieara Claytor – many of you met her at the meeting) working under Drs. Susan Cameron Devitt, James Wellehan, and myself has made great progress toward sequencing North American FV3 isolates.
The objectives of her study are to investigate the phylogeographic structure of FV3 across its range, determine any patterns among hosts and/or geography, to determine the origin of introductions, and to evaluate climatic correlates of FV3. She has surveyed phylogenetically informative loci (31 loci including hypervariable and conserved regions) from FV3-like isolates across diverse host and temporospatial scales (2 bull frogs, 4 wood frogs, pig frog, Columbia spotted frog, tiger frog, leopard frog, common midwife toad, pallid sturgeon, white sturgeon, soft-shell turtle, 2 box turtles, Smoky Mountain salamander, 3 yellow-spotted salamanders, and Chinese giant salamander). Sieara’s next step is sequence an additional 20 North American isolates we have grown up and purified for genomic sequencing on our NextGen MiSeq machine (Russian sturgeon, fathead minnow, Northern pike, walleye, green frog, 3 more box turtles, 2 gopher tortoises, sulcata tortoise, etc).
We are asking for all those interested in collaborating to provide FV3 and FV3-like isolates to extend the geographic and taxonomic scope of the project. If anyone has material (e.g. isolates, infected tissues, or infected tissue DNA) that you would be willing to share in exchange for authorship with this project, please let me know and I can help arrange shipping of the samples. A special thanks to all those that have already provided input and isolates as collaborators on this project (Matt Gray, Debra Miller, James Jancovich, Jesse Brunner, James Wellehan, April Johnson, Matt Allender, and Ellen Ariel).
We are hoping to have all samples by February 31st in order to begin sequencing the new material.
Sincerely,
Thomas B. Waltzek
530-574-2976